Successful Book Marketing = a Successful Book

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Decades of experience have taught established publishing houses that book publicity services are crucial to the titles they release. If you're publishing independently and weighing your options about marketing or hiring a book publicist, it's vital to think things through carefully. First off, nearly all successful authors have had publicists promoting their work at some point during their careers. More work goes into a well-rounded marketing campaign than you might expect, and to earn coverage in the media, you need to know who to approach. Ideally, your publicist has established media relationships.

Given the importance of the internet today, it's common for first-time authors to think about marketing their books entirely online at no cost. If you're a social media influencer with an enormous following, it might be possible. But for nearly everyone else, the results are limited. Traditional book PR campaigns that include media outreach and coverage to augment online visibility can improve the chances of success. It's also essential for authors to have well-designed websites and blogs. Prospective readers often check a website online before buying a book.

While some authors with the skills can self-market their books, it's time-consuming. During a book lunch and publicity campaign, an author's time needs to be freed up to make appearances and presentations, sit for interviews, and be visible in general. It's challenging to do those when you're busy handling the logistics of a PR campaign. Self-promoting also requires a targeted media list and other elements a PR firm has at its fingertips. It's possible to put them together DIY, but it's time-consuming, and your first try won't match what an agency has developed over time.

The three most important things to consider are planning long in advance, setting a sufficient budget, and mounting a multi-faceted launch PR campaign. What's a sure thing is that books today face a competitive marketplace that's far more crowded than ever before. Thousands of titles are released each week, and every genre is chock-full of worthy books to buy and read. Making sure your book is discoverable to target readers is crucial, and reaching them with news of its publication is essential. It's why book marketing is increasingly essential for independent authors.