Authors Must Break The Rules!

The world has laws, rules, standards, and ethics to guide our actions. This is a good thing— we want to live within a society that mutually values a fair, peaceful, and respectful lifestyle. But when it comes to marketing a book, it might be time to go outside your boundaries, whether real or self-imposed. 

Many of us, maybe to a fault, not only observe these rules and polite gestures, but we let them create a construct that holds us back from living a more fulfilling life, and may even retard your success for marketing your book.

First, let’s distinguish a clear difference in the things that seem to dictate our actions:

Laws: criminal and civil. Violate a criminal law and you may go to jail.  A civil violation of the law results in a financial penalty. In either case, there is usually a disincentive to break the law, but in some cases, there may be a low risk of getting caught, low risk of prosecution, and a high chance of a negligible penalty. In other words, you can pull a prank, not a robbery.

Rules: these are imposed by organizations and institutions, like a homeowners association, a business, or a school. Violate a rule and you might lose usage privileges, pay a small financial penalty, or get expelled/fired. You need to determine which rules you can afford to break.

Standards: common practices within an industry. What is typically done does not have to be done. But customs and expected treatment are predictable, as is mutual politeness or the providing of some amenities that people come to expect. You can set new standards and traditions.

Ethics: these are the moral drivers of society in terms of how humans are expected to treat one another. Specific industries have ethical codes as well. One can act unethically, but should they?  

As an author or as a citizen here, you may feel you have contracted with society to behave in a certain way, one that you expect others to live by. But you have more latitude than you think. Determine what limitations are self-imposed, and which are not. What has major consequences, if ignored or violated, and what doesn’t.   

As an author looking to break out, you will need to unshackle from unnecessary restraints that you allowed to be placed on you.  

Does this imply you should be mean or a jerk? No, but it does mean there are more ways to pursue something that is customary. Reset your norms and turn things upside down.   

Lawyers do it all of the time, finding a technicality or loophole to get what they want. Accountants too. Lobbyists use legal bribes and people in power pull strings for friends and family. Authors need to see what they can circumvent, ignore, or enforce that will get them what they want.  

What is an example of breaking the rules for authors?  

That is up to you to determine. Make your own playbook. Be creative. Question things. Take the initiative rather than be reactive. Combine things you never thought would go together. Break out of expected patterns. Don’t follow a path that guarantees you will lag behind others; create a new one. 

 

 

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/