How often do you visit your book page at Amazon.com? I try to get over to the page featuring my latest book, “Promote Your Book,” a couple of times each week. I check to see how many books Amazon has left in stock, what they are selling the book for, how the book is ranked, how many people “liked” the book or the page and if there are any new reviews. This morning, I discovered a new review. Thank you Blair from Indiana. This brings the number of reviews up to twenty-four. All are 5-star reviews except for three. Those three reviewers dinged the book a little for one reason or another.
The latest review took a star away because the 250 book promotion ideas weren’t fleshed out enough and some of the resources I offered cost something to purchase—typically other books with additional information, directories, programs for blogging or starting an enewsletter, joining Toastmasters, for example. I emailed the reviewer—who, incidentally, wrote a marvelous review, and I pointed out to him that if I’d fleshed out every promotional activity in this book, it would be the size of a set of encyclopedias.
Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author is not meant to be a complete guide to Internet marketing, public speaking for authors, selling books through Amazon or eBay, giving book signings, speaking at conferences, doing TV and radio interviews, etc. It is a collection of ideas with enough information for each to help an author get started with it and resources if they need to know more about it.
Each of you reading this and everyone else in the world would have written this very same book in very different ways. None of us would ever approach the same topic in exactly the same way. And each of us appreciates certain things about the books we like or dislike. I am saying this so as not to discourage you from moving ahead with your book the way you see fit.
Of course, you want to (you must) consider your primary audience and attempt to meet their needs or desires through your book effort. But beyond that, whether you write a chronicle of your community’s history or focus on early pioneers, businesses, landmarks, wildlife, hiking trails, tragedies or even fountains and art (as one writer I know has done), remember that it is your book and you have the power. It’s your decision.
New authors are sometimes intimidated by their potential readers and have a difficult time deciding which way to go with their books—create a children’s story, one for young adults or write a straight mystery for adults. Should it be an all-about a particular event in your community or a compilation of memorable events and activities taking place in and around your town? You are in charge. You get to decide. But know that there will definitely be people who will criticize your decisions because they simply have different needs and desires than the primary audience you wrote it for.
Interesting concept. I’d like to hear from those of you who have lost sleep over the direction you wanted to take your book or who feel they wrote the wrong book.
This is a good time to purchase your copy of Promote Your Book from Amazon or at my author site. If you’ve already read this book, how about leaving a review.