10 Biggest Book Marketing Mistakes To Avoid

 

 

 

“The impossible only becomes accessible when experience has not taught us limits… there’s a great power in not knowing. When faced with a challenging task, we may tell ourselves it’s too difficult, it’s not worth the effort, it’s not the way things are done, it’s not likely to work, or it’s not likely to work for us.” -The Creative Act by Rick Rubin 

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” -Oprah Winfrey 

“Without promotion, something terrible happens… nothing.” -P.T. Barnum

 

Avoid these 10 book marketing miscues:

1.      Waiting for your book to get published before approaching book reviews or the news media. To get professional book reviews, you usually need to send an advancer review copy (ARC) or a galley or a pdf about four months prior to the book’s scheduled publication date. To secure interviews and feature stories, begin to reach out to magazines three months prior publication date, to newspapers two months prior, and to T.V a month prior.  

 

2.      Believing you don’t have to make a publicity plan to succeed. To not plan is to plan for failure. Draft up a detailed marketing plan that maps out specific steps and deadlines. If you deviate from the plan, that’s ok, but you need something to go off-script from.  

 

3.      Focusing on only one strategy or area. Sure, you want to excel in at least one aspect of book marketing, but don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. You can choose from book awards, news media, speaking engagements, advertising, social media, and many other buckets.  

 

4.      Caving into fear, unawareness, or downright incorrect information about book publicity. Educate to empower yourself so that you know what can be done, how to best do it, and why it should be done.  

 

5.      Thinking a big book launch event is super important. It isn’t. Most book launch parties or events are costly time sucks that yield a few copies sold to friends, family, and colleagues who’d otherwise buy the book out of love, guilt, or courtesy anyway. The event is an ego thing and rarely puts anyone on the map.  

 

6.      Waiting for book sales before investing in your publicity. It’s the other way around. Invest in your publicity and then wait for sales to come. A book is only new for a few months. Don’t wait around and let your book flounder. Put your mindset, time, money, and energy into it.  

 

7.      Missing deadlines simply because you didn’t know about them.  Here’s a clue.  Everything has deadlines or requires some scheduling and advance notice.  This is true for events to speak at, awards to apply for, or book reviews to submit to. Learn what you need to know about the timing of these things and you are ahead of 85% of all authors.  

 

8.      Thinking people will naturally discover your book and want to buy it. I wish it worked that way. Most discovery is manipulated, paid for, or pushed for. You need to drive your book’s marketing and not sit back expecting fame or fortune.  

 

9.      Whining instead of acting. You can’t complain about why you have few book sales. Do something about it. Do not act helpless or like your fate is sealed.  On the contrary, nothing stops you but your laziness and excuses.  

 

10.  Thinking social media is a wasteland. Ok, it’s a huge wasteland but it’s also a free asset that many authors can use to their advantage. You just need to find the right platform, approach, and content to succeed.  

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over 3.9 million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your 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!

 

About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. 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 3.9 million pageviews. With 5,000+ 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 director of publicity positions 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 hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, 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. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.