What Works
You've been working on your book for years. You've got a great agent. You landed a great publishing deal. It's time for the big launch!
But when it comes to promotion and publicity today, what works? Short of the obvious answers (Oprah or a rave front page review in the NY Times Book Review, or People Magazine), there isn't an obvious answer anymore. With hundreds of television and radio stations, countless blog and internet sites, and precious few print sources as well, the old rules just don't apply. It used to be that an appearance on morning television or a few great reviews were enough to drive sales, but that just doesn't hold true anymore. Authors can get attention in all of these traditional venues, and we don't always see a corresponding spike in sales. It's a land of plenty out there, and the media is over saturated with authors and celebrities and everyone promoting everything 24/7; it's not surprising that it takes more to impact the public's decision to buy a book.
You can land on the Today Show (along with 4 or 5 other authors each and every day). You can blog until you're blue in the face, you can travel the country in the hope of gathering even a small crowd at bookstores. But at the end of the long day it's rarely one event that makes the difference (not that it isn't a coup to get that one big thing) and no one can predict what will work for your book. So you need to use everything in your arsenal and then some. You need to try to get the attention of everyone and anyone that will listen, and you need to know that it's worth the exhaustion and frustration you feel when you throw a proverbial party and no one seems to come. Stick with it. Believe in it. And in time-maybe more time than you and your publisher planned- you will hopefully find your readers. Then it's time to find some more! The new reality is that it is up to you, the writer, to be your own best publicist and find the way that works in this chaotic and challenging marketplace. You need to master the new frontier- with Facebook, Twitter, blogging on your own website (*ahem*) and engaging in discussions on other people's blogs, book trailers, and other ways of connecting directly with your readers. It's hard work, and I know it can feel like a thankless and endless task. It often feels like you are in it out there alone. But it's work that has to be done and you simply can't afford to sit back and wait for a miracle.
So what works? No one thing alone, and everything all at once. If you get that perfect storm of events, the publishing Gods decide to smile upon you. And I hope that they do!
But when it comes to promotion and publicity today, what works? Short of the obvious answers (Oprah or a rave front page review in the NY Times Book Review, or People Magazine), there isn't an obvious answer anymore. With hundreds of television and radio stations, countless blog and internet sites, and precious few print sources as well, the old rules just don't apply. It used to be that an appearance on morning television or a few great reviews were enough to drive sales, but that just doesn't hold true anymore. Authors can get attention in all of these traditional venues, and we don't always see a corresponding spike in sales. It's a land of plenty out there, and the media is over saturated with authors and celebrities and everyone promoting everything 24/7; it's not surprising that it takes more to impact the public's decision to buy a book.
You can land on the Today Show (along with 4 or 5 other authors each and every day). You can blog until you're blue in the face, you can travel the country in the hope of gathering even a small crowd at bookstores. But at the end of the long day it's rarely one event that makes the difference (not that it isn't a coup to get that one big thing) and no one can predict what will work for your book. So you need to use everything in your arsenal and then some. You need to try to get the attention of everyone and anyone that will listen, and you need to know that it's worth the exhaustion and frustration you feel when you throw a proverbial party and no one seems to come. Stick with it. Believe in it. And in time-maybe more time than you and your publisher planned- you will hopefully find your readers. Then it's time to find some more! The new reality is that it is up to you, the writer, to be your own best publicist and find the way that works in this chaotic and challenging marketplace. You need to master the new frontier- with Facebook, Twitter, blogging on your own website (*ahem*) and engaging in discussions on other people's blogs, book trailers, and other ways of connecting directly with your readers. It's hard work, and I know it can feel like a thankless and endless task. It often feels like you are in it out there alone. But it's work that has to be done and you simply can't afford to sit back and wait for a miracle.
So what works? No one thing alone, and everything all at once. If you get that perfect storm of events, the publishing Gods decide to smile upon you. And I hope that they do!
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