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My Favorite Books on Book
Marketing and Promotion Every Author Must Read
by Scott Lorenz
President
Westwind Communications
As a book marketing guy and book publicist it’s
imperative for me to keep up with all of the great books and
magazine articles being published on the topic of book
marketing.
I’ve read dozens and dozens of books on book
marketing and usually have found a morsel or two of useful
information in each one. Here’s a list of my favorites. By the
way, I’ve personally met or have spoken to each author and can
attest to the veracity of the material they present and their
credentials to discuss these topics.
PyroMarketing. Book marketing
professionals know the secrets of success that drove the sales
of Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life to a chart-busting
best-seller and Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” into a
huge cinema phenom. Those of us in the business understand that
sales of both blockbusters were driven by techniques outlined
in a book called PyroMarketing by Greg Stielstra
who gained fame in book publishing circles when he served as
the marketing director for The Purpose Driven Life, the
best-selling hardcover book in history.
PyroMarketing embraces an idea that really has
been in use for some time – niche marketing. That tool is
well-known and used every day by book promoters but Stielstra
lays out the niche marketing principles with a new, crystal
clear message that is so compelling that it is a must-read for
anyone who wants to promote an idea, service or product. Read
my in-depth review and watch a short entertaining video on the
concept at:
www.westwindcos.com. Buy it at:
www.pyromarketing.com.
The Web-Savvy Writer: Book
Promotion with a High-Tech Twist
This is an excellent “how to” book on the ins and outs of
online book promotion and publicity focusing on the latest
technology. Author Patrice-Anne Rutledge is a bestselling
author, successful technology journalist, and online book
promotion expert who has utilized online marketing techniques
extensively to promote her books and writing career. Patricia
plows new ground filling the gap in the book promotion
marketplace with her highly focused book on bringing technology
to the forefront in a book marketing campaign. “Web-Savvy
Writer” is a MUST read if you want to utilize the most cost
effective and viral methods in promoting your book like blogs,
pay per click advertising, online reviews, ezines and more.
After reading a few chapters you’ll soon realize what you don’t
know about online marketing could fill volumes. She’s truly
brilliant. Buy the online version of the book as it has
hundreds of clickable links at:
www.websavvywriter.com
John Kremer’s “1001 Ways To
Market Your Books”
His 6th Edition published in 2006 describes more than 1000
ideas, tips, and suggestions for marketing books – all
illustrated with real-life examples showing how other authors
and publishers have marketed their books. John, who is a
walking encyclopedia about book marketing says, “Eighty percent
of all books are sold by word of mouth, but it’s publicity that
primes the marketing pump. Remember that you cannot do
everything, so hire the right persons to do the things you
can't do. If you're not comfortable doing your own publicity,
then hire someone who does it for a living." I could not have
said it better. Be sure to check out his seminars on book
marketing held around the U.S. too. Find out about that and his
book at: www.bookmarket.com
Author! Screenwriter! How to Succeed as a
Writer in New York and Hollywood
I always enjoy talking with Peter Miller, President,
PMA Literary Film and
Management, Inc. He’s one of the “big” agents in New York
City. Known as ‘The Literary Lion,’ he has successfully managed
over 1,000 books and dozens of motion picture and television
properties. From big names like Vincent Bugliosi to the “next
big star” he’s had eleven New York Times bestsellers and eleven
produced films that he has managed or executive produced. He
likes to do “three book deals” once he gets a writer he likes.
In addition, he has a substantial number of film and television
projects currently in active development. He divides his time
between New York and Los Angeles, and frequently tours the
country to speak at writers’ conferences and workshops. His
insight into the publishing world and Hollywood is priceless.
Buy his book, but if you can see him in person do it and tell
him I said hi!
www.pmalitfilm.com.
I strongly recommend the purchase of MAXIMUM
EXPOSURE Marketing System Book Marketing Training Program for
Publishers and Authors by Tami DePalma and Kim Dushinski.
This is a very well written resource that teaches authors all
about marketing their book. For example they have a complete
list of reviewers you can send your book to, sample timelines,
lists of distributors and much more. You can stay on top of the
changes in the market too as they keep it updated on their web
site and blog. Believe me, if it’s not in here it’s not
important. Buy it at:
www.MX-TheMatrix.com.
