Top 6 Lies About Book Marketing (And the Truths to
Set Your Book Free!)
BY CHRISTOPHER KOKOSKI
If you're like me, you have a book and
the passion to spend the rest of your life making it a success. But,
with all the ways to market your book, the costs and the inevitable
sinking feeling of utter helplessness, what can you do?
You COULD run around in
circles trying to get your book in every bookstore in town.
You COULD write Oprah or the Today Show, and hope for a
call-back. You COULD spend months crafting a book proposal and
wait another six months for the exact right time to send it to
the exact right editor at the exact right publishing house
with the exact right level of interest to stand behind your
book.
But those are lies (well, for
most of us, most of the time, they are) and here are the top
six lies and how you can avoid believing them:
Lie #1: You NEED to get your book in
bookstores.
No, you don't. Visit your
local bookstore — any bookstore — and you'll see thousands
(maybe millions) of books crammed, piled, stacked and
displayed. Do you really think that simply adding your book to
this haystack will catapult you to success?
Truth: The right bookstore at
the right location selling the right kind of books to the
right customers CAN catapult your book to success. What is the
right bookstore? One that sells your kind of book, whether it
be a Christian bookstore, a Success Store, a health store,
etc. For my book,
101 Ways To Pray Better And Get Faster Results, I am
targeting Christian bookstores in my area, especially
bookstores in churches. They will give me the greatest amount
of exposure to the people who will actually be interested in
my book. Who buys your kind of book? What is the best place to
sell it? Maybe it is at a grocery store, a pet store, or at an
airport.
Lie #2: You MUST get on Oprah.
Yes, it would be nice to get
on Oprah. Certainly, it could not hurt your book sales. But
most people with this goal ask themselves the wrong question:
"How do I get on Oprah?" Getting on Oprah is not the point,
albeit a good objective, though a long-shot for most authors.
However, as a natural optimist, there's no reason for you not
to try!
Truth: The RIGHT question to
ask yourself is: "How can I create a book that Oprah would
want on her show?" Why is this a better, more powerful
question? First of all, it is focused on Oprah's needs, and
she will only care about your book if it helps her and her
show get more people watching and talking about (you guessed
it) her. After all, you want people to read and talk about
your book, don't you? That's why you're reading this article.
Start with the right question, and you will end up the right
answers. So how do you create a book that will appeal to
Oprah? Write one that appeals to her television audience,
mostly women who are at home at the time of her show. You can
get more detailed, of course, and you should. Case Example:
the new book "He's Just Not That Into You." Oprah has had one
of the co-authors of that book on her show twice since its
release.
Lie #3: You MUST get a big advance
from a big publishing company.
Again, good idea, but it
doesn't guarantee success anymore than carrying around a
four-leaf clover ensures good luck. You need more than big
bucks to get people to read your book. In fact, the only thing
that a big advance gives you is the knowledge that the
publishing company will try hard to make people buy your book.
Yes, that's a plus. Yes, you want that. But it takes more than
that to squeeze into the ranks with Stephen King, Dean Koontz
and Seth Godin (author of
Purple Cow, among others).
Truth: What you really need is
a good book, written well, formatted with the reader in mind,
that entertains, informs, persuades and gets customers talking
to each other. No easy job, I assure you. But it can be done.
And is done. Here's how you can do it, too:
-
Gather up the most popular,
talked-about books in the last five years (Harry
Potter,
Da Vinci Code, among others).
-
Ask yourself, "What makes
people talk about these books?"
-
Copy the strategies,
change/add/delete whatever you need to make your book more
success-friendly.
Also, create something (a
flyer, a business card, a bookmark, something) that your
customers can pass on to each other. Or post up on a wall or
keep in their purse or wallet. Make it good, funny,
entertaining, informative, but make it something people
actually want to keep (like a good article on book marketing).
Lie #4: You MUST get radio or
television interviews.
Like the other lies, this one
seems true because all the big-name, big-book, big-salary
authors do them. And I must admit that we, if possible, should
do them. But, the lie is that you actually NEED them to boost
your book sales. They might and they might not.
Truth: What you REALLY need is
to get your book in the hands of people who are ready, willing
and able to buy them. How do you accomplish this? First, sit
down and write out a description of the people who are most
likely to be interested enough in your book to fork over money
for it. Second, figure out where these people congregate:
online, conventions, magazines, etc. Where do these type of
people go to find the type of information which is in your
book? Be specific. Write it down. Third, and lastly, get your
book in front of those people in those places.
For example: My book is on
prayer, so I want to get it in front of people who are
interested enough in the topic to trade their hard-earned
money to learn how to improve their prayer lives and get
closer to God. So, in addition to attempting the normal routes
(getting book in bookstore, creating a website, trying to get
book on
Amazon.com), I also will contact Christian groups and
organizations to give FREE talks on prayer, after which I'll
offer my book.
Lie #5: The MOST important part of
book promotion is having a good book.
Sorry, no that is not true.
Yes, you should try to write the best book possible and give
it a great, eye-catching cover, with a mind-grabbing title to
boot. But, none of those savvy strategies are the MOST
important part of your book promotion. They only work if you
can do ONE thing...
Truth: The MOST important part
of book promotion is (drum roll please) getting the right
people to experience the great benefits of your book. If your
book entertains, then that is the benefit. If your book
explains or teaches, then that is the great experience.
Who are the right people?
People who will tell others about your book.
Lie #6: If you do all the things in
this (or any one else's) article, your book will out-sell the
Harry Potter Series.
Truth: The outcome of your
book promotion will be the result of your tenacity,
creativity, passion, talent, and willingness to try new things
until something clicks. If you can do that, you will one day
succeed. And, my friend, I hope that day comes soon for you.
Christopher Kokoski is the
author of
101 Ways To Pray Better And Get Faster Results. His
passion is to write great books (fiction and non-fiction) and
help others succeed with their own books. He wishes you well
and a quick rise to publishing success.
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