The Book Marketing Network

For book/ebook authors, publishers, & self-publishers

What's Your Biggest Challenge with Your Book?

I'd be interested to learn what authors/publishers on this network think their biggest challenges are with their book. I wonder if there's any common, pervasive challenge we all face.

Views: 9098

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Getting National Exposure, I have conquered it locally, but nationally is so tough...especially if you are working with a small publisher. Any advice???
Stephanie—
Congratulations on conquering local exposure. Most all National exposure begins with Local exposure. No national media wants to take a chance on an author who doesn't have experience on the radio or television. Most producers will want to see examples of your interviews before booking you. It's a good idea to have a collection of your print interviews and a CD or DVD of your audio and television interviews. You can provide these as background to producers before they book you.

Don't expect much help from your publisher. This is not a knock against your publisher because I don't know who your publisher is. It's more a comment on the quality of the publicity offered by most publishers.

There's a trend among authors to refuse advances from publishers telling them to use the advance money on marketing instead.

You may try taking an ad in RTIR (Radio & Television Interview Report). This publication targets producers and editors. It lists authors available for interviews on their subject.

You may also want to blog. Blogging establishes you as an authority in your field. Blogs are also useful resources for producers looking for guests.

Continued success with your publicity efforts.
At the moment I am still promoting my Outskirts press title that came out in late 2008. It will be in the book expo in NY next month and I am still doing giveaways with the ebook online plus promo on various web groups. My title is THE SHAMAN AND THE ROSE which is a gothic thriller based partly on Revelations. I think hands down the hardest challenge is promotion in a bad economy. Another problem to look out for is mail promotions by either postcards or flyers. Unless you can afford to purchase a quality mailing list the process is useless. That I discovered the hard way and lost several thousand dollars in the process. I wanted to share that information to any unsuspecting authors so that they don't make the same costly mistake that I did.
bill
Just a note of sympathy.
Getting other peoples life stories I find is most challenging for me. I need help with finding a permission form for the people to sign (something that I can refer to). It is not easy when doing self-publishing.
Hi Nancy,
I got my book cover from a photographer from photographersdirect.com site. He is from the UK. I got his permission by email and printed it out. it's in my court files in case a problem comes up.

I'm doing the same for the sequel that was from the same site. She comes from Malaysia.

I made sure they wrote that I could use the picture for any ads, promotions, marketing, business cards, newspapers, folders, posters, postcards, etc.
Hi Bidget,

I'm sending you a copy of what was sent to me by another author who wrote a memoir. I'm self-publishing through Infinity Publishing. My book comes out around July 2009. Please, change this around to fit your book. I did the same when it was sent to me.

Disclaimer:
The author of this book affirms that the contents of this book are of her own perceptions only. The situations are given as examples to help other alcoholics and their families. The perception of events in this book may not have happened the same way in the eyes and minds of those people mentioned. No harm, embarrassment, slander, or any other form of malice is intended. Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

What I did was to take the above, added the Date line under it and a section for the person to sign.

I did go to a lawyer for help.

Only write what you were TOLD personally by someone or what you actually witnessed. Don't write what you "thought" happened or how you "thought" a person felt.

If a child is under 18, you need their permission.

Believe me, I have signatures but some may still be upset. Nothing is horrible but they maybe embarrassed. After all, life and personalities do not run smoothly or nicely with substance abuse.

It took me over a year to get people to sign my paper.

Good luck. This is only a guideline for you.
Alberta
Thank you so much for this. I really do appreciate it.
Marketing, marketing, marketing,,,, How to become known when an unknown.

Dixie Burkhart
Facts Don't Matter
Boy, if we all knew the marketing secrets to fit our books, we'd be famous ....and millionaires.
Alberta
Dixie—
Isn't that the truth? Marketing is key to success. Fortunately, the Internet has leveled the playing field for the rest of us. It's now possible to reach an audience for very little money. It's even possible to make it big on the Internet. When Andy Warhol said. "everyone will have their 15 minutes of fame," he didn't know how prophetic he would be. The Internet makes it possible for everyone to have 15 minutes of fame. What Warhol, and others, don't realize, however, is that the Internet is compressing time. Everyone's 15 minutes of fame may be compressed to 15 seconds, unless one keeps getting the word out there.
My biggest challenge is trying to sell 5000 copies so my publisher will go on to publish the other books in my serires without having to put up another $4,000.00 author participation fee.

RSS

© 2024   Created by John Kremer.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service