Authors Must Actually Learn What They Think They Know

 

All authors know there are things that they don’t know — but they don’t know which things they don’t know. Even worse, some authors think they know everything and over- or underestimate their abilities to act on that which they believe they know. 

When I talk to authors about their book marketing, I always ask about what they have done to get the word out. Many sigh and admit they could do better and want more success. 

Their responses vary, from: 

“I didn’t have time to do too much” to  

“I tried this and that but nothing resulted from it” to  

“I have done a lot on social media, gotten some wonderful reviews, and did some speaking, but I am not sure what else more be done” to 

“Everyone who has read my book loves it, says it should be a movie, but I don’t know what to do” 

In each case, authors could have: 

* Done more

* Tried harder

* Been more strategic

* Performed each task better

* Avoided doing some useless or costly stuff 

So, how does one do more of the positive and eliminate the negative? 

* Change your attitude

* Make a better effort

* Hire some help

* Experiment a little

* Learn more

* Take responsibility for your marketing

* Get realistic in your approach 

Authors need to really do an audit of their efforts and knowledge, and match up what they have done vs the ideal world of possibilities.  

For instance, maybe an author could have, say, applied to 12 book awards instead of three. More is better. Increases your odds of a win.  

Perhaps authors are satisfied with having 3,000 linkedin or facebook connections without realizing that the quality of the connections is more important. If you are connected to the wrong people or those who have weak followings, your potential growth is stunted. Or maybe authors do have good connections but they don’t post often, or post weak content, or fail to directly ask their connections to help or take action steps. 

Maybe an author loves what their 12 consumer reviews say on amazon but they need to find a way to triple that number and spend time and money to work their network to post reviews. 

Conclusion: Authors should be ready to up their game and not assume there is nothing left to do or that they did the best possible job of marketing their book.

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 LinkedIn. 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, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.4 million pageviews. With 4,600+ 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.