It occurs to me that book promotion is something like gardening (or dieting, or parenting). Think about it, there are no absolutes in book promotion. What works for one author and one book might not work for another. Isn’t this true of gardening, dieting, and parenting? Your garden tomatoes might thrive one year and struggle the next. They might grow well in one spot and shrivel up in another. The diet plan that trims your friend’s figure, might add inches to your waist. Likewise, the method of weight-loss you used in your twenties, may not work when you’re in your fifties.
Book promotion is another one of those unpredictable activities. However, as in gardening, for example, there are some constants. Garden plants needs soil, light, food, and water. A book needs an audience. In a garden, our goal is fresh vegetables or, perhaps, a lovely landscape. Our goal as an author is readers—interested, paying readers. But, in either case, how we achieve the goal may differ tremendously.
There are hundreds of methods of book promotion. Sometimes it takes experimentation to discover those that work for you and for your particular project. But it is imperative that you know who your specific audience is, that you write for that audience and, when it comes time to promote it, you know where your readers are, and how to approach them. Then you must nurture them—keep your book in front of them, constantly remind them of the benefits to buying your book, and make it easy for them to purchase it.
The next time you decide to stick a plant into the soil, you’ll be more successful if you consider, not where you want it to grow, but where it will have the best chance to survive. If you apply the same concept to your next book—if you write the book your audience wants and keep them in mind while you’re writing it—it will have a better chance for success.
To learn more about publishing and book promotion read Patricia Fry’s books, “Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author” and “Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven , Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author.” Coming soon from Patricia Fry and Allworth Press, “Propose Your Book, How to Craft Persuasive Proposals for Nonfiction, Fiction and Children’s Books.”