Could You Write A Great Book & Market It?

 

 

Can a great writer also be a great marketer?

I always wonder what people would be like in a different setting than the one I see them in. Is the assertive leader at work a bad father at home? Is the aggressive pickleball player with a hard serve a bad driver with no confidence? Is the attractive-looking stranger a horror to listen to?

Everyone who has strengths will have weaknesses. It all depends on the task at hand and the circumstances. In fact, it is quite likely that the better you are at one thing, the worse you will be at something else, for who can be great at everything, all of the time?

And sometimes the stress of our strength or the ego trip that goes with power thrusts us into negative territory and permits us to pursue dangerous behavior.

Some star musicians are drug addicts. Some CEOs cheat on their spouses. Some professional athletes are domestic abusers. Some priests sexually assault kids. Some politicians are corrupt.

Not all, some. Maybe even many.

A great strength or power does not have to be offset by criminal or self-destructive behavior, but it happens often. Still, for most people, for every great asset or skill comes an equally bad deficit. They may not hurt anyone, but they fail miserably in other settings.

We can’t have it all, can we? Workaholics are not exactly family focused. People who are competitive and aggressive are successful in business but not necessarily at home. Those who are very physical may not be intellectual and vice versa. It is hard to turn off a core asset that gets us something, but in certain situations, that very skill can work against you.

Great writers are often not great marketers. Why?

Time — They simply do not have enough time to excel at both.

The way they think —

Ego — They think they should not have to market themselves, that great works simply get discovered and are owed a readership.

Skills — They can write, read, research, and edit but do not know how to persuasively talk to others about themselves, lack techno skills, or don’t know how to push others or themselves.

Knowledge — They know the craft if writing but think Tik Tok is the sound of a clock.

Strategy — They can be creative at writing but not opportunistic or market-savvy.

What great writers need to strive for is to be decent enough at marketing that they can be aware of what needs to be done, hire help for some or many tasks, and to be proficient at executing selected undertakings.

For everything that we do, many more things are not done. For each thing we do well, an equal number of things will get done poorly. The assets that you have led to other deficits. I don’t know that you can call it Feinblum’s Law of Ability, though it has a ring to it, but it should ring true to you.

Authors need to achieve more by way of marketing and generating book sales. The skill of being a great writer and that of a great marketer are not mutually exclusive, but we are all limited by many factors as to how many things we can be great at. Writers can’t afford to lack in the marketing department and they can’t sacrifice any of the resources that make them great writers, so the answer is writers have to give something else up.

Look at your career and personal lives. What aspects of either can be traded in to give you more time, money, and mindshare to both write and market. Something has to give.

Or, remain the greatest unknown, unread writer. You might as well write under the name of Anonymous if you don’t address the marketing deficiency.

You can be great at several things, such as writing and marketing, but be prepared to fail at many other things.

 

Who Do Authors Write For?

America does not stay put in one spot. Its demographics, habits, hobbies, and perspectives change.  We see shifts in political alliances, changes in entertainment, and even alterations to the jobs we seek. People’s tastes, needs, and desires change.  This holds true even for how our members of our nation choose which books to read and how they interpret or appreciate them. So, for whom does the author write for today? Does he or she or they write only for a targeted demographic? Are genres evolving too?

 

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 8,600,000 page views. With nearly 5,700+ 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 2026, 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