The 17 Things Authors Must Do – NOW!!

Authors have many different ways to market their brand and book, but there are many, many concrete steps all authors should pursue. Here are 17 things any author seeking success should do:

1.      Have a web site. Do not rely on a blog, your social media, or a PO Box. You need a web site.

2.      Make a business card. Do you plan to meet people? Have a card to hand them. Don’t just blurt out an Instagram address. You need a card.

3.      Have a 30-second elevator speech at the ready. No more fumbling when someone asks what your book is about.

4.      Have active social media accounts, choosing amongst Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, You tube, Pinterest, and Linked In.

5.      Make sure your web site biography and social media profiles have been revised and updated. No one wants to see outdated stuff.

6.      Seek out some paid book reviews to gain third-party legitimacy for your book.

7.      Develop a daily schedule for marketing activities. Plan to succeed by planning ahead.

8.      Develop either a blog, podcast, or video channel – or all three. Post on a schedule. Create an editorial calendar and stock up on content.

9.      Craft a press kit for the media.,

10.  Create a speaker’s list to pursue speaking opportunities.

11.  Develop several email pitches to pursue:

--Speaking engagements

--Networking

--Media appearances

--Automated messages for certain situations

12.  Identify content to give away as an inducement to capture the email contact info of those that download the material. This will build your mailing list.

13.  Craft a flier/brochure/postcard about your book that can be mailed or handed out. It is old school, but it works.

14.  Think of who you know and what you can barter with that will help improve your book sales.

15.  Develo0p referral partners, people who can feed you introductions to book sales. Collaborate and strategically form alliances.

16.  Identify where you need help and then hire a pro and/or learn how to do things and attend educational seminars.

17.  Identify who your targeted reader is so you know who you should be chasing down. What do they read? Where do they circulate? What are their demographics? How can you appeal to their needs or desires?

People do business with those they know, trust, like, and see as a resource. Polish your sales skills. The effectiveness of any one strategy will vary from person to person, book to book, but your abilities, energy, and knowledge will play a key role in your success as an author.

Learn, Grow, Succeed!!

Are You A Book Marketing Badass?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/are-you-book-marketing-badass.html

The Ultimate 2021 Book Marketing Guide

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-ultimate-2021-book-marketing.html

33 Ways Authors tie Their Book To The News

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/33-ways-authors-tie-their-story-into.html

Authors Should Embrace The Butterfly Effect

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/authors-should-embrace-butterfly-effect.html

Don’t Pardon Book Industry Scoundrels, Failures & Losers

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/dont-pardon-book-industry-scoundrels.html

Authors Need to Know Why They Write Books

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/authors-need-to-know-why-they-write.html

Authors Want Their Drop-The-Mic Moment

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/authors-want-their-drop-mic-moment.html

Do Writers Know The Power They Wield?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/do-writers-know-power-they-yield.html

How Authors Should Build A Platform

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/how-authors-should-build-platform.html

Brian Feinblum, the founder of BookMarketingBuzzBlog, can be reached at  brianfeinblum@gmail.com.  You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2021. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This 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 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. 

Car Shield For Authors?

During the pandemic, I have been working from home for 10 months, I became inundated with one commercial on television, as I used the background sounds of TV to make up for the lack of office sounds. Car Shield, the auto repair insurance company, has been hawked relentlessly and aggressively by famous pitchmen, including the rapper-turned-actor Ice T. I am almost tempted to get it for my 110,000-mile Buick Enclave. It has occurred to me that authors may want to buy such insurance for their publishing ventures – if it existed.

Car Shield sounds promising, paying for repairs that could run into the thousands, for a mere monthly premium that ranges from $79 to $99 per month. What if authors could insure themselves against the expenses they inevitably face – editing, publishing, promoting, advertising, etc.?

No one would sell such insurance. It is a loser. Authors will no doubt spend thousands, even give figures, to pursue their publishing and promotion dreams. It is an investment, a down payment on fame.

