The Good & Evil of Marketing, Even Books

 

I have always known that book marketing is a skill and resource that can be used to highlight and promote truly great books that not all people have access to. I am also aware that bad books or even books with bad intentions can use the power of marketing to sell a ton of books. Marketing is like a loaded gun — and anyone can shoot at anybody, regardless of the reason.

We see this in the political arena. It is getting harder to determine who the good guy is.

History has shown how propaganda has allowed for revolutions and sweeping changes of governments to occur. Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Party is perhaps the most powerful example in modern times of how a republic can buy into charisma and lies to elect someone who almost destroyed the world.

Political races here get decided by parties and opponents who implement their use of advertising, news media, social media, and public appearances. War chests and campaign advisors play as big of a role as the issues and facts in deciding who will govern our communities. Things have gotten so nasty that any attempt at political discourse quickly devolves into name-calling, threats, and lies — whether from political candidates or even two friends discussing things.

I am sad to say I recently lost someone whom I considered a good friend for nearly 20 years. We disagreed on politics and had heated discussions by text, and then go back to politely and enthusiastically discussing sports, movies, or our kids when out to dinner. But he at some point had reached his capacity to accept an opposing viewpoint can exist, or that it can be stated in a certain manner, and like most Americans, retreated to a preferred silo. Our great debate experiment had failed.

Most people who passionately see the world differently through a political prism are incapable of befriending the other side. This increasing chasm amongst fellow Americans will get worst before it gets better.

While the 2024 election may have concluded with a new Congress, White House, and local governments across the country getting voted in, this was anything but a celebration of democracy. The sides with the most money, best lies, and savviest marketing campaigns won — but America lost.

I blame an uninformed electorate, one swayed by rumors, lies, and distortions for the mess that we are in. I blame a system that rewards those who use obscene amounts of money to influence election results. I blame a lazy republic for not taking a few minutes to register and a few more minutes to vote.

* We need civics taught to every adult and child.
* We need to fact-check and punish blatant liars.
* We need lobby money kept out of the ballot box.
* We need voters not to be one-issue ballot-casters.
* We need voters to check their biases.
* We need people not to opt out of the voting process.
* We need more than two political party choices.

* We also need marketing awareness courses taught, so regular people can see through the bullshit that they are fed.

Marketing a book may not seem to have the same sinister gravitas as marketing a political candidate, but there is a lot of power in the influence derived from book marketing. Wield that power wisely but do use it for something good.

Put out great, useful, inspiring, entertaining, and enlightening books — and use the advantages of marketing to be heard. We need to counter the weaponization of marketing that lousy writers and ill-intentioned authors use to push less-than-worthy books on an unsuspecting and gullible public.

Our political campaigns have shown us how far a marketing campaign can take someone. It is time we use marketing for good and to promote the books that many of us need or want, if only they knew of their existence. 

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 (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).  This award-winning blog has generated over four 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.