Why do authors write books? For most, their primary reason is clear: They want to build their personal brand — a smart first-line strategy, particularly now when the average nonfiction book sells less than 250 copies a year.
Today, book publicity — a must-have marketing tool in the new, overcrowded publishing world — does more than promote books. It is purposely designed to build brands.
Consider these key reasons, all proven brand builders, why.
In the past decade, business has become mainstream. The average person now has knowledge of stock market trends, corporate takeovers, and competition within global industries. From a book publicist’s point of view, this means that there are more “business readers” than ever.
On the one hand, this is good news, because the universe of media venues that need business content has grown. On the other hand, serious business readers now have to be more choosy about the content they consume.
For this reason, we like to target top-tier business media whenever possible. Why? Because when we’re trying to move and motivate leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs—and hopefully get these readers to buy a business author’s book—we have to go to the media places they frequent. We also always have to be agile and creative in our approach to book publicity. Every book has its unique promotional challenges and publicity opportunities to define, explore, and make happen with great success.
By Cathy S. Lewis
When I initially interview authors to assess whether they’re a good “fit” with what we do, I always remind them that book publicity is a collaborative effort. Contrary to what many authors think, writing the book and getting it published isn’t the end of their job. It’s the beginning. Book promotion works best when the author actively participates in coordination with their publicist.
When a book publicist has a highly motivated and involved author to work with, one who’s willing to put time, energy, and creative ideas into the publicity campaign, the synergy of efforts can produce results far greater than if the publicist worked on her own.
Bottom line: If you want to maximize your publicist’s success, reach a lager audience in your book promotion campaign, and increase book sales – try these six book publicity strategies.