What Is Your Foundational Book Marketing Belief?

 

Which book marketing principles do you operate from that will determine your book’s fate? 

Think about it.  

Which assumptions, practices, values, and beliefs — and myths, biases, misinformation, or misconceptions — shape the way you go about selling your book? Are you undermining or motivating yourself based on the things you think, say, and do? 

Some people repeat and whisper good things that will push them to break through and sell books; others will be defeated by their wholesale negative self-talk.  

What will be your guiding book marketing foundational belief? 

Here are some to avoid — and others to seek out. 

Books sell themselves.

Nope. Even a great book still needs great marketing. Organic marketing is preceded by assertive publicity. You need to make stuff happen and not wait on the sidelines. 

People will post Amazon reviews if they love the book and/or because they know me.

Wishful thinking. They will only post a review if you beg, incentivize, remind, guilt, or threaten them — maybe. People suck — and that includes lazy family and indifferent friends. 

Social media is a waste of time.

It can be, and for many people who use it poorly, it is. But, it can also help build or grow your brand, sell books, and get more clicks on your website. Don’t believe that social media can’t be useful — make it work for you. 

It is not worth hiring a book promoter.

No one wants to keep shelling out money. Pay to publish. Pay to ship books. Pay editors and cover designers. Pay, pay, pay. But you can’t stop there. Paying a publicist is an investment in your book that can pay off, if not short-term in book sales, then for the long-term as a writer who needs a solid brand. Like anything else, set a budget and find the right person to work with you — and then hiring a promoter will be worthwhile. 

Only famous people get attention.

It is frustrating to see celebrities get attention for doing nothing, but many people don’t try to get publicity because they give up and use the excuse that they are not famous enough to get attention. How do you think famous people became famous? Keep trying! 

See opportunities everywhere.

This is a winning way to view life. Don’t hope or expect that opportunities will just present themselves. You need to not only recognize such situations and then act to capitalize on them, but you need to manufacture your opportunities. This means asking people for things — help, resources, information, ideas, guidance, or introductions. You need to plan ahead and scheme a little. Opportunity rarely knocks on your door — you knock in doors to create an opportunity. Be open to what comes your way and put yourself out there where opportunities exist.  

Experiment, even to fail, but don’t fail to experiment.

This simply means that you should be willing to try new things and take risks. By playing it safe all of the time you get stagnant and boring. Reach beyond your means. Take a gamble. To go big, you need to try, try, try until you succeed. 

No one needs to give me permission to succeed.

You can’t wait around for anyone to provide you with anything — go out there and take what is yours. No asking. Take. Don’t limit yourself by some needlessly restraining idea or self-imposed rule. 

Asking leads to getting.

Ask for a lot, of many people, and often. It is a numbers game, so play the game. Ask and you might receive. Stay quiet and you remain invisible. 

Be firm and bold.

Take action over indecision; hire help, and ignore what doesn’t get done without guilt. 

Do it all.

Go small and go big. No need to choose. 

 Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.2 million pageviews. With 4,400+ posts over the past decade, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Susan RoAne, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, IBPA, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.