Millions of writers explore how to publish and brand their works because they are passionate and confident about what they have written. They want to change the world, become famous, and make a few dollars, too.

An author’s best insurance policy is to find ways to cut costs. For instance, if you build up your social media sphere of influence, you may not have to pay as much to a promoter to grow your brand. If you land a literary agent and publisher, you don’t have to self-publish. If you build up your speaking and visibility, you make it easier to sell books.

But most authors need professional assistance, wither to establish their brand or to grow it. Even best-selling authors need to make an effort to sustain their success – and to remain relevant and even grow their readership.

Authors need to move forward accepting the realities of what it will take – time, money, luck, and networking – to become relevant, forceful writers can look at insurance differently. The reverse happens – they pay now and then lower premiums later. Thy can insure a bright future by investing now.

So, instead of thinking how to cut corners or spend less now, authors should open up the bank account to get started and positioning themselves for long-term success. See yourself is a new business launching an IPO. But before you draw in investors, invest in yourself. You can be your own Car Shield.

Learn, Grow, Succeed!!

Are You A Book Marketing Badass?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/are-you-book-marketing-badass.html

The Ultimate 2021 Book Marketing Guide

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-ultimate-2021-book-marketing.html

33 Ways Authors tie Their Book To The News

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/33-ways-authors-tie-their-story-into.html

Authors Should Embrace The Butterfly Effect

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/authors-should-embrace-butterfly-effect.html

Don’t Pardon Book Industry Scoundrels, Failures & Losers

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/dont-pardon-book-industry-scoundrels.html

Authors Need to Know Why They Write Books

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/authors-need-to-know-why-they-write.html

Authors Want Their Drop-The-Mic Moment

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/authors-want-their-drop-mic-moment.html

Do Writers Know The Power They Wield?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/do-writers-know-power-they-yield.html

How Authors Should Build A Platform

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/how-authors-should-build-platform.html

Brian Feinblum, the founder of BookMarketingBuzzBlog, can be reached at  brianfeinblum@gmail.com.  You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2021. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This 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 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. 

A One Act Play In Search Of Hope

 

Every so often I get the grandiose notion that I could write one great play and have the world change as a result of the spoken words I funnel through some acting vessels. I can picture the lights being laser-focused on the soliloquy of one actor, where some insightful, emotionally stirring ideas and firm declarations are spewed across the stage as if they were sunlight and water showering a barren wasteland, nurturing the distraught and dying souls of humanity.

There would be an unmistakable, yet unfamiliar, group feeling of love, hope, and peace swelling in the energized theater. Words, for once, would become real and tangible, taking human form and becoming physical tools to fix the broken world. Our individual pains would transition to become a collective, curative force. Rather than turning on ourselves or each other we would unite to attack the forces that conspire to make this world a confusing, conflicted, and often challenging place.

But alas, I have not even penned a single page of this life-altering, society-shaping manifesto destined for Broadway.

Enter stage left.

It all lives within me, dancing on the periphery, where art and existence are clearly bordered apart. My hopes and visions crowd a neutral zone of the mind, not steeped fully in the imagination nor grounded in reality. They float, without a home, vagabond thoughts denied a destiny or forum.

Sometimes I feel that I have so much to say, but the words pile up into a burdensome mountain. They need to come out of me, to infuse others and become the roads and staircases to a better place. But they, instead, rot my gut like an aging landfill that no longer can take in anymore garbage. No more room for unlived wishes and silenced hopes. Not a centimeter of space can be salvaged to house another unfulfilled thought.

We can be taunted by our pent-up desires, needs, and dreams. But there are safety valves that can be triggered, some of which are mere doomsday pills that launch us into the dark voids located between familiar pain and the unknown.

We can cross a line and live in our insanity, where we forever are out of control and isolated from another understanding soul, where we live at the mercy of our medications and latest treatments touted by therapists who no more have their act together than any of us.

