4 Ways to Immediately Improve Your Book Marketing Efforts

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When I see bad book marketing out in the wild, I wish I could do something productive to help that author (or sometimes publisher!) see how they’re wasting their time.

What is bad book marketing? It’s whenever I receive:

  • A tweet from a total stranger asking me to look at their book
  • An e-mail from a total stranger asking me to look at their book
  • A Facebook message from a total stranger asking me to look at their book

And so on—I think you get the idea.

Here are 4 ways to immediately improve your book marketing efforts. Perhaps you should save the link to this post, and offer it up via Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail to anyone engaging in time-wasting activity as described above.

1. Use your website for hard selling. Do not lean on social media for hard selling. Social media typically works best for long-term awareness efforts, relationship building, audience development, and general networking. It is not terribly effective for repeatedly telling people, in your own voice, over and over again, “Buy my book.” All of the information about why people might like your book—along with the hard-hitting sales pitch—should be on your website. If you don’t have your own website where you control the content and presentation, it’s next to impossible to have a successful book marketing campaign.

2. Brainstorm a list of all the meaningful relationships you have—people who you can count on to read your e-mails. Divide the list into three groups: (a) people who would probably like to be alerted to your new work, e.g., old classmates or coworkers, (b) people who have significant reach or influence with your target readership, e.g., a blogger or established author, and (c) your existing and devoted fans who may be willing to spread the word about your new work to their friends and connections. For Group A, write a brief announcement and include a link to your website for all the book details. For Group B, write a brief, personalized note to each person about your book promotion efforts, and offer 1-3 concrete ways they could help you—e.g., tweet about the book on a specific day, excerpt the book on their blog/site, run a Q&A, etc. For Group C, write a brief, general note asking for support in any way they feel comfortable, and provide examples of what that support might look like. If there are any influencers in Group C, consider moving them to Group B and writing something more personalized. Note: So few authors do any of this. Taking the time to write personalized e-mails will dramatically increase support from your network. You shouldn’t try to market and promote your book on your own; it takes a village, as they say.

3. Brainstorm a list of all the gatekeepers to your readers with whom you do not have a relationship yet—specific individuals and specific websites/blogs. For example, if you write romance, then popular romance review blogs would act as a gatekeeper. Do those blogs accept guest posts? Can you contribute to their community in some way? If you want to grow your readership, you’ll have to work beyond your existing network. Find a way to help gatekeepers—rather than demanding something of them—and you’ll find the whole process more successful AND enjoyable.

4. Invest in professional design and presentation for all marketing and self-promotion materials. This includes your website, your author photos, your book cover (the No. 1 book marketing tool, whether print or digital), your business cards, your Twitter avatar, your Facebook cover photo, etc. If you appear professional, that’s half the battle. Amateur design hurts you tremendously in the long run—especially when it comes to gatekeepers and influencers. Sorry, but appearance matters, and a professional presentation shows that you take yourself and your work seriously.

What do you think are some other concrete ways to immediately improve book marketing efforts? Share in the comments.

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Juliet Greenwood

Thank you Jane! 

That is such sound advice. I hate it when get bombarded by people via social networking who don’t even try to disguise the fact that they have no interest in me but just see me as useful. On the other hand, I’ve learnt so much by engaging with other people. After all, we are all on the same side. Plus I’ve found some great books I’d never have spotted otherwise. The advice about the meaningful emails is something I hadn’t thought about. Off to brainstorm! 

avonstamwitz

Bravo! Especially #2 and #3 – I especially recommend authors contribute to Amazon thoughtful reviews of books by other writers they admire – especially if in same genre.

Lou Allin

I must have done that about fifty times. It’s nice if you get a quid pro quo of sorts. Doesn’t happen very often. But if someone does you a favor, and a review certainly is that, reciprocate in some way, even if you order the book for your local library.

Theresa Meyers

Even many publishers in NY don’t get that sometimes marketing and promotion isn’t about selling the book. Sometimes it’s about building brand recognition for the author.

When you are pitching media (social, online, or traditional like print, television, radio) remember to ask yourself how you can do one of three things:
1. Point to an Opportunity (tell how people can achieve something they’ve always wanted to  – like write the novel, or how they can achieve life/work balance, or work from home…whatever.)
2. Offer a Solution (Give them real answers to real problems like how to make more time in their schedule. How to write more everyday, etc.)
3. Explode a Myth (like all authors are rich, publishing is easy, romance writers all write in their slippers and eat bonbons – whatever, pick one myth, hold it up and shoot it down in less than 30 seconds.)
These are the pitches in a 30 second phone call that get you a call back from the producer or editor.

Notice NONE of these is about your book. Not really. Your book, or the fact that you’ve written one comes as a little side note to the article, interview, etc.

With social media, all them to find what you write because they enjoy the connection with you. Think of it as an onilne party at a friend’s house where you might know one or two people, but you don’t know anyone else. Introduce yourself, get conversations started, but you wouldn’t walk around shoving your book in people’s faces, would you?

Focus first on the connection you can have with others to build your author brand and the sales will come.

Jane Friedman

This is fabulous advice especially for nonfiction authors. Novelists, memorists and poets may have a tougher time applying this, though.

Cynthia Morris

Jane, 
This is very helpful, particularly #2. Breaking it down like this is very helpful to sort out how to get it out to whom and when. 

Jane Friedman

Yes! It’s possible to get even more granular with it, but I think most people can figure out for themselves the meaningful distinctions between people in their network and how they should be approached differently.

Myndi Shafer

Fabulous advice.  SHARING!  Thanks, Jane!

Tom Bentley

Thanks Jane. Since I’m trying to do this right now for a book, it’s very helpful. I’m in the middle of doing variants of your A,B, and C, but you’ve spelled out the “whys” and “hows” of that more clearly for me. I’ve also set up a Goodreads giveaway, have used a number of the free press release distribution services, am running a fairly inexpensive ad for 3 months in Shelf Unbound (over 100,000 subscribers), and am attempting to directly contact newspapers and magazines that I’ve noted review my genre with a press release. 

I’m trying to do all this stuff without being obnoxious (I hope I can still tell if I’m being obnoxious or not.)

Jane Friedman

Thumbs up from me! Sounds like you’re on a good path.

Darrelyn Saloom

I would add it’s important to talk to people in person about your book. Don’t blast them with a sales pitch but weave your upcoming book into the conversation. And talk about the story with enthusiam. Strangers I’ve met on airplanes signed up for email updates on my website and have sent me notes to say they can’t wait to buy the book. Every place I shop: flea markets, antique shops, clothing stores, and local markets are aware I have a book coming out in September. And the manager of a nearby Albertson’s wants to contact my publisher to sell the book in his store. Every sale counts, so go for it.

Jane Friedman

Spot on, thanks for adding that! Combining online/offline efforts is always stronger than online only.

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Anthony Caplan

I feel like I’ve got my own social media coach. So obvious I never would have thought of it. Thanks.