Reasons Why Marketing Fails For Authors

BY JEFF LIBICH

If you are thinking about promoting your own book, or yourself, you need to think about how ineffective marketing can be if not done properly. There are many resources available that will tell you the right things to do, but there are only a few that tell you what not to do. Before you begin launching your strategy, take a quick moment to read up on what can potentially hinder your success.

Not Knowing Your Audience & Your Budget

Marketing your book and yourself isn’t as simple as sending out an email and waiting for the phone to ring. You need to have an understanding of your target market and what type of budget you have to reach them. If you don’t determine where your audience is, it will be difficult to know how to allocate dollars and create a spend forecast with enough longevity to make an impact with them.

Lack of Ambition & Commitment

You must be prepared to work hard at marketing yourself and your book. Many authors and speakers fail to get noticed because they aren’t stepping up and building relationships, setting up meetings, scheduling events and initiating the activity necessary to generate interest and awareness about their product.

Inability to Understand the Process

Despite having immediate access to the Internet and countless free tools, many authors still struggle with how to utilize them properly. It’s one thing to create a page on Facebook for you or your book, but it’s quite another to know how to work the page to your advantage. There are many different communication tactics and applications that need to be executed with thought and purpose. In doing this, you’ll reap bigger and better rewards by connecting with your audience.

Not everyone has the time or the skills required to build a strategy and maintain it on a consistent basis. It can be an overwhelming process for anyone who is new to the game. Fortunately, resources do exist that can help alleviate the burden and provide you with outstanding results. You just need to research and find what works best for you.

Jeff is the sales & production coordinator for IBJ Book Publishing. He can be reached at jlibich@ibj.com