what is the most difficult aspect of marketing a book?
Marketing/publishing people only please.
Also, please not that I did NOT say that I was trying to market a book. This is just a question for class.
I am a published author who has written 7 books, 6 of them novels. You are either talking about non-fiction, like self-help books, or fiction like novels and they are most easily placed onto websites like amazon.com.
But they still need exposure so that the public is aware that they are available. Unless the author has hired a PR firm or marketing department, they would have to do book signings, write press releases, and online articles that link back to the book. It's almost impossible to get a major book chain like Barnes and Noble to carry your book.
Books are wholesaled through Ingram, the largest distributor of books to dealers. They will not offer a book unless it's in demand. Therefore the author must do most of the advertising on their own. Reaching the public can be time consuming and costly. Very few books ever make it to a bookstore. But the online sales option is growing. Someone can self-publish and go through Booksurge, the publsihing division of amamzon.com and get terrific exposure on their site. But the author must still get the word out before a sale is to made. Remember, there are millions of books on amazon.com to compete against.
i would think the aspect of getting stores to take and profile the book gets noticed. i would suggest depending on the books content doing a free reading/explanation at local book stores where it can be purchased
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Depends on what your goal is.
I'm sure you already know, very few authors end up making worthwhile money for their book. So your reasons for writing the book should be other than "selling books."
One good model is to write and have the book published to establish yourself as an expert. In this model, the cost of production/publication becomes a marketing cost, and any copies sold are just "gravy" – the real purpose is to be able to send the book to prospects, have a reason to go on radio and tv talk shows, do articles, etc which lead into getting more business for your "real" business.
To answer your question, the thing I see more authors do wrong than anything else is to write the book before they've given any thought to who would want to read/buy it, how the target audience will be reached, and the overall economics involved.
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I've self-published 2 niche titles.
Good resources:
http://www.authorsteam.com/
http://www.parapublishing.com/sites/para/
http://www.bookmarket.com/
http://www.twinpeakspress.com/
I am a published author who has written 7 books, 6 of them novels. You are either talking about non-fiction, like self-help books, or fiction like novels and they are most easily placed onto websites like amazon.com.
But they still need exposure so that the public is aware that they are available. Unless the author has hired a PR firm or marketing department, they would have to do book signings, write press releases, and online articles that link back to the book. It's almost impossible to get a major book chain like Barnes and Noble to carry your book.
Books are wholesaled through Ingram, the largest distributor of books to dealers. They will not offer a book unless it's in demand. Therefore the author must do most of the advertising on their own. Reaching the public can be time consuming and costly. Very few books ever make it to a bookstore. But the online sales option is growing. Someone can self-publish and go through Booksurge, the publsihing division of amamzon.com and get terrific exposure on their site. But the author must still get the word out before a sale is to made. Remember, there are millions of books on amazon.com to compete against.
References :
I'm an author and have 35 years experience in marekting and advertising. I have a BFA and Master's degree.
I have written 5 law books. My publisher is supposed to do the marketing. What they do is to send advance sheets to the booksellers, colleges, book stores about books going to be published within the next 2 or 3 quarters.
The toughest part as an author who does not believe her books are marketed sufficiently, is trying to get the local bookstores to even carry the book. Everyone wants to get things for free and that goes for books. Bookstores are used to the big publishing houses trying to make sales by giving the store one or two complementary copies. Small publishers, like mine, do not give anything away and I cannot afford to pass out books that I had to pay full value for.
Another difficult aspect is getting the press to even notice that you published. In the Sunday paper there is always a big section regarding new books. I am not sure what an author needs to do to get one of the reviewers to notice a new book. I suspect that again the author/publisher needs to floor the reviewer and newspaper with free copies.
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Finding a good book to market in the first place.
You can make a bad job of marketing a good book but you can never do a great job of marketing a bad book.
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