Marketing & PR Wisdom

I’m a fan of Kathleen Schmidt, a marketing and PR pro, and her blog. She always has great insights and advice for writers, both traditionally and self published.

She has a post today that I feel adds to the talk I gave a couple of weeks ago at Inked Voices on DIY Book Promotion,

so I’m going to share a few points. (I don’t know if that particular post is free or for subscribers only but here’s the link if you want to check out the original.)

• Reviews don’t impact sales as much as you’d think. Let go of the idea that it is the only way a book can sell or legitimize an author.

• Most advertising is a waste of money. There are rare instances, depending on the book, when social media ads or boosted posts lead to sales. No one knows how those ads will perform, so testing them is not a bad idea. Other ads—especially digital ads on media sites/in media newsletter verticals—lead to clicks but not sales.

• You can do everything to create awareness for a book, but you can’t force a consumer to buy it.

• The time frame to promote a book must last longer than the months leading up to publication and the month following publication. Promotion could easily continue for 6-9 months or more, depending on the book.

• Big media is super competitive. Focus on what’s realistic for a book, not pie-in-the-sky media hits. A publicist knows who will pass. Their time should be spent on what will work instead of contacting the NYT books desk for the 5th time about the same title.

• Your next book is only as good as your previous book’s sales. You can get a review in the NYT, but you also may only sell 500 copies. Focus on outcomes, not wish lists.

• Bookstore events aren’t always a good idea. It’s expensive to go on a book tour, and if you go to cities where you don’t have a built-in audience, it can be bleak.

• Celebrity endorsements don’t do much for sales.

I hope this adds more clarity for those who attended my talk (and those who didn’t 😉).