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
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