What does it take to successfully promote a book? Money or effort? Does it take a bankroll or time and energy? Do you get results from pursuing costly marketing programs or by using a little elbow grease?
I suggest spending your money to educate yourself about the huge process of publishing and marketing books. This might mean purchasing one or more good books on the subject, attending a writers’ conference that focuses on publishing rather than creative writing, subscribing to newsletters related to book marketing, joining publishing organizations and participating, taking a course or signing up for a workshop on book promotion, attending lectures, etc. You might pay as much as $350 for a conference or as little as 0 for a free subscription, for example.
And the next thing you really should arrange for, if you plan to produce a book, is time. It takes thought, planning, time, energy and effort to successfully promote any book. And who better to take on the promotional work, than the author? No one else cares as much about your book as you do. No one knows it as well as you do.
Sure, you can hire someone to publish your book for you. You can throw money at the publishing service and other companies who promise to use their various commercial tactics to sell copies of your book. Or you can maintain the personal touch and manage your own marketing program. You can pay for impersonal cookie cutter promotion or you can market to your true audience in a more personal, real way.
So what will it be, will you pay thousands of dollars to turn your baby over to strangers to raise or will you step up to the plate, take responsibility and do the right thing by your literary creation?
The major expense you should plan for is professional editing. If you don’t bother to have your book professionally edited, it could be that no one will be able to successfully promote it. It may not be as readable as you may think.
Another thing you must consider is your audience. So many authors today write for themselves. Then they wonder why they can’t sell copies of their book. It’s because they don’t know who their audience is.
Maybe you can see now why it is so important to consider the material you are producing before you decide to publish. Perhaps you are getting an inkling as to how important it is to write every word of your story or your nonfiction book with the reader in mind. If you simply write what you want—what is meaningful to you—you may not actually have an audience.
There’s more to consider, when writing a book for publication, than what pleases you—what feeds your soul. There’s more to producing a viable product than jotting down your story or your ideas. And there’s a whole lot more to successful publishing than writing checks for promotional services that you truly don’t understand.
Educate yourself. A good start in the process is to read my books. I’ve been writing the books and articles authors need in order to experience greater success for many years. If more people would read these and books and articles by other professionals, there would not be a 78% failure rate among authors.
You do not need to spend a lot of money to get your book published and for marketing services. What you need is an understanding of the publishing industry and how you can successfully fit into it. And then you are more apt to make better decisions on behalf of your book project.
Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author
Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author
Talk Up Your Book, How to Sell Your Book Through Public Speaking, Interviews, Signings, Festivals, Conferences and More.
All available at amazon.com in print, Kindle and audio as well as most other online and downtown bookstores. Can also be purchased here: http://www.matilijapress.com