Should You Lie To Sell Your Book?

 

 

We all tell lies. It is just a matter of to what degree and how often we do so that separates each of us. Our lying is on a spectrum. For some, the stakes are high, like when a life is on the line — or a career, marriage, or business deal. Other times we lie for ego, friendship, convenience, and even for fun. But we all lie, and if not to others, to ourselves.

Should authors ever lie to market or sell their books?

Politicians lie. So do the police, lawyers, doctors, teachers, salespeople parents, store owners, anyone on a date, the military, and even dog walkers. We lie with the full intention to cover-up a negative, hype a positive, to stay away from a problem, or to position ourselves for a payday.

* We lie by cheating: in sports, relationships, and taxes.
* We lie by omission and intentional silence.
* We lie by not asking, reviewing, or researching.
* We lie by distortion.
* We lie when cheating or stealing.
* We lie by knowingly making empty threats.
* We lie by suppressing our feelings or views.

Oh, the lies we tell, so many, so often, to plenty of people on so many possible contexts. See this article about a study on lies and liars. It gives you insights on who lies and why they do so: https://www.uwlax.edu/currents/how-often-do-people-lie/

Should an author lie for an advantage — or at least not to be at a disadvantage? How can an author lie? Here are some examples:

* Fail to mention a bad review or only quote from the positive part of a mixed review.
* Do not double-check the information in their books.
* Plagiarize passages.
* Make up quotes in their non-fiction book.
* Hype a book they know is ordinary at best.
* Fake their background qualifications or origin story.
* Pay for something, like a customer review or use AI, but do not make it clear that they did so.
* Get testimonials from friends/family but a conflict-of-interest is not stated.
* Make up reviews or endorsements.
* Intentionally pass along fiction as fact.
* Distort or manipulate images as being natural.

There is a long list of liars and the types of lies they perpetuate. Some people use lying as a default, addicted to saying untruths and avoiding the fallout of real-life wrongs. Their go-to is simply to overstate positives, understate negatives, obfuscate, avoid unfavorable truths, and manipulate information, images, and ideas in order to position them for an undeserved advantage, pay-off, or advancement.

Today’s world lives on a trust-truth spectrum that ranges from serial liars to one-time white lie perpetrators. It could be illegal, certainly is not ethical, and sometimes can be very costly. Writers should not lie, but they might do so at times. But lying cannot be a strategy, a tool that you keep resorting to. Eventually you get caught or feel the guilt of lying and the fear of getting caught. It eats at you.

We should never lie to market or sell a book, but each author has to make a choice as to what he or she will do. 

What will you do?

 

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 5,850,000 page views. With 5,600+ 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