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Marketing & Publicity

Good marketing is an art. Knowing your audience is critical. Get the word out about your book in a compelling and interesting way.

Steps in Marketing & Publicity

  • How to craft your message
  • Social media
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  • Go local
 

The Top Ten Places to Sell More of Your Books

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Sep 20, 2022

The worldwide book market generates almost $90 billion annually, and less than half of that is through retail stores. And only part of that is through bookstores — bricks and clicks. Why do you ignore the chance to sell more of your books, more profitably? Where else can you sell your books?
 
The best way you can benefit from this opportunity is to divide the total market into two segments, and sell them according to their needs. The first is the retail segment where you reach buyers through distribution partners. The second is direct sales to non-retailer buyers (businesses, associations and schools) who use books as marketing tools to sell more of their products or help their employees, members or students. Here are the Top Ten Places to Sell More of Your Books (five retail and five non-retail).
 
Retail segments:
 
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Marketing & Publicity
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Be The First to Find The Next Big Trend

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Sep 6, 2022

Publishers are always looking for the next big trend so they can be the first in bookstores with a book on that topic. But once you hop on the bandwagon, it’s usually too late. By the time a trend is established, any opportunities it presents have most likely already been captured by competitors. Fortunately, there is hidden treasure waiting for entrepreneurial publishers to find and benefit from uncovering new opportunities. 

Inside Publishing
Marketing & Publicity
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Hybrid Author Events: Ideas for Promoting a Book

Penny C. Sansevieri's picture
by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Aug 23, 2022

I’ve always loved doing events, and when it comes to ideas for promoting a book, there’s really nothing better than doing in-person author events. But 2020 changed how events are managed, and even with lots of events still coming back online, many conferences and book-centric events are transitioning to the hybrid format.

One thing I’ve heard repeatedly from speakers was that it’s often hard to monetize an online event, and hybrid events are no different. In this blog post, we’re going to look at how to get more events but also how to monetize them.

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Nine Critical Signs of Trouble When Selling Your Books

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Aug 2, 2022

 
Selling your books to non-retail buyers in businesses, schools and associations can result in large, non-returnable sales. Their orders for your books can range from a few hundred to several thousand at a time. Completing a sale to them is different from selling through retailers because you contact the prospective buyer directly, not through a distributor. This usually entails several meetings in which you present the benefits of your content and negotiate the final agreement. 
 
Over the course of these discussions, you are creating a relationship that could yield recurring revenue and profits for years. It is a process in which both sides want the best deal for themselves, but understand that the other needs to benefit, too. It should result in a win/win proposition for both parties.
 
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Why You Should Avoid Traditional Publishing If You’re Planning a Series

Penny C. Sansevieri's picture
by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Jul 19, 2022

Self-publishing a book can sound complicated, and I won’t lie to you, it is more work upfront for authors. However, it can also be lucrative for many reasons, and for many kinds of authors! I’d like to focus on one group in particular this time around: the series author.

We get a lot of authors that come to us when they’re ready to release a new book in their series, because they feel stuck. Typically this happens because they went through a publisher or publishing service for book one.

And feeling stuck comes from their lack of access to their first book, and they’re unsure how to navigate continuing the series.

So in an effort to bring some clarity to the situation, I want to cover some of the biggest hurdles we see for series authors and why self-publishing your book series from the get-go might be an option you want to consider.

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Goals are Worthless…

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Jul 5, 2022

Goals are the foundation of a solid marketing plan. They provide a target at which to aim, the standard against which you can gauge your company’s progress. They divide your vision statement into manageable steps and provide a path to its realization. And written goals provide a means for looking back to see how far you have come. 

If all these benefits of setting goals are true, how can goals be of no value? Goal setting is a tool, and like any other tool it is useless if used incorrectly. However, goals are worthless unless they are…

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Are You Your Worst Book-Marketing Problem?

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Jun 21, 2022

 
The biggest obstacles to book-selling success can be the authors or publishers themselves. Emotions such as fear, doubt, regret, and frustration, which are typical when trying something new, can too easily stall or destroy an effort to make large-quantity sales to non-bookstore buyers. 
 
People struggle to manage self-imposed hurdles like these when it comes to making the leap from thinking about what you want to do and actually doing it. As Erma Bombeck said, “It takes a lot of courage to show your dream to someone else.”  
 
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Book Marketing Strategies to Improve Your Website Performance

Penny C. Sansevieri's picture
by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Jun 7, 2022

I talk a lot about book covers and other book marketing strategies on this blog, but one thing we don’t spend enough time on are author websites. And they are crucially important to an author’s success, but to be clear, I don’t mean that you have to have a website that’s big and elaborate. In fact, sometimes the simplest websites are the best! The type of website you have, and therefore the book marketing strategies you use, really depends on your goals.

Websites, like book covers, rely solely on first impressions – and readers (potential buyers) instantly know a good book cover from a bad one, and a good website from a bad one, and with all the competition out there, you won’t get a second chance. So let’s go through a list of must-haves first, before we dig into more:

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The 5 Best Book Marketing Questions to Ask a Publicity Company

Penny C. Sansevieri's picture
by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue May 10, 2022

I can tell you very honestly that the best book marketing campaigns are created and executed when the author, and the marketing team, are all on the same page about goals and expectations.

Of course, your book has to be amazing, and the readers have to resonate with it – but finding those readers and making those connections is critical, and a good book marketing plan is the first step in getting to the next level with your brand.

So I wanted to compile a list of 5 questions you should be asking any book publicity team you’re considering working with.

1. What are realistic goals for my campaign based on my current platform?
Goals will always be unique to you, but I think it’s safe to say we’re all looking to sell more books – selling more books means more readers, and it means your platform is growing.

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Promoting a Book on Amazon Just Got Easier with the New Advertising Updates

Penny C. Sansevieri's picture
by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Apr 26, 2022

In the last couple of weeks, Amazon changed its advertising dashboard, opening it up to any author – regardless of how they’re published – making the whole goal of promoting a book on Amazon even easier. You can now access the Amazon ads dashboard from our Author Central account – which every author has access to! But what does it mean for the industry and for authors seeking to plug some money into Amazon ads to gain more exposure for their book? Let’s dig in.
 
Anyone Can Get Their Book onto Amazon, But Not Everyone Can Get Found: How and Why This Matters
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Getting Started

Create a Culture of Quality in Your Publishing Company

Thu, November 13

How to Write a Business Plan as Narrative (Part 2 of 2)

Wed, September 10

A Novel Planning Technique for Book Publishers (Part 1 of 2)

Fri, September 05

Do You Have the Write Stuff?

Wed, September 03

Today's Great American Novel (Part 2 of 2)

Wed, August 20

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