Since understanding all of the money making
opportunities with your book can be a daunting task, I also
recommend that you purchase Jim Donovan’s How to Write,
Publish & Sell Your Book and Turn it Into a Never-ending Money
Machine. His system will teach you the inner workings of
the book business and how to leverage your books so they
generate substantial multiple streams of income long after
they’ve been published. Jim Donovan's books have been published
in eighteen countries and are being read by hundreds of
thousands of people throughout the world so he knows what he’s
talking about.
www.writepublishsellyourbook.com
Free Book! That’s right, Midpoint
Trade Books, a major book distributor has published an
excellent handbook which features seven keys that are important
for independent publishers to understand and master. If you
want a quick read on everything you need to know about
publishing, printing, editing, marketing and distributing your
book then this is the one. The importance of using a book
marketing professional is stressed by author Eric Kampmann,
President of Midpoint Trade Books. Says Kampmann, "Of course,
there are many reasons why a book might become a success or
even a bestseller, but we believe that the single best
investment for you is an effective publicist." The
7 Keys To
Publishing Success can be downloaded at no charge at:
www.midpointtrade.com
Here’s a Very Expensive Book… but well
worth the price. Its called “The Insider’s Guide to Large
Quantity Book Sales.” Quite literally exactly what the
title implies. BTW, we’re talking thousands of books at a
time! Do I have your attention? You’ll be very
impressed by the insight provided in the material about selling
your book in large numbers. You have useful contact information
for book club buyers and more importantly how to pitch and
position your book for consideration. It also has sample
contracts and agreements which are easily worth hundreds of
dollars in saved legal fees alone if you had your attorney
draft the documents. Written and published by the Jenkins
Group Inc, this book is the result of years of the author,
Jerrold Jenkins, publishing and selling massive quantities of
books. If you are serious about selling large quantities of
books and want the inside tips from a publisher who does it
every day, then make the investment and download the book at:
www.specialmarketbooksales.com/
Author 101 Bestselling Book Publicity: The
Insider's Guide to Promoting Your Book--and Yourself.
One thing about the book marketing and book promotion business
is that there are so many nice people in the business. I rank
Rick Frishman as one of the top publicists in the U.S. not to
mention he’s a nice guy too! His book, co-authored by Robyn
Freedman Spizman and Mark Steisel, offers advice and insight
about every stage of the publishing world. Using testimonials
and commentary, this book lets authors, agents, and publishers
alike show you the things you should and shouldn't do in
promoting your book. Buy it at
Amazon
Brian Jud’s “Beyond
The Bookstore” is a terrific book about selling your book
to everyone else other than a bookstore. I met Brian while
co-presenting on a panel at a
Learning Annex
seminar in NYC on the topic of book marketing. I covered the
topic of book publicity, he covered selling books. Brian Jud
says since more than half of all book sales come from outside
bookstores it’s important to target these markets. Mass
merchandisers such as Wal-Mart or Costco, gift shops, airport
stores, home-shopping networks, book clubs, libraries,
network-marketing companies, catalogs, associations, government
agencies, corporations, educational markets, retail stores and
military branches all buy and sell books.
Brian walks you through creating a special sales
plan, where to find the people you need to contact to make your
pitch. If you really want to sell books outside the bookstore
market then buy Beyond the Bookstore at:
www.bookmarketingworks.com
Book Marketing
A-Z by Francine Silverman. More than 300 authors,
marketers and publicists, including yours-truly tell about
their best promotional strategies with regards to book
marketing. You’ll undoubtedly find several good ideas to
implement. While you’re at it, check out Fran’s Book Promotion
Newsletter which for $7.50 a year is the best value in book
marketing in the USA. Buy her book here:
www.bookpromotionnewsletter.com
There are many books out there on the topic of
book marketing, book publishing and just plain everyday
business marketing in general. You can read the ones I’ve
described above but unless you want to spend days and weeks
learning about book marketing, you might find it useful to
retain an expert on book marketing or hire an experienced book
publicist. I am sure that after you read two or three of these
you’ll seriously question the idea of self promotion.
Why? The reason is that today’s book market is
extremely competitive. The world is awash in books.
Bowker (The keeper of all
ISBNs) says that in 2005 more than 172,000 books were published
in the United States, plus 206,000 published in the UK. How can
Borders, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, your local library or anyone
else effectively sell or showcase that number let alone the
millions of previously printed titles? The answer: They can’t.
Furthermore, I do not recommend self-promotion,
for the same reason you don’t cut your own hair. You can do it,
but it’s not going to be that good. Book marketing and book
promotion requires special skills and most authors simply do
not know how to market a book nor do they have the time or,
more importantly, the patience. A publicist develops and
nurtures relationships with writers, editors and producers so
they trust us when we give them a story idea about a book or
author.
The bottom line: While I do recommend these
books as a basis for understanding the
book marketing and
book promotion process a wise
author would be even wiser to retain a book publicist to market
and promote their book. If you come to the same conclusion
please by all means give me a call!
About Scott Lorenz
Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a
public relations and
marketing firm that has a special knack for working with
doctors, lawyers, inventors and authors. His clients have been
featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC
Nightly News, The New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, NPR,
the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Family
Circle, Woman's World, & Howard Stern to name a few. To discuss
how Westwind Communications helps its clients get all the
publicity they deserve and more, call 734-667-2090 or email:
scottlorenz@westwindcos.com . Visit:
http://www.westwindcos.com |
