Thursday, May 21, 2015

Why You Need To Spend At Least $10,000 On Book PR


If you want to properly promote your book to the news media it will take resources, namely money and time. But the media rarely discovers you unless you pursue it.  You can’t publish a book and say that you don’t have the money or time to promote it.  If that’s the case, you should rethink why you went through the effort to write and publish a book in the first place.  It always amazes me when I meet authors who tell me they have no budget to promote their book, yet they spend so much time and brainpower to research, write, edit, and produce these books.  How do authors, think books will sell if no effort is made to promote, market, and champion them?

I can’t tell anyone how to spend their money, especially money they don’t have, but I can simply tell you that without a minimum of $10,000 to fund your marketing and publicity efforts, you are relying on luck and prayers to get discovered.  Or, you are dedicating a ton of time to promote and market yourself and learn as you go.  Or, you are ignoring the major media out there and only relying on social media to build your brand and sales pipeline.

Now, money spent doesn’t mean that results automatically happen either.  If you hire a lousy publicist or use the money unwisely, it’s the same as not spending money at all.  Sometimes you can hire right, generate good PR, and still sell few books.  It can be a problem that you have with your distribution, cover price or subject matter.

I want to encourage authors to open their wallets and invest in their own writing careers.  There are many ways to spend your money, and there are things worth considering, depending on what stage you’re at, what your goals are, and what your books are about:

Consultant
Utilize an experienced promoter or marketer to guide you on what to do, share resources and ideas with you, and help mentor your path.

Advertising
Consider using FB and Google ads to generate book sales.

Securing Media
There are four media areas to explore – local and national television, radio, print, and online (Blogs, websites, podcasts).  You want your message to reach media that is consumed by your targeted reader demographic.  You want a quantity of quality outlets interviewing you, reviewing your book, featuring you in a story or giving you an opportunity to write guest-posts and byline articles.  Someone with experience, knowledge, ideas, passion, and connections should be reaching the media on your behalf.

Social Media
Either you do it or hire a surrogate to do it for you.  There’s Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube – as well as Pinterest, Google+, and Instagram.  Write a blog and host a podcast.  It takes time, but it’s worth it.  You can connect with your readers this way.

Some things are free but unless you take the time to pursue them, such as scheduling speaking engagements, bookstore signings, and library discussions, you need to pay someone to do it for you.

I implore every author to:
·         Have a marketing and publicity plan
·         Dedicate a meaningful budget to enact the plan
·         Put in the right amount of time and effort to supplement any paid services that you hired others to do
·         Seriously rethink publishing a book if you don’t plan on investing in its marketing and promotion

Whether you are a best-selling author with a traditional publisher – or a first-time, self-published author – you need PR, marketing, and branding.  Everyone needs to break through the clutter and get to the next level.  The best way to do this is to invest in yourself and be realistic in your expectations.  You can make things happen – but you need some green to get the green light!

Please Read These Posts

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Is it that time for your book marketing makeover?

Book Shepherd Reveals How You Can Get Published Successfully

When Is Book Publishing’s  Fight of the Century?

How will book marketers turn a yes into something more?


Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015

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