[Blog] Promoting Your Book Is Up to You
Jun 30, 2023
By: Melissa Parks
We live in a small house with a total of one closet. It’s problematic for a modern family. And especially for a self-professed clothes horse.
When we moved in, we carved out a small section of our attic to act as my closet.
I shouldn’t complain. It’s fairly spacious. But because the attic is out of sight, I don’t put away my clothes. I stack them on a chair, which now looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
I wish someone would rescue me. Get rid of the clothes that don’t fit. Organize it. Make it functional.
But I’d still have the same problem: putting away the clothes.
Short of hiring a live-in maid, nobody can do that for me. I’ve got to do the hard work.
When it comes to selling your book, you have to arrive at the same conclusion: You’ve got to do the hard work.
Author on Book Tour: It’s Not Just about the Book Signing
This spring one of my good friends published a decorating book. I’m proud to have my home and thoughts featured in her book.
The author wrote a book 18 years ago, long before the Internet drove sales. She was a magazine editor, a columnist, a show producer, and antiques dealer. Some have dubbed her the Martha Stewart of Vintage.
Her credibility landed her on the Today Show, in the Wall Street Journal, and in other major media outlets. Traditional media coverage coupled with her publisher’s marketing efforts led to decent sales.
That was then.
Today, as we all know, traditional book publicity is dead.
The few weeks immediately following her book’s release, she attacked social media, of course, using influencers to create buzz about the book.
While her publisher’s marketing team landed a few major media features, most of her publicity was a result of her working her connections.
She said TV wouldn’t do much for sales, so she didn’t focus her efforts there.
Instead, she would go on a book tour.
A few weeks ago, she traveled from L.A. to Chicago to do a book signing at Warehouse 55, where I sell my vintage goods. It was her 4th book signing.
She set up the tour. She did her own publicity. She paid for travel expenses.
Nobody did it for her.
We ordered about 40 copies of the book for people to purchase and then have signed.
Let’s do the math. If she sold all 40 copies (which she didn’t that day) at $30 a piece, she would have grossed $1200. But her net would be a fraction of that.
I was confused.
“Would she even cover the cost of travel? Why even bother with the book signings?” I asked.
Her answer was simple and satisfying. “It’s not just about the sales at the book signing. All the publicity around the book signing keeps the book alive online—and nudges people to