Don’t Break These 12 Book Marketing Rules

  

Having conducted thousands of book publicity campaigns, a number of marketing truths have repeatedly made themselves apparent, so I would like to share them with you.

1. Repetition gets remembered. Repetition gets remembered. I think back to an old Raid television commercial:  “Kills roaches dead,” was the slogan. Three words and two say the same thing. Unforgettable. Find a way to repeat your most important selling points when discussing your book.

2. All of your social media posts about your book need to be reduced to 10-or-less-word headlines. Short and sweet. Make a statement vs sharing basic information. For instance, a book of poetry that spans 15 topics can be presented as: “Man Has A License To Kill. Poetic License, That Is.” Or, for a book on weight loss, say: “Dietician’s Book Answers Question: How Do I Lose Weight Fast?” Or, for a historical fiction book involving murder and romance, say: “Kissing Leads To Death In Romantic Thriller.”

3. Assume those you market to know nothing of your life, book, product, or service. Explain things in a logical and chronological way. Give them a clear perspective to understand where you are coming from.

4. Say things that people agree with. Start with anything. Keep getting them to say yes and feel aligned with you. It could have nothing to do with your book. Sports, weather, values, humor — say anything that gets another to feel they are on the same page as you. “Wow, I can’t believe how gorgeous it is today.” “Oh, my, did you see how cute that rescue dog on the news was?” “Man, the Mets are on fire, right?”

5. Tell a story and use good analogies or examples. People are drawn to others who speak in an informative, inspiring, entertaining, and insightful way. Be clear, concise, and personable. No blabbering, low-talking, or boring authors need apply.

6. Be likable —your values, voice, demeanor, looks and clothes, communication style/vocabulary, and energy levels can impact how people perceive you — and your book.

7. People are dumb and miss things that you think should be obvious, logical, or intuitive. Common sense is not so common. People misunderstand, misread, don’t see things, or are not sure how things work or how they should be worded. Idiot-proof your texts, emails, website, social media posts, and anything that you generate. Assume the worst and do your best.

8. Stop being an insecure, cheap, or whiny author. Yeah, you know who I am talking about. Cut the excuses, delays, and sabotaging of your marketing. If you do not put the time, money, effort, and mindshare needed to market your book, you will endure failure. Your book deserves better. Get off your couch and out of your head. Take action — and often.

9. Good enough often is not good enough. You must be unique, great, new, first, unusual, contradictory, or extreme in your comments, talking style, or looks. If you merely strive to push the bare minimum or settle for mediocrity, your book is dead on arrival.

10. Every author needs a website — with a short, easy-to-say, easy-to-spell, unhyphenated name. No, a FB page does not cut it. How do people who are not on FB find you? FB pages do not allow for the same volume of information or flow of presentation as a web site.

11. All of book marketing is a numbers game and more rejections mean you are closer to breaking through. If you ask 10 people to buy your book and two say yes, is that a greater success than one who asks 30 people and gets three to buy it? One has a 20% success rate, the other 10%. I will take the 10-percenter every day. Why? Even though she was only half as efficient as the 20-percenter, she sold more copies because she asked more people. The point is, don’t worry of the rejections. You only get if you ask, try, or stay in the public eye. Keep asking and pushing and you will make progress.

12. People don’t but your book because they know it is good — they have not read it. They buy because they believe or hope it will be good. Your job is to say enough that will lure them in. Tap into their wants or needs. Be descriptive about your book. You are flirting with your words. Throw in third-party validation by referencing any recognition your book earned: reviews, awards, media, influencers or testimonials. You are selling a perception or a construct and nothing more. 

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.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum