Today we will discuss two things: The unethical and illegal
tactics of lying, cheating, and stealing that are employed by car salespeople —
which is nearly every single one of them — and why some book marketers and
promoters adopt the same shit-on-you tactics to sucker authors into a bad deal.
Consider this a consumer advisory report on how to pick the right book
marketer.
I recently had the unfortunate privilege to interact with used
car dealerships. My son hit a deer while in his Subaru Forrester, and suddenly
we were looking for some wheels. The experience left him without a car for six
weeks and many conversations with car dealers ending with me asking these
salespeople and managers why they would lie straight to my face. I was shown
the door at several dealerships. It got ugly.
If this were 20 or 40 years ago, none of what
I am saying would surprise anyone. But in current times, everything is
available online to see by everyone, and yet there are still many, many used
car salespeople who operate out of a screw-the-customer mindset and are willing
to lie, cheat, and steal to survive.
It seems to be in their DNA, a default setting
that quickly moves them into a scheme-and-scam mode. I am surprised there
aren’t mass shootings at these dealerships, considering the brazen bullying
that is part of their daily rigor.
What do they do that is so infuriating?
Online, they list a car’s price. One would
think that it is in fact the price. It is not. At a minimum, there are vague
small-print statements buried on their websites that allude to other charges or
fees, not always saying what they are, why they are there, or how much they
cost. You get lured in by a price that does not actually exist.
They act like every car they sell is perfect,
but offer little to no warranty. But there is a scam called Certified
Pre-Owned. This is where the dealer selects a handful of cars it believes are
actually in decent shape and makes you pay a huge premium to protect against
what they know is unlikely to go wrong. Those without the CPO designation make
you wonder why they don’t have a clean bill of health.
When you look at Car Fax, which claims to show
everything that was ever done to a car, you see the dealer’s
own inspections of a car don’t clarify what was specifically looked at or
if it was repaired by the dealer.
They will say they tended to the car and
serviced it prior to sale — and then you see evidence to the contrary. It is
blatant lying.
How do they get away with it?
People complain but get nowhere with the
dealers. On rare occasions, customers sue or complain to a consumer affairs
agency. Even after the Federal Trade Commission heard enough complaints and
passed the Combating Auto Retail Scams Rule last year, its implementation has
been delayed by legal challenges from the National Auto Dealers
Association.
Dealers give BS about mandatory financing. I
told them we will pay cash. They said no. Why? They make profits from other
hidden frees.
You can search online, call them, and then
cone to an agreement by email, but then they zing you when you walk through the
dealer lot’s door.
One dealer wanted to sell us a car that a
mechanic told us would fail inspection because of the poor condition of the
tires. The dealer, when confronted with the truth, said he would replace them.
When I said I was interested, he said he’d call me back regarding some other
repair that was about $350. I told him I will await his call. The phone never
rang.
The car industry is unreliable and just plain
scummy.
Hardly anyone complains to state or federal
agencies that regulate the car business. I didn’t but should have. Few
complain to the Better Business Bureau. Doesn’t matter. These dealers make good
money but pay few repercussions. They don’t care about their reputation
or serving the customer.
Ok, so the other part of this blog post is
about scoundrels who shop their PR and marketing services like these car
dealers. They are untrustworthy scoundrels, blatant liars, and manipulative
tricksters — car dealers and promoters alike.
Car dealers and most marketers thrive on the
ignorance and incompetence of their customers/clients.
This whole experience made me realize how many
authors look at the book publicity industry. Authors are often given, in the
initial conversation with a promoter:
* Few guarantees
* A lot of BS
* Empty promises
* Appeals to false hopes
* Little documentation on past successes
* Sparse information on concrete deliverables
* Deliverables that don’t necessarily lead to sales
* A price that is never the full price
Authors will ask marketers:
* Did you read my book?
* Is my book good?
* Will I at least earn back what I invest with you?
Marketers will just tell them what they want
to hear.
Tactics used by some unscrupulous marketers
include:
* Confusing authors with the terms they use
* A bait and switch of what is offered vs
delivered
* Lying
* Half efforts and an underperforming approach
* Useless service even if executed correctly
* Overcharging
* Banking on your lack of knowledge
* Intimidating or guilting authors
* Luring you with unrealistic dreams and
unattainable ideals
* Using your ego to sabotage you
There are many bad apples in the field of book
marketing. Some just blatantly want to scam you and rob you. They promise the
world, take your money, and then you never hear from them.
The next level of scheming is one who simply
charges way more than what a service is actually worth. This means you get what
you purchased, but you overpaid compared to what others charge — and you
bought a service that, at its best, will achieve minimal results.
Then there are people who charge fees for
trying to service you, but they lack contacts, skills, knowledge, or resources
to actually achieve success. They are good at trying, not so much in getting
results.
So, what is an author to do?
Same thing as a car buyer. Be smart about
things.
1. Assume one could be screwing you and keep
your radar on high-alert.
2. Shop around and listen to each one’s
offerings. Carefully listen to the wording and terminology used.
3. Price-compare and get it in writing.
4. Educate yourself on which type of services
you actually need and would benefit from.
5. Understand that you may need to combine the
efforts of a vendor with that of your own, or that you may need to hire more
than one promoter to execute a specific task. For instance, the one who does
your social media may not know from securing news media coverage and book
reviews, or the one who designs your website only knows how to do just that.
6. Do not become a pawn in the marketer’s
arsenal because you let your ego or insecurities get in the way of properly
evaluating their offer.
7. Don’t buy a sexy bathing suit and expect it
to look good on you if you are obese. This means no product or service can turn
garbage into greatness. If your book is weak, don’t demand promoters to be
wizards. Your hopes will be replaced by a harsh reality.
8. Know what your goals are for your book and
then evaluate a service based on whether it can potentially serve those
goals.
9. If something feels wrong or a person sounds
too slick, just run the other way.
Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?
Brian
Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four 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
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.” Copyright
2025.
For
the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He
formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the
head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director
of publicity 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.
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).
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. He served as a judge for the
2024 IBPA Book Awards.
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.
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
