Reading Rob Bell's books is such a great lesson in marketing. Got me thinking about mistakes of first-time authors...
Letting the creativity stop inside the pages, rather than extending it to the concept and the cover. (a la Rob Bell)
- Announcing and promoting the book waaaay too soon. The buzz ends before the book ever gets out.
- Scheduling "blog tours" on different days over time, rather than asking everyone to post on the same day.
- Not getting third-party help to promote the book. Successful books gets promoted by other people besides the author.
- Having an "aw shucks" attitude toward getting published. Settling for any deal, even if it's not beneficial.
- Not presenting thought-provoking, or even controversial, issues that get people talking.
- Not having a great editor take the book to a whole other level.
Consider this part 1. Still thinking on this one...
What's your take on Tim Ferriss' Four Hour Work Week? Definitely sounds like some similar approaches and warnings.
Posted by: Allan W. | October 30, 2008 at 06:16 PM
agreed - except for number 2. keeping your audience engaged over time and excited can be challenging...but totally worth it!
Posted by: anne jackson | October 30, 2008 at 06:42 PM
Good thoughts. I’d add that a lot of first time authors need to evaluate their motives in WANTING to write a book in the first place. They also need to look at the publishing world realistically. It’s a business and most authors need to work with their publishers to help make a book a success. Many authors think the publisher will do it all and that is far from the case. I see so many first timers who think a book will launch their platform or even make them money but that is the wrong way to lean into it. Most first time authors sell less than 5k books and don’t make much money, if any at all. It’s only a few that nail it out of the box (note to new authors = stay optimistic because many overnight successes were years in the making).
Final thought… CONTENT IS KING. Good marketing helps. Engagement helps. Having good contacts and an existing distribution (platform) channel helps but in the end… it’s the CONTENT that makes a book a phenomenon (such as “The Shack” or “Tipping Point”).
Posted by: daniel d | October 31, 2008 at 07:12 AM
Rohit Bhargava of Ogilvy executed one of the more impressive book launches I've seen this year. ThirdWay has a good recap of the strategy:
http://www.thirdwayblog.com/post-types/news/marketing-a-business-book-personality-not-included-by-rohit-bhargava.html
Posted by: Ryan Moede | October 31, 2008 at 09:26 AM