Contributed by Brian Feinblum
We know that creating a book is a labor of love—and time and money. But the biggest commitment you’ll make that will have the greatest effect on sales comes once the book is printed and ready to be sold. You need an aggressive publicity and marketing plan—or else your book will be lost in the wave of 175,000 new books published annually. That’s five hundred books published every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. And when you’re promoting your book, particularly to the news media, you need to make it stand out.
The best way to show off your book’s uniqueness is to make it personal. If you want to differentiate your book from others on a similar topic, don’t just focus on the content—spotlight your own story. No other authors, no matter their subject matter, can offer your story, your perspective. You are one of a kind (at least until cloning becomes legal), so make the most of it!
Every day I receive calls from authors and potential clients with diet books, first-time novels, tomes on how to make money, books on how to improve relationships, compilations of 500 tasty recipes, or literature about how God spoke to them. In one week I may speak to several people with books in each genre. If you want to be noticed, my advice is to link your work to who you are—your experiences, your credentials, your personality. We must hear a unique voice from the author, particularly when the books begin to sound and look alike.
So the next time you promote your book, discuss yourself and you’ll leave a more memorable impression.
Brian Feinblum is the Chief Marketing Officer of Planned Television Arts, one of the nation’s leading book publicity firms. Consult www.plannedtvarts.com or contact Brian at feinblumb@plannedtvarts.com.
Tags: book promotion, Brian Feinblum, labor of love, marketing, Planned Television Arts, publicity, publicity firms
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I agree. I have a personal web site for people to get to know me as an individual, not an author, because I hate hats, masks, and titles. I want people to see who I am as a real person, not another character in my fiction. I received 116 hits in its first 72 hours. My web site has made some people laugh; some people cry, and some both laugh and cry. Only one person has remarked it’s too personal. Read it yourself and see what you think.
I do not know how this is going to affect my booksales yet, since I just posted it three days ago. On my web site, I only tell people about my books, but not where and how to buy my books, at least not until my marketing web site is posted. If they really want my books badly, they can wait.
Ruowen Wang
http://www.ruowenwang.com