Guest Post: Top 10 Book Marketing Mistakes (That REALLY Happened to REAL Authors)

1. Generating great publicity without your book being available on Amazon.com. Our client was all over the radio discussing her book. At the end of her interviews, she diligently mentioned her book was available via her web site and at Amazon. Problem was, while she had started the process of getting the book into Amazon, she didn’t anticipate all of the steps she’d have to go through and details she’d have to provide, and in fact was not yet on Amazon. Even if you are selling your books through your web site and any other place, every author needs to be in Amazon because it’s the default go to place for book sales. Lesson: Make sure your book is available for sale on Amazon and that all of the kinks have been worked out before you launch your publicity campaign.
2. Counting on publicity alone to sell books. Publicity is an important component of your overall marketing campaign, but it alone won’t sell books. We generated tons of great print, online, radio and even some TV coverage for our client, which lent credibility to her and her business, but she only sold a small number of books. Had she booked some speaking engagement, participated in book signings and events, and conducted an online viral marketing campaign in addition to garnering publicity, her sales would have improved significantly. Lesson: Create a multi-faceted marketing approach that includes publicity, viral marketing, speaking engagements and back-of-the-room sales, event participation and book signings.
3. Insulting the media. Our client received a half day interview, plus a still photo and video shoot from her hometown paper, which has the second highest circulation in the region next to our big daily paper. Smack in the middle of the interview, our client tells the reporter, “Oh, I don’t read your paper.” Fortunately the reporter was a professional and carried on with her business. Two weeks later, our client was splashed across the front page of the paper with a fantastic feature article and photos, plus video footage on the paper’s website. Lesson: Even if you believe that the newspaper, radio show, etc. are not”big” enough, and/or even if you don’t read them, treat every reporter and every media outlet with respect and graciousness. Something great will probably come of it.
4. Promoting your book without a finished web site devoted to your book. Can you just say, “Duh?” Occasionally we get calls from authors who want to start their marketing campaigns before a book website up and running. We tell every author that we cannot launch a PR campaign for a book until the website is functional and has an online press room. Otherwise the media and your readers will not take you seriously. If you can write and produce a book, you can get a website together (which your PR person will help you with). Lesson: Make your website book the highest priority of your marketing campaign. It will be the umbrella to all of your other marketing efforts.
5. Just taking all the articles you have written and putting it together and calling it a book. Yes, we know writers who try this, and it’s a compilation of articles, not a book. Don’t’ expect this to be a bestseller. Lesson: Put some effort into your book. (And don’t forget to write a great title and jacket copy, and design a dynamite book cover.) It will be a much more professional and saleable product.
6. Listening to your mother when she says, “You should be on Oprah.” Eighty percent of our potential clients tell us they are Oprah material. The other 20% are realistic, key in on their target audience (which is usually not people who watch daytime TV) and are more successful in their publicity efforts. Just because Mom thinks your book is worthy of Oprah doesn’t mean that the producers do. Lesson: Oprah usually picks you, not the other way around. Be realistic about the media coverage you can garner and go after that.
7. Being fooled when the printer says the minimum order is 5,000. We have clients with hundreds of books sitting in their garages which they have paid for and can’t sell – not to mention their car won’t fit. With the creation of print on demand (POD), you can print books as you need them and are able to sell them. Lesson: Print a few hundred copies at a time to keep pace with demand.
8. Thinking your publisher is going to do all the publicity. Many clients approach us after the publisher prints their book, yet does next to no publicity. Publicists on staff at your publisher usually are promoting a minimum of 10-12 books at the same time and only promote your book for a few weeks after it’s published. Lesson: Whether self-published or with a publisher, be prepared to take charge of your own PR campaign, either by doing it yourself or by hiring a professional PR consultant.
9. Convinced the reporter or media personality has read your book. After a TV interview, a client commented to us, “they didn’t even read the book.” Don’t be insulted. Most journalists do not have time to read your book cover to cover. They will however, thumb through it and read press materials. Be grateful that you got an interview and help them out by highlighting some key points in your book. Lesson: During an interview, point out the most newsworthy aspects of the book or key things a reader will take away by reading it. Don’t rely on the media to do this.
10. Believing mainstream media is more important than the online media that “no one reads.” Many book authors still believe the only valid publicity is old fashioned hard copy print media. But online media, including media websites, ezines and bloggers, are quickly becoming more important than the mainstream media in getting your message across to your target audience. If don’t believe us, think about how many times Matt Lauer and “The Today Show” quote bloggers as key sources for stories. Lesson: Online media is a valuable and viable form of publicity for promoting and selling books.

Courtesy of: Joanna Brody www.brody-pr.com
...with REAL input from Jennifer Heinly, www.jandjconsulting.net

Comments

[Stephanie Elizabeth]

That was an excellent post with some great information. We published some information on this topic too.

[Vince]

Fabulous list Dawn. I think that you give us a lot of pitfalls to avoid when trying to promote a book. I am a novice writer and this is very informative.