The Jury’s Verdict On Book Marketing

 

I recently served on jury duty for a criminal case, and it struck me how the legal representatives — the county ADA and the defense attorney for the accused — both lobby for their side, regardless of their stated desire for jurors to just look at the evidence to determine if one is guilty or not.

For instance, they use body language, eye contact, voice intonation, and other elements to sell or persuade jurors. Before the case was even tried, when prospective jurors were being questioned for selection, the voir dire process turned from lawyers just asking questions to uncover if a prospective juror had a bias towards their case, to the questions themselves becoming seeds planted and insinuations made about the case to influence the jury.

Authors seeking to promote their books can learn about the power of being persuasive from lawyers and prosecutors. They follow laws, rules, and standards — but push things to the limit, to bend the facts to fit a truth that they hope you will buy into.

They use everything at their disposal to secure a favorable verdict, including opening statements, the calling, and examining, of witnesses, cross-examination, direct, re-direct, and closing arguments. Behind the scenes, they jockey over what can be put into evidence, who is put on the jury, how a jury is to be instructed, and which charges can be plea-bargained.

Everything that is said by each lawyer — or not said — can be a point of influence. They battle each other, point by point. Authors, too, should see that they have many points of influence for marketing their book, from social media, speaking, book reviews, and advertising, to book awards, book fairs, news media, and paid book reviews. Each point needs author participation, each one to be explored and acted upon deeply.

The author is at times the prosecutor, the one who has to prove an assertion to be true, to persuade others of buy-in, and to use words, images, and sounds to his or her strategic advantage. The author here only gets a win with a conviction — or sale. Anything less than that feels like a missed opportunity.

The author can also be the defense attorney, one who has to paint a narrative contrary to the evidence presented by the prosecutor. To win here, one just needs one juror to acquit. One holdout kills it for the government, at least on most criminal cases, where unanimity is demanded. The burden to get a conviction is much higher than to get a hung jury or even an acquittal.

I am fascinated by the law, and though I can see its many inherent biases, shortcomings, loopholes, and imperfections, I also see that it enables America to be a safe, thriving, and free nation. Books, too, keep our country humming and thriving. Authors do the work of lawyers and are very much needed if we are to legislate for a better world.

 

 

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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 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.