Market Your Book Like El Chapo

 

There are some smells you never forget:

* New car smell
* First day in your just-purchased house
* Baby’s scent (not when a diaper change is needed)
* … and when you meet the dog you just adopted.

I got to experience the latter a little over a month ago.

My family and I welcomed a year-old pug into our home — almost three years to the day that we rescued Ferris, a lovable black lab who was four back then. Yes, I have a hundred-pound middle-aged dog and a 20-pound puppy.

This one’s back story is he was rescued out of a drug den in Aruba. Fostered in Phoenix for a few months, he was flown to us across the country this past Saturday. We named him El Chapo.

We found out the billionaire drug cartel king is a short guy and his nickname means shorty. Our pug is a little guy with a big personality. Perfect fit!

When my wife suggested we adopt a pug I was not fully into it. I love dogs but was there really a need to double the dog count when we had a perfect dog already?

She pushed it. When she wasn’t sending me adorable pics, she was asking me to warm up to the idea. Whatever Ferris was doing, she asked me to imagine him with a little playmate.

She wore me down. I caved, reluctantly.

When he arrived we agreed to foster him. If he was good, we would keep him. If he shit all over the place, bit anyone, or ruffled our resident dog he was outta here.

He immediately immerses himself into our lives. Who can deny a snug pug who looks at you with guppy eyes and wiggles around?

He at first seemed to annoy Ferris with all of his playfulness. He bravely got in the face of Ferris, yapping at him to play. Whatever toy Ferris had, El Chapo wanted. Whenever Ferris moved, the microdog followed. When Ferris was lying around, the other one jumped on him like he was an amusement park ride. After a few days of put-in-your-place growls by the big guy, there was harmony.

They found a way to engage each other that I didn’t think Ferris would go for. He is a people’s dog, not a dog’s dog. El Chapo has literally wiggled his way into everyone’s heart. So how did he do it?

Authors should pay attention to what this little dog does to ensure he got what he wanted — to get adopted:

1. Persistence — He makes his presence known and is persistent in his efforts to get me to like him.

2. Consistency — Every day he is on good behavior so that I don’t grab an excuse to punt him. He acts consistent with how a hood dog behaves.

3. Energetic — He has an exuberance about him. One is drawn to his spunkiness.

4. Passionate — Everything that he does is done with a real desire to engage. It shows in his body language and the animated sounds that he makes.

5. Playful — He is always up for play time.

6. Adorable — He looks so scrumptious and lovable.

7. Engages Everyone At Their Level — He is around to sit and be a lap dog or he can join you on a long walk.

8. Voices His Needs — Though he can’t speak, he does make sqeaky sounds and looks at me with his guiding eyes in a way that I think I know what he wants.

You too can follow his playbook to win others over.

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.