Before promoting a book, how do you figure out hooks that will attract media attention? Jeff Herman
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Before promoting a book, how do you figure out hooks that will attract media attention? Jeff Herman
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Know your audience, where they buy, what they consume, and how they buy.
Without this in mind, writing just does no good. You end up with a product which will be old before you sell more than copies to your family and friends.
You never get a second chance, to make a first impression.
Last Friday, I had a very informative phone appointment with one of the top ladies at Barnes and Noble in New York. She had been getting many irate calls, and emails, from IBPA authors--about the IBPA/Ingram deal--regarding stocking, and being able to order their books from the B&N Stores. The authors were blaming B&N, Ingram, and the man in the moon, for not stocking their books. B&N didn't have a conspiracy against IBPA, or Ingram...it's about the quality of books.
B&N had 600 books that they rejected because they were not up to the high quality standard of publishing necessary to be put in a B&N Store, or to be ordered at a B&N Store.The unfortunate side effect of being an independent author, is that you need to be--independent--a leader, and take responsibility. Unfortunately, most people are followers, and are not programmed to be leaders, or to do what it takes to win, and succeed.If I seem harsh, it's only to wake you up to reality.
First, you need to be disciplined enough to educate yourself about all aspects of publishing, from writing to PR. There are many "free" publishing teleseminars regarding, book publishing check lists, writing, PR, marketing, bestseller launches, media training, blogging, and social media marketing. If you're not doing these required steps--and don't sell and market yourself--you will fail--period. I've taken "free" seminars from Jack Canfield, the Chicken Soup Guy; Arielle Ford, the best PR lady in the world; Peggy McColl, bestselling book launch queen; as well as publishers editors, and book coaches.
Second you need to take full responsibility for publishing a high quality book, which means hiring a professional editor and book designer. Regarding media appearances, don't be delusional about getting booked by the media, and selling millions of books...first, you got to have a good book--an attention getter--then, you have to find & sell yourself to the booking producers, take a media image class so you don't look, or sound stupid in front of millions of people, and then you actually have to perform and sound intelligent in front of millions of people. This is the harsh truth.
Remember, you never get a second chance, to make a first impression.
If you'd like email addresses to some of these free seminars, feel free to email me and I'll share them with all of you.
You mean besides my awesome writing itself, which is so awesome I don't know why I haven't done this sooner? There's the mental illness angle, always a big interest generator when someone with mental illness goes off the rails. Then there's the caretaker survival angle -- how many people are taking care of others with mental illness? (That's a rhetorical question.) I'm going to go attract some media attention right now, if you don't mind.
Tony, as Jeff has told me before, viral is the key word. Make people believe that what you promote is of a such absolute importance, that they just have to have it. So now, I'm learning about on-line marketing.
Social networks for starters. An author's web page or blog is a must, in my oppinion. A Wordpress platform is easy enough to handle, not to mention having your own site, designed by a professional. Some well marketed media appearances are also good (press release, an interview maybe, attendance to a one or two book - related events).
Furthermore, me being a very visual person, I am also attracted by the book's cover, so maybe you want it to be displayed more to the public. Never underestimate the power of sight. As an obsessive reader, I was today at a book-fair and I honestly admit I was attracted more to titles that sounded catchy and which promised some entertainment, more than I was attracted to well-known authors. So make the titles known and craved for.
Plan your marketing campaign from some simple questions: who do I write for, is what I write in accordance to my potential readers, how many are they, are they willing to spend their money on my books and how much money, etc? It's plain dull market analysis and you can get it done with some help. After you are clear on who do you sell your books to, then get on their backs and convince them that they won't ever sleep if they don't read your book.
There's also the review. About this, I don't know much, but all I learned so far, is it has to be spectacular.
Hope I was of some kind of use to you! Happy marketing!
To be honest, I never thought about it at all. I just assumed, in my naive way, that the quality of the writing would sell the books, though it has become obvious to me since that the only way to generate sales must be to do heavy marketing of your own work at every opportunity. Not that I knew how to go about it, and still do not, which may be why, to date, I have only thus far sold 31 copies of those books, so attracting media attention - HELP! - is still important to me..