Which Marketing Skills Do Authors Need?

If we were to build the perfect author who can market a book well, what traits might we include?  

Charismatic, good looking, and energized come to mind. Though there are plenty of skills one needs to develop, hone, and expand when it comes to promoting an author’s brand and message, here are 17  areas authors must strive to excel in:  

1. Planning — You need to think ahead in order to effectively promote your book. Map out when something needs to get done by, and subtract out the delays and time needed to execute each step leading up to things.  

2. Initiating — Don’t wait to be asked for anything; you initiate, reach out, ask, and push.

3. Following Up — If you don’t follow-up on people you reached out to, you will be less successful. The phrase: “The squeaky wheel gets the oil” is quite applicable here. Embrace the assumption that if you don’t keep pushing others to see things through, less will get done and it will take longer to happen.

4. Assessing/Analyzing/Reflecting — When you start to market your book, you will periodically need to pause to reflect on your results and assess where you are. Analyze your sales. Where are your efforts weak or strong? What is producing sales for you? 

5. Pivoting — If you need to change your marketing plan once you see how it unfolds, be prepared to pivot and to go in a new direction.

6. Delegating — You need help to market your book. That is certain. You must quarterback others to help you. Coordinate with and direct people that you hired, friends or family who volunteer to assist, vendors supplying a service, or with a publisher (if you have one).

7. Communicating — Be a good listener, a great speaker, and a strong writer whenever you communicate with or to others.

8. Goal-Setting — You may only achieve half as much as you are capable or deserving of unless you set goals and expand your targets.  

9. Prioritizing — Always have a daily or hourly priority to execute. Have a to-do list but know which is time sensitive and what will yield the best ROI. 

10. Strategizing — This skill comes down to you thinking ahead and anticipating potential avenues of action and what you will do in reaction to what results. it means you have an opportunistic mindset and always seek to be on the offensive and not merely be reactionary or worse, accepting of how things are and failing to envision how you can force things yo become.

11. Critical Thinking — monash.edu says: “Critical thinking is a kind of thinking in which you question, analyse, interpret, evaluate and make a judgement about what you read, hear, say, or write. The term critical comes from the Greek word kritikos meaning “able to judge or discern”. Good critical thinking is about making reliable judgements based on reliable information.

“Applying critical thinking does not mean being negative or focusing on faults. It means being able to clarify your thinking so that you can break down a problem or a piece of information, interpret it and use that interpretation to arrive at an informed decision or judgement (for example designing a bridge, responding to an opinion piece or understanding a political motivation).“

Take a critical thinking approach to marketing your book.

12. Time Management — This is one skill that everyone needs except for maybe a monk in a monastery. Can you work a longer and harder, and more efficient day? It is not either or. Can you outsource tasks to people and manage others proficiently? Can you craft a schedule and stick to it while building on times of flexibility? Can you remain dedicated and committed to your task at hand and hold yourself to a higher standard? 

13. Networking — Who you know may dictate what you can accomplish. Outwardly connect, both online and in-person, with those you need to be in touch with. That list may include publishers, book editors, and literary agents if you seek to get published. The list may consist of members of the news media, influencers, and professional experts in your field of expertise. It may also include book clubs, bookstore managers, librarians, and writer associations or industry trade organizations. Perhaps other authors in your genre? And of course, readers: genre fans. 

14. Learning/Training — No excuses here, unless you are dumb, but few writers are stupid. You must commit to continually upskill. Learning does not end with your formal schooling. Follow your curiosity and fill your needs by reading books, taking courses, attending seminars, or finding a coach to grow your skill and knowledge base.

15. Researching — Knowing how to find the information, people, or organizations that you seek to learn or meet is crucial to the author looking to penetrate the marketplace. Please spend an hour or two to brush up your research skills.  

16. Technical — Technology throws new databases, apps, gadgets, and inventions at us daily. Keep up and don’t just dismiss everything by professing to be a 20th century dinosaur or a tech Luddite.  

17. Negotiation — Negotiation skills come down to you making a big ask, rather than starting small. It means holding firm on what you are willing to settle for. It means knowing your worth and allowing confidence to buck fear. You can get what you want — but you need to want it.  

Whichever areas you find yourself lacking the skills, passion, time, knowledge or comfort level to handle, your choices are:  

* Mitigate or eliminate the need to do something

* Outsource a task if possible

* Do your best and suck it up

* Learn to do something better

* Ignore the task and accept the resulting toll  

Don't worry if you fall short of possessing any of these 17 skills. Just do your best to grow and do 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