What are some of the excuses that keep authors from succeeding? Here are a few I\u2019ve heard over the years and some I continue to hear.<\/p>\n
1: \u201cI don\u2019t need to develop a marketing plan because this book will sell itself.\u201d Promotion is about getting exposure, having your book become known, putting it before your audience\u2026 And if you don\u2019t do that, no one will know about it, which means they certainly will not purchase it. <\/p>\n
2: \u201cI don\u2019t feel like being around that many strangers.\u201d An author told me this when I suggested a bookselling opportunity to him. It\u2019s hard to sell books when there aren\u2019t very many people around.<\/p>\n
3: \u201cYou can\u2019t sell books at book signings.\u201d Of course, I\u2019ve also heard, \u201cPublishers don\u2019t buy books from first time authors,\u201d \u201cYou have to have an agent in order to get a publishing contract,\u201d and other fallacies. The truth is, you can\u2019t sell books at signings if you don\u2019t attend them. Plus, sales aren\u2019t the only thing you should consider when you are promoting a book. What else is there? Exposure, exposure, exposure!<\/p>\n
4: \u201cI don\u2019t like getting up in front of a group.\u201d I also hear, \u201cI don\u2019t want to mess with building a website,\u201d \u201cI hate approaching people to review my book, give me testimonials, publish my article, etc.\u201d I tell these authors that personality sells books. In fact, personality is probably the most important factor in selling some books. An author who wants to sell books, should definitely become more proactive and more people oriented. <\/p>\n
5: \u201cI have publishers interested in my book so I don\u2019t want to promote it.\u201d I got this response after asking an author if she\u2019d like to participate in a book festival. I think I convinced her that she could be selling some of the copies she has in her garage and making some money while continuing to wait for a publisher to commit to publishing her book. As a matter of fact, impressive sales might just tip the scale in her favor.<\/p>\n
Authors who make these excuses\u2014who prefer to stay within their comfort zone and out of the limelight\u2014can probably expect to be one the over 78 percent of authors who fail every year. <\/p>\n
Instead, I urge you to stop making excuses that interfere with your publishing goals. Educate yourself about the publishing industry and become proactive and assertive on behalf of your project.<\/p>\n
Learn more about book promotion by reading my book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author<\/em>. If you still don\u2019t quite \u201cget\u201d the world of publishing, purchase Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author. <\/em>They are both available at Amazon.com and most other online and downtown bookstores. You can also order it from my website: http:www.matilijapress.com<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What are some of the excuses that keep authors from succeeding? Here are a few I\u2019ve heard over the years and some I continue to hear. 1: \u201cI don\u2019t need to develop a marketing plan because this book will sell itself.\u201d Promotion is about getting exposure, having your book become known, putting it before your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t