6 Reasons Why Authors Need to Do Their Own Book Marketing
You are responsible for your own success.
The best thing about our job is that we can help authors navigate the rocky roads of the publishing landscape. There is one thing, however, that we know you will do better to make this book a success: the marketing. A good campaign takes time and devotion, and, since this book is your baby, isn’t that something you would want to invest in?
The notion that you are responsible for your own success is not a rare or new one. Think about the life lessons you got from your parents and teachers growing up: if you want to achieve anything, you’re going to have to work for it. And even in traditional publishing it is expected of the author that they spread the word about their book.
So here are some reasons why it is important that you invest time into doing your own book marketing.
1. Successful authors have done their own marketing
Don’t just take our word for it, look at successful authors who were in charge of their own marketing campaign.
Neal Schaffer, for instance, who got a publishing deal with HarperCollins Leadership for his book The Business of Influence through his Publishizer campaign, was very adamant about selling 500 copies in 30 days. As an online marketing specialist, he realized that the best way to get through the publishing process, is to create a buzz around a book beforehand. As a previously-published author, Neal saw the value of campaigning with Publishizer, because of the convenience of creating bonus packages. He actively used social media as a way to push people to his Publishizer campaign page — with overwhelming success. Just look at the data, which shows that he got more than 2.5 thousand page views that way. If he had just uploaded his campaign and waited around, nothing would have happened.
Dave Kerpen, who has written multiple New York Times best sellers, compares marketing a book to starting a business. When you’re an entrepreneur, you have to sell your product to investors because you want their money, and to customers because you want them to use your product. He realizes that people’s money and attention won’t just appear out of thin air — you have to work hard to receive it. According to him, generating pre-order sales is a very important part of the book publishing process and Publishizer is a great way to do that.
2. Hiring a publicist doesn’t guarantee success
It might be a comforting idea to put the marketing part of the process into someone else’s capable hands, but that doesn’t guarantee a book’s success. Even the best publicist or marketing professional might not have a significant impact on a book’s marketing campaign. Author Philippa Rees, for instance, explains in this essay that she hired a publicist because it gave her a sense of security about the marketing process. She soon realized that the publicist didn’t understand her niche genre enough to properly promote it and thus ended up missing out on several important promotion opportunities. There are obviously enough people in the field who can create successful campaigns, but the fact that that’s not guaranteed is something to keep in mind.
3. Marketing a book before it is published is vital for its success
If you wait with marketing your book until after it’s published, you’re too late. It’s something that all authors do to make sure their book gets attention before it hits the shelves. Online marketing wizard Neil Patel, for instance, explains in one of his “how to” videos how he made the New York Times Best Sellers list: “If you sell books a year in advance, all of those book sales count for your first week.”
Pre-orders show retailers that readers are interested in a book. They also create anticipation for the actual launch of the book. So the more pre-orders you receive, the more chance you have of putting a successful book into the world.
4. Numbers might not be in your favor
“Why shouldn’t I just self-publish at Amazon, don’t they have millions of users?” is a question we get asked regularly. Sure, Amazon has an amount of users that we still dream of (one day!), but they don’t have your best interest at heart. If you don’t sell books, they don’t really care, because there are thousands of other writers out there using their services. We do care.
The average number of books that get sold with Amazon is only 250 (90% of authors sell less than 100 copies). People who have published with Amazon talk about how it’s cheap, but the payout is not great. It’s hard to get noticed in the ocean of other books out there, and after a few weeks, your book will fade into obscurity because Amazon favors new titles.
Since books sell for a few dollars and Amazon takes a percentage, your earnings will dwindle after those initial weeks. This means you have put a lot of work into a project that’s not a money maker. In fact, according to The Guardian, the average self-published author earns $1000 a year and a third earns less than $500.
5. You’re in charge
If you’re looking to hire the best person for a job, you want someone who has extensive knowledge of the topic at hand. That would make you, the person with the most intimate understanding of your story, the perfect candidate to spread the word about it. You know the details of your book as well as you know yourself, you can explain your business theory better than anyone else, and you can summarize all the research you’ve done in an understandable way.
Let’s say you’re a nonfiction author writing a book about a brilliant business idea — you should see this book as an extension of your business. The two go hand in hand. Make it part of your image as a thought leader in your industry.
Nonfiction or fiction writer, you should get out there and spread the word, answer people’s questions and make readers excited for what’s to come.
6. It allows you to get creative
Promoting your book is a great way to test the limits of your creativity. What new ways can you find, to get as many people as possible enthusiastic about your book? With Publishizer, for instance, you can come up with intriguing bonuses for your potential readers, you can shoot and edit a video to explain your story, you can give your readers teasers throughout the writing process, or you can start a hashtag campaign on social media (like Dave Kerpen’s #BeLikableDay). The possibilities are endless. Getting creative with your marketing gives you an edge over other authors and helps you to boost your engagement with readers and potential pre-order sales.
Take Derek Loudermilk, for example, who offered personal life coaching sessions to anyone who pre-ordered his self-development book for $100. Or look at Leena Olaimy, who pushed pre-orders by working with a limited early bird technique — she had a set amount of digital copies available to create a readership early on in the process.
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Always remember: even though you are responsible, our team will always have your back. Before you even start the marketing process, our agents will help you shape your idea into something marketable, so you can start the process with a confident and positive attitude. Try to see it as going off to college: your parents will still be there for a supportive or encouraging phone call, but you are responsible for your laundry and passing classes. We can answer your questions, give you tips, alert you to our helpful articles and send you templates and guides. Dive into the marketing process with full force with that knowledge and try to get as much out of it as possible. Because, the more traction your book gains, the more interested publishers we’ll be able to find. And that’s the end game.
