Do You Really Know Why You Wrote Your Book?

 

People write books for all kinds of reasons, from ego and legacy to advocating an important message to seeking best-seller list success and movie deals. Every author should know why he or she is writing, not just books, but a specific one. Knowing your why will help you understand what kind of book marketing approach you need to undertake. You won’t know what to do or how to proceed if you don’t know why you are doing something.

So why does anyone write a book?

*Because they have a story to tell that they believe others want or need to read.

*To use the book as a calling card to drum up attention for something else, such as to run for office, to get media attention to help a cause, to introduce your brand as a paid speaker, consultant, or professional service provider.

*To call attention to other books you have published or to sell other related products.

*To promote your business or non-profit.

*Ego or legacy — and a sense of bucket-list accomplishment.

*You enjoy the artistic form of writing.

*You hope to sell a ton of copies, foreign rights, movie and television adaptations, etc.

*To improve their professional resume and help them get a promotion, raise, or another job.

*To destroy another, get revenge, or set the record straight.

Perhaps you have other reasons for writing your book, but there has to be a reason, perhaps even several. You should know why you wrote a book and it should inform you on which approach you will take to marketing your book.

Your strategy to market your book shifts with your motivational goals for writing the book. For instance, if you plan to use the book to further an agenda or to help you sell other things, you can afford to not worry so much about what it costs you to make a sale.

If you sell a book in a store and it nets you $5.00, you wouldn’t want to spend too much in order to sell that book — if you are in this to make a few bucks. Of course, if you don’t invest some time and money into your book marketing, you will hardly sell any copies or make any money. But, if a book sale nets you say $100 because the reader will then go to your site and buy other books, products, and services, you can afford to spend $50, $65 or $95 per book sale on public relations, marketing, and advertising.

Vanity projects have budgets based not on sales probabilities but rather on marketing possibilities. Take out an ad for $800 or set up a booth at a county fair for $1000? No problem, because book profits are secondary to getting attention for the book. Heck, authors may give away hundreds or thousands of copies of their book, not in the hopes of making money, but of having their story read.

Why did you write a book? What will you do to market it? Knowing the answer to the former will inform you of the latter.

 

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 3.3 million pageviews. With 4,400+ posts over the past dozen years, 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 www.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, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, 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: www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.