Why You Must Market Your Book - article

You wrote a book. It was like climbing Mount Everest. It was one of the hardest things you’ve ever done. Now it’s time to send you book out into the world and see how it does. You are ready to let it go. No need to spend any time on marketing; your book will reel in millions. You can feel it in your bones.

On top of that, you are a total introvert and avoid crowds at all costs. Also you barely have two dimes to rub together. How can you afford marketing? And of course you mom loves your book. She thinks it’s awesome. So do your kids. Why do you have to market you book? Aren’t publishers supposed to spend millions of dollars on that? Marketing isn’t your job! You are the writer, the wizard behind the curtain like in OZ. Why do you need to concern yourself with this unpleasant marketing business?

Watch out, clueless author! A bucket of freezing cold reality is about to be dumped on your head. Here’s the first real deal, thousands of books are published every year and less than one percent of them become bestsellers and only a very few of those bestsellers are produced by first authors. To get your book on the “meme” track, a self-propagating pack of ideas that is leaping from person to person, you are going to have to roll up your sleeves and get your book into the public conversation and also front and central in communities of book-o-philes. No one is going to do this for you.

Good news introverts! Book signings and author appearances are not considered the only ways to reach readers. Stay in your pajamas and curl up with your computer. Marketing books is about joining the larger conversation in a low-key doable way. Don’t have much money? Not such a problem. Most marketing has a time cost but not much of a monetary cost. Don’t let a lack of funding stop you.

What about getting your publishing house to market your book? Unless you name is Madonna or President Obama, don’t expect much of a marketing budget from you publisher. They aren’t likely to spend a penny on marketing your book. Ouch. Also be aware that this is the age of the self published author. With the proliferation of e-readers, now more than ever you must be the driving force to get your book into the public eye.

Think about this. Do you believe in the book you wrote? Was it a heartfelt endeavor for you? Who in this world is a better advocate for that endeavor? No one but you. You are the champion of your own work. Believe in it enough to see it reach the hands of your readers. Do whatever it takes even if that means you to market your book. You had something to say. Be heard. Market your book.

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  • Thanks for your advice. Just as writing a book was completely new to me, so is marketing. I completed my boo, so I am confident I can work just as hard to market it. I appreciate every bit of advice.

  • I love your advice regarding marketing my book. I will take your information into consideration. Getting the book into the readers hand is what is important now Thanks for your information molly. God bless.
  • Brilliantly written. Thanks for the creative words of encouragement.
  • Molly I love it! I will definitely use this amazing advise to help me on this path of becoming a successful author. Just do it by communicating with people through the Internet on various websites. I often share a little piece of information about my book to whom ever will listen. I plan to submit my first book to a publishing company in a few months. I am thankful yet extremely excited. Thanks again!
  • Hi Everyone, My name is Ahmad A. Sbaiti. I just self-published my first novel, called Nora, with Xlibris. It is a political romance of two politically, religiously and culturally widely divergent young people who meet at Princeton University and, for two years slug it out as intellectual enemies until they discover that, all along, they harbored tender feelings for each other which they constantly denied. But they finally accept those feelings, work out their differences and walk into marital bliss. I would appreciate comments on the book and honest feedback. Please add me to your circle of authors.