Authors Must Say No To No

 

Authors are likely to hear “No” and experience rejection or be ignored more often than almost any professional salesperson. Get used to it. Expect it. Embrace it. Reject rejection!  Turn that frown upside down. 

How? 

·         By never giving up.

·         By not taking it personally.

·         By realizing the only thing that matters is a Yes, and not the 27 No’s leading up to it. 

When you get a No, you should: 

·         Try again — have them reconsider

·         Ask someone else 

·         Re-evaluate your needs/desires and what to ask for

·         Change your method of approach — in person, phone, email, text, social media, mail

·         Alter the substance and style of your pitch

·         Dig for more ammunition

·         Bluff and BS your way to an opportunity 

Be driven by a hope and desire that you won’t stop until you get what you want. This is all 

based on a blind belief that you can get what you want. Your confidence can be stronger than the insecurities or needs of others. 

You do not need to threaten or lie your way to success, though I suppose this can be part of the arsenal of some desperate people. 

The key to all of this is not to let a No to sound like the end or some final judgment. One No or a dozen No’s do not preclude you from trying again nor do they deny the fact that you may offer something of value. It just means that some circumstance in a specific situation led to a No.  

What could lead to a No? 

·         The person you asked misheard or misread your offer

·         That person was not in a good mood when approached 

·         That person was distracted, stressed out, or too exhausted to make an honest evaluation

·         You happened to ask when they were not open-minded or you asked at the wrong time 

It is also possible that your offer was: 

·         Boring

·         Made to the wrong person or organization

·         Mumbled and garbled in its delivery

·         Nothing special

·         Lacking urgency

·         Failing to highlight the best part of your offer 

So, doing a post-mortem audit of why you got rejected can help you realize changes are needed in your approach, ones that you can make, and that some of it is just bad luck or lousy timing. In other words, don’t give up. Make adjustments and try harder, smarter, and more often.  

Success is a numbers game. The more quality attempts that are made, the more chances you have of a Yes. The No’s mean nothing. 

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 11 million page views. With over 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