Book Marketing That Cures The Disease of Poor Book Sales

 

 

Authors are bombarded with rumors, advertisements, amateur advice, or professional guidance — much of which may not be accurate, relevant, or tested. In short, authors don’t know what to do -- and do nothing — or they act on information that is biased, inaccurate, a scam, or simply not ideal for their situation.

I hear…

* One needs to be on Tik Tok
* You have to hire influencers
* We need to do Facebook ads
* You should have a trailer
* One has to get 50 amazon reviews

Is any of it valid?

This works, that doesn’t.

All day and night authors get advice, much of it bad, on what to do — or not — when it comes to marketing a book.

Just like my wife’s patients (she is a nutritionist) hear about fad diets, fake news, and incomplete medical advice, too many writers:

* Are exposed to bad information
* Lack accurate information
* Hear incomplete information
* Misunderstand or misinterpret what they learn
* Assume they know it all

Authors need to act on accurate, complete, and unbiased information. So, what should authors do to generate more book sales?

1. Have a game plan for your book and for you as a writer. Think through what you hope to accomplish and explore which marketing options would serve you best.

2. Be prepared for a trifecta approach: you will do some marketing, you will hire a book marketing pro to help; and there are some things that will just not get done and you will have to simply accept it.

3. Designate three time budgets: time to strategize; time to execute; time to evaluate, make adjustments, and follow-up.

4. Delegate a budget for things that you are unable to do.

5. Be mindful to craft a campaign around your book’s genre. The key areas tend to be: social media, news media, book awards, speaking engagements, book reviews, and sales efforts tailored to your targeted readership.

Books that are not marketed at all go unread.
Books that are marketed incorrectly produce few sales.
Books that are marketed well, but only for short bursts of time, will not build enough word-of-mouth.

Book marketing is a daily event that is done over a sustained period of time. If done well, it will cure the disease of anonymity.

 

 

Do You Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum 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 5,400,000 page views. With 5,500+ 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 2026.

 

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.

 

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