What Holds Authors Back?

What is messing up an author’s thinking? There are many authors who self-sabotage themselves when it comes to marketing their books. They come in a bunch of flavors: 1. Crippled by a fear of failure or success 2. Make the wrong assumptions about readers, the news media, what should be done, etc. 3. Utilize bad data or crappy advice 4. Unawareness of what can be done to market a book successfully 5. Ego: you think readers will flock to a great book without marketing 6. Doesn’t acknowledge the competition 7. Procrastinate 8. Whine and complain but don’t take action 9. Fail to experiment or diversify marketing efforts 10. Unwilling to take a risk 11. Too cheap to hire help, too lazy to do things themselves. 12. Lack the knowledge, guidance, or skills — and fail to take steps to learn. So, what must you do to overcome self-sabotage when it comes to the marketing of your book? First, recognize the symptoms to this disease and agree that you, too, suffer from this. You can’t fix a problem that you did not know exists or acknowledge. Second, assess how much each factor really stands in your way and rank them, from biggest factor to least. Start to think of potential solutions to overcoming these barriers. Third, start instituting the solutions, which may include: * Seeing a therapist * Hiring a book marketing coach * Outsourcing specific marketing tasks * Making a budget of your time and money that could be allocated to book marketing * Identifying and questioning your goals and motives as it relates to your book * Accepting your weaknesses and shortcomings and acknowledging that some things will not improve, get done, or be adequate, just like you live with knowing parts of your life fall short of your goals, needs, or ideals My message to all writers is: Move forward and take control of what can be done to get your book out there. That means changing how you view things, trying new methods, doing more, and doing things better. Restart yourself with a new mindset coupled with renewed hope and enthusiasm and plan to work harder, longer, and smarter.

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.

 

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