There are many mistakes that authors
must not make. Some will waste your time and others will destroy opportunities
or cost you money. The good news is that the vast majority of these errors are
identifiable and avoidable.
Let’s examine what could and should be averted — and may this exploration
process encourage authors to take ownership of their marketing. You don’t need
anyone’s permission to succeed, so get out there and make your book a success!
1. Missing Deadlines
This is a no-brainer. Promoting a book has a
definitive timeline. There are things you can do as much as six months prior to
publication — establishing your social media presence, creating a website,
conducting marketing research, seeking out testimonials, etc. Concretely,
certain types of news media demand you send them a galley or advance review
copy a good four months prior to your planned publication date. For instance, a
woman’s magazine, a book review publication like Publishers Weekly, a
national network or cable morning television show, or a major trade publication
each require a good amount of lead time to determine what or how they plan to
do with you and your book. Work ahead and honor real deadlines.
2. Failing To Plan
Book marketing effectively requires a solid
plan. This includes budgeting your time and money towards identified goals.
Factor in who may help you, timelines, and costs, and identify the metrics to
judge the efficacy of your actions. Plan ahead and focus on details. Think of
what you want to accomplish and work backwards from there. For instance, say
you want to speak at a bookstore in a city you will be visiting. You will need
to contact them 8-12 weeks prior to that date. Want to advertise at a
conference? Find out when the deadline is to buy space and to supply the ad
content. Want to market your book as a tie-in to an event, holiday, or
anniversary? Plan ahead by several months or more.
3. Not Executing Regularly
You can analyze and plan — but then you need
to execute said plan. Not just once or every now and then, but every day. You
must persist and push forward, building on yesterday, striving towards a better
tomorrow.
4. Acting On Bad Advice
Many authors act on little guidance, and of
what they do consume, much of it can be lousy advice. They learn from authors
who failed. They learn from people who don’t know better. They must rely on
useful and respectful sources of information and not think that a random YouTuber
is going to save them. Worse, sometimes, is to rely on a successful author, one
who perhaps merely broke the odds and had a lucky breakthrough or had help from
people that you could never have access to, and all of a sudden you take advice
from a unicorn.
5. Falling For BS Offers
Authors, beware. There are a lot of crappy
offers out there from some very good hustlers. I have seen what authors receive
because they share them with me. They get emails saying they were selected to
be considered for representation by a literary agent or that someone wants to
seek out a film deal for their book. They are usually just solicitations to get
authors thinking they are closer to getting a publisher or Netflix to work with
them when all they are really getting closer to is paying for something useless
that never leads to what they were hoping to get. These letters usually
capitalize the wrong words, have misspellings, and are generic. They may even
address you by both first and last name instead of one or the other. These
people can’t be trusted.
6. Not Allowing Enough Time To Market
This is an easy one to avoid or fix. Designate
a certain amount of time daily to marketing your book. I know you want to
write, have work, chores, and other desires and demands, but your book won’t
market itself. Discovery depends on you. If you don’t schedule time to market,
you quickly fall into a bad pattern, and then feel guilty and burdened. Simply
put aside even 15 minutes a day to do something for your book.
7. Handling Rejection From The Media Poorly
Just because you got a bad review or the eight
news outlets that you emailed for an interview ignored you doesn’t mean you
failed nor should you give up. You only fail once you give up. Trying and
falling short of a win is actually contributing to you breaking through. The
more rejections you rack up, the more likely a yes is around the corner. It is
a numbers game. Make them be in your favor.
8. Missing Opportunities & Failing To Create New Ones
If luck is about being in the right place at
the right time, then authors need to get out there and put themselves in a
position to take advantage of an opportunity. Often, successful authors create
their opportunities. You can’t wait back for an invite to a party. Simply
create the party. You don’t win by following all of the rules. Break a few. Be
prepared to do what others don’t. Find a way to create circumstances that are
favorable to you.
9. Failure To Outsource When You Lack Marketing Knowledge & PR
Skills
I admit I am not too handy at home. When I
need a plumber, electrician, or roofer, I call one. Same can be true with book
marketing for many authors. I am your book marketing plumber! Call in a pro
when you lack the skills, knowledge, or confidence to promote yourself.
Need PR Help?
Brian
Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over 3.9 million page
views, can be reached at [email protected] He is available to help authors promote their story,
sell their book, and grow their 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
Brian Feinblum should be
followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is
copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. 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. His writings are often featured in The
Writer and IBPA’s The Independent. This
award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 4,900+ posts
over the past dozen 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.” For the past three decades,
including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book
publicity firm, and director of publicity positions 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. He
hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and
has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence
College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association,
Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and
Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. 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.
