We all need a signal that we are on the right path, a guiding light, or a loud sound to hint to us where we must go. Authors absolutely need to follow a trail of book marketing bread crumbs to know they are on the right path. They need their key fob moment.
What acts as your lighthouse, flashing neon
sign, GPS, or key fob when out at sea trying to paddle your way to selling
books and marketing your brand?
I get lost easily — I have no sense of
direction. I often lose my car in an unmarked parking lot. But my key fob is my
friend. I press it and either see flashing lights or hear the sound of the car
horn, letting me know if I am getting hotter or colder. Authors need this when
marketing their books.
How does a writer know he or she is doing what
they are supposed to be doing? How do they know if they chose the right
strategy and are executing it properly?
Writers need marketing plans, best-practice
guidelines, metrics, mentors, and goals. The end result, book sales, will tell you
if you succeeded or failed, but along the way, you need a key fob to tell you
if you are heading in the right direction.
Here is how to identify your book
marketing co-ordinates:
* Did you create a long-term, short-term, and
daily marketing plan?
* Are you taking a diverse approach, spreading your time, money, efforts, and mindshare on the major areas, such as social media, special sales, advertising, traditional media, book awards, networking, speaking, etc.?
* Is someone helping you to execute your plan: a volunteer mentor, a support group, a paid marketing coach, a publicist?
* Are you measuring progress in some way —
number of clicks to your site; a quantity of quality consumer book reviews;
number and size of media outlets writing about you; number of speaking events
lined up?
Authors, find your way to where you want to get
to. Have a destination in mind, get help, measure your efforts and results, and
follow the flashing light. You may not become a best-seller, but at least you
will find your car.
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!
Read
This!
Please
Support Book Aid International
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/11/please-support-book-aid-international.html
Wall Street Journal Leaves Authors With One
Less Best-Seller List To Manipulate
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Can
You Discover Your Book’s Reader Identity?
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/11/can-you-discover-your-books-reader.html
The Author Viral Content Toolbox
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-author-viral-content-toolbox.html
Interview With Combined Book Exhibit’s
Director of Business Development & Media, Chris Malinowski
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/11/interview-with-combined-book-exhibits.html
Spotify’s Audiobook Deal Is Great – And
Awful!
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/11/spotifys-audiobook-deal-is-great-and.html
20+ Online Writing Communities For
Authors
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/11/20-online-writing-communities-for.html
Why Are Author Marketing Emails Lousy?
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/11/why-are-author-marketing-emails-lousy.html
What’s Your Book Marketing Approach?
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/11/whats-your-book-marketing-approach.html
How Authors Should View Selling Books
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/10/how-authors-should-view-selling-their.html
University Press Week Highlights Need For
More BIPOC Books & Authors
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/10/university-press-week-advocates-for.html
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.
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