Is Your Book Any Good?

 

Many writers who contact me about marketing their book will ask me if I think their book is good — or even great. It is asked out of ego, in part, but also in terms of marketing practicality. They don’t want to invest if their publicist is not jazzed about their book. I have two options: lie or tell the truth. One nets me business, one does not. I take a middle ground: muted truth. If I love it, I say so. If I think it is pedestrian, I only suggest certain services that have a chance of success. But if it is bad, I walk away. The truth is, I can market a mediocre, even a bad book, but that could injure my reputation and the long-term benefits of a publicity campaign for a book that won’t get strong word-of-mouth traction will be zero for the author. So, I have a responsibility to all involved. It is easier to spot a bad book than a great one. It us subjective, of course, but bad books tend to be boring, confusing, or too similar to so many other books. They tend to also be too long, repetitive, structurally unsound, and even filled with spelling and grammatical issues. A book is only as good as the collective of readers who say it is so. If a few say it is great or sucks, but most say it is good, then the majority rules. As people or the world change, so will the way people come to value or view your book. As time goes on, new voices arise to meet the challenges of new circumstances, and prior voices to outdated times begin to lack the importance, creativity, or stylistic uniqueness they originally once seemed to hold. When time has marched on, the context in which a book was birthed may be needed to explain its current value. Is your book any good? You should know without asking. If it is exceptionally good or bad, people will voluntarily tell you. When it is mediocre, few say anything unless solicited, and even then, honest feedback is rare, especially from a pay-to-say book promoter. Perhaps a don’t ask, don’t tell approach would serve everyone well, but writers demand, even deserve, to know what people think of their book. And readers deserve the right to unleash criticism, heap lavish praise, or remain quiet. Is your book any good? Let’s see what your book has to say on that.

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 6,200,000 page views. With 5,600+ posts over the past 15 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) and (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/10-things-my-dog-taught-me-about-marketing-books). 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, three times at BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, five times at Morgan James Publishing Red Carpet, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.