The New Author Marketing Playbook

 

Where should a first-time author begin as one tackles the behemoth burden of trying to market their book?

Before you do anything, give yourself a pep talk. Remind yourself of all that you have accomplished thus far, but know that writing and publishing the book is just the beginning. The promotion of your book will determine its success. You are in control.

You must take ownership of your book’s fate and devote time every day to its marketing. Make a commitment to do what is necessary to succeed.

Determine what you want to achieve — and why. The how will come. Exactly what do you strive for — and what drives you to want that? Is it achievable or realistic? Why is this goal important to you?

Next, make a game plan. Map out specific things you want to do, set deadlines, identify your resources, create a budget, and name the steps that are needed to achieve your goals.

Find a mentor and get some good advice and guidance. Learn the ropes. Educate yourself on book marketing, branding, and sales.

Acquire necessary resources and tools, such as access to a database, pay membership fees, and purchase books and courses or attend seminars that inform and inspire your efforts.

Determine which foundational book marketing principles and sales values you will adhere to. Will you act with a sense of urgency? Do you think opportunistically? Have you embraced the notion that book marketing is a numbers game? Will you trade, beg, buy, borrow, or do what is necessary to succeed?

Determine the probability of all possibility, meaning first see what could be done to market a book, then shrink your list to what seems feasible and worthy.

Look at all of the ways to market your books and analyze each based on:

* Who do I contact?
* What actionable outcome do I seek?
* Where do I need to be?
* When does the event or action take place?
* Why am I doing this particular thing?
* How do I execute a successful result?

Choose several areas from this list to explore:

* Speaking
* Awards
* News Media
* Social Media
* Blogging
* Podcasting
* Newsletter
* Advertising
* Networking
* Paid Book Reviews
* Mass Mail/Email
* Events Exhibit
* Bulk Sales
* Sales Team/Affiliate Sales

Do you have the core basics set up?

* Website
* Free digital download bribe
* Goodreads account
* Press kit
* Business card

* Distribution
* An elevator speech
* Email signature
* A flier, postcard, bookmark
* Targeted email pitch letters
* Scripts for phone calls and zoom interactions
* List of people to ask favors of
* Access to news media lists
* Swag to sell or give away
* Directories of organizations to solicit
* Membership in several professional writer associations
* A bank of post-worthy content
* Outline of a presentation

Figure out, based on what could be done, what will get done — and by whom. What will you:

* Do yourself?
* Outsource to others?
* Ignore due to lack of skill, knowledge, time, or money?
* Dismiss as unworthy or irrelevant?

Ok, so as you can see, there is a ton of things one can do to promote themselves and sell their books. The key is to acknowledge it is in your hands, create a plan, commit to it, retool as needed, and to never give up trying. If your book is any good, be resolved to give it your full support.

It takes time, effort, skill, knowledge, confidence, money, and luck to break through. You can do this!

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.