Or we can go to battle with reality. And get frustrated, angry, fearful, and depressed, fighting a losing battle. Our addictions and abusive ways, used to cope with a world that falls far short of being idealistic, eventually force us to crash and burn — and submit to the flawed ways of the universe.

Or we can simply silence ourselves and stop letting our minds wander beyond our means to act. We can just disappear from an unforgiving life. We can simply erase our mistake-filled lives by ceasing to participate in the cruel games of the world.

The play ends.

The applause is deafening, blinding us to the outside world and its history of violence, ignorance, and loneliness. For a moment and place, the theater allows for us to sit protectively in a temple of soul-searching, eye-awakening, heart-pumping proclamations, prayers, and possibilities.

Will tomorrow be different? Will I think different thoughts? Will you react differently to me?

The curtain collapses to the worn wooden floors and the crowds empty out. Did any of the hundreds of thousands of spoken words from the play pierce the air and enter inside anyone’s sense of being? Did anything change?

If language is merely a construct used to explain the unforgivable and unattainable, does it really do us any good? We need a language that does not merely diagnose, but rather cures. Do such words exist?

 

Learn, Grow, Succeed!!

Are You A Book Marketing Badass?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/are-you-book-marketing-badass.html

The Ultimate 2021 Book Marketing Guide

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-ultimate-2021-book-marketing.html

33 Ways Authors tie Their Book To The News

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/33-ways-authors-tie-their-story-into.html

Authors Should Embrace The Butterfly Effect

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/authors-should-embrace-butterfly-effect.html

Don’t Pardon Book Industry Scoundrels, Failures & Losers

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/dont-pardon-book-industry-scoundrels.html

Authors Need to Know Why They Write Books

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/authors-need-to-know-why-they-write.html

Authors Want Their Drop-The-Mic Moment

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/authors-want-their-drop-mic-moment.html

Do Writers Know The Power They Wield?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/do-writers-know-power-they-yield.html

How Authors Should Build A Platform

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/how-authors-should-build-platform.html

Brian Feinblum, the founder of BookMarketingBuzzBlog, can be reached at  brianfeinblum@gmail.com.  You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2021. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This 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 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. 

 

Books Fail to Break Top 100 Site Traffic

 

This past year led people in droves to further find solace in web surfing, seeking to find purpose and meaning — or just a roll of toilet paper — online. So what can we glean from the clicking habits of Americans?

I viewed the top 100 sites, by traffic, according to www.semrudh.com in November, and the findings reveal some expected things (Google is the most popular site), social media was next (youtube and Facebook), and right after is shopping (amazon). This is what we do: search, socialize online, and shop.

News didn’t come up until No. 12 — CNN.com, but XXX came up seventh (PornHub). So we are more informed about a MILF doing the dirty deed with a BBC than we are about global issues or neighborhood news.

Ebay, walmart and craigslist were other shopping sites in the top 15. More social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram also rounded out the top 15. No sports, arts, or educational sites cracked the top 15.

Surprisingly apple was 39th, and Netflix was 44th on the list. Not surprisingly, no travel sites made it to the top 100.

Sadly, there was not one book-centric site to break the top 100, though three spots were taken for sites dedicated to weather and five for porn. That is right: no listings for Barnes and Noble, Publishers Weekly, American Library Association, GoodReads, or anything about books, reading, publishing, libraries could be found.

Are our teachers, librarians, parents, publishers, bookstores, non-profits, or government agencies working on a unified solution to help us breakthrough the digital search that clutters America’s minds?

Maybe we need to showcase books on porn, weather, and tech sites?

For books to infuse the soul and transport our mind, we need to see books pushed to the front and center. Otherwise, get used to a society well-versed in rain patterns, that feasts on sexual positions but is book-anorexic.

Learn, Grow, Succeed!!

