How do you sell more copies of your book?
I am sure you have a lot of answers, including:
* Going viral online and mastering social media
* Being published by Penguin Random House
* Getting a big-name blurb for the cover
* Writing a book with obvious commercial appeal
* Selling the movie rights to the book
While having any of the above can give you a distinct advantage, none of them guarantees huge sales success. But if I were to identify the key elements for an author to focus on, it would be these three steps:
1. Plan, Outreach, and Follow-Up.
2. Invest Time, Money, and Effort.
3. Do What Is Obtainable, Copy What Others Do Well, and Compete Where No One Knows A Game Is Being Played.
Let’s probe this further.
1a. To succeed at any business venture, you need to have a concrete marketing plan that has an extended timeline with goals, tasks, and measurable metrics to evaluate progress clearly delineated. You need deadlines for each of the small steps that lead to achieving your goals. Knowing what to do, dividing up the tasks, and identifying your resources or assets is the critical first step here.
1b. Next, is the harder part: Take action! Execute your plan by actually doing — not thinking or talking. Make calls, send emails, do your eblasts. Order paid book reviews, submit to book awards, and be active on social media.
1c. Once you have a plan and begin your outreach you will need to follow-up several times with people who ignored you until you get a result. Further, you will need to follow-up with those who showed even vague interest in your book. Persistence is a requirement here.
2a. Time is a valuable commodity but it is the asset that you have that can jumpstart things. If you pour all of your free time into writing and little to marketing, you will get nowhere slowly. There is no debate here: you have to invest some time into tending to the marketing of your brand and the selling of your book. You can’t outsource everything, even if you could afford to do so.
2b. Money is another crucial asset that will be needed to promote your book. You likely will spend funds on ads, a publicist, a marketing consultant, paid book reviews, book award applications, travel, and other crucial areas. You will likely lose money on the first book but that is okay. You will experiment and learn as to what works for you, and along the way, you will establish your author brand. Knowing what to spend your money on — and who with — is the issue, but debating over whether to spend money on promotions is not a debate you need to engage in.
2c. So, along with time invested into marketing comes a close cousin: effort. Showing up is half the challenge but the quality of effort is just as important as the quantity of such. You need to be ready to work hard, smart, and passionately. Effort means having the mental resilience to making call number 20 despite 19 rejections. It means communicating with enthusiasm, confidence, and optimism. It also means being organized, disciplined, and motivated. To always drive forward, against the odds or just a low-energy day, is what will create opportunities for a breakthrough.
3a. There is low-hanging fruit that all should pursue. Always do what is obtainable to help grow sales. This means do what is in your control. You don’t need permission to have a blog, post on social media, or buy book reviews. You can easily contact local news media and bookstores. You can attend writer association meetings and apply for book awards or take out ads.
3b. Best practices. Follow what most publishers and authors do that actually works. Have some role models to copy from. Common sense, creativity, and assertiveness should lead the way.
3c. Do what others won’t or can’t do — or don’t even think to do. Don’t sell lemonade across the street from another lemonade stand — find a desert to set up shop. Sell your book at an automotive repair shop — people are waiting around for service with nothing to do. Offer college students a 25% cut of the profits to sell your book for you. Offer a 50% discount to a charity to resell your books to raise money for itself. Have an organization hand your book out for free as a gift from them to members or new members, while giving you exposure for your writings. You can think of a hundred more things. Try one.
I hope you realize that you have within you
all that is needed to sell more copies of your book. Even if you feel you fall
short in some of these areas, lean harder on your strengths. Now go out and
sell some books!
Do You Need Book Marketing 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
5,000,000 pageviews. With 5,400+ posts over the past 14 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 was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.