Are You A Book Marketing Badass?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/are-you-book-marketing-badass.html

The Ultimate 2021 Book Marketing Guide

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-ultimate-2021-book-marketing.html

33 Ways Authors tie Their Book To The News

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/33-ways-authors-tie-their-story-into.html

Authors Should Embrace The Butterfly Effect

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/authors-should-embrace-butterfly-effect.html

Don’t Pardon Book Industry Scoundrels, Failures & Losers

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/dont-pardon-book-industry-scoundrels.html

Authors Need to Know Why They Write Books

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/authors-need-to-know-why-they-write.html

Authors Want Their Drop-The-Mic Moment

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/authors-want-their-drop-mic-moment.html

Do Writers Know The Power They Wield?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/do-writers-know-power-they-yield.html

How Authors Should Build A Platform

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/how-authors-should-build-platform.html

Brian Feinblum, the founder of BookMarketingBuzzBlog, can be reached at  brianfeinblum@gmail.com.  You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2021. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This 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 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. 

What If More Men Read Books?

 

After reading a gushing full-page piece in the Sunday New York Times Book Review about a book called The Silence, by Don Delillo, a National Book Award-winning author with 50 years of great sci-fi books to his credit, I committed to getting a copy.

Then I shared my offer to a group of four other guys that I daily chat with on politics, the Jets, and the oddities of life: Let’s all read it and discuss it.

I was never a part of a book group and didn’t consider this one-off as the launching of something bigger, but to my delight not only did four out of five of us agree to read it, but we all agreed to keep this going and to pick another book soon.

Unfortunately the book failed to live up to its hype, despite such a promising story idea, and the four of us unanimously bashed it for leaving us wanting much more. It didn’t help that it was a 117-page double-spaced pamphlet of a novel. Not that we weigh books to surmise value, but few novels of quality come in below 240 pages, if not 320 or more.

The setting? It is 2022 and suddenly there is a global blackout and our devices are rendered useless. Technology was now the enemy of an existence that has grown dependent on it. This could have gotten psychological and philosophical. It could have had survivalist overtones and chaos on the streets. Instead, we got very little to chew on.

But that exercise of group reading was a success, despite the book being a dud. Male book groups are in the minority. But if we can launch one, maybe others can too. Imagine how healthy the book industry would be if men bought more books and talked them up not just with each other but to friends and family the way we discuss Netflix movies or a Hulu series?

Women by far dominate book publishing. They are our editors, promoters, and literary agents. They also buy and read many more books than those with an extra X and y chromosome. If men start to buy more books, imagine the boom in the book world. And if they read more books, imagine how informed, enlightened, and inspired they would be.  Books lead the way to a civil society.

Men, start suggesting you form book clubs via zoom with friends, family, or colleagues. Don’t worry if you pick a disappointing book. As with our group, we caught the book discussion bug, and once you are infected there is no vaccine or cure other than to keep reading and discussing books. Help make books go viral and perhaps we will cause a book pandemic!

 

Learn, Grow, Succeed!!

Are You A Book Marketing Badass?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/are-you-book-marketing-badass.html

The Ultimate 2021 Book Marketing Guide

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-ultimate-2021-book-marketing.html

33 Ways Authors tie Their Book To The News

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/33-ways-authors-tie-their-story-into.html

Authors Should Embrace The Butterfly Effect

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/authors-should-embrace-butterfly-effect.html

Don’t Pardon Book Industry Scoundrels, Failures & Losers

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/dont-pardon-book-industry-scoundrels.html

Authors Need to Know Why They Write Books

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/authors-need-to-know-why-they-write.html

Authors Want Their Drop-The-Mic Moment

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/authors-want-their-drop-mic-moment.html

Do Writers Know The Power They Wield?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/do-writers-know-power-they-yield.html

How Authors Should Build A Platform

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/how-authors-should-build-platform.html

Brian Feinblum, the founder of BookMarketingBuzzBlog, can be reached at  brianfeinblum@gmail.com.  You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2020. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This 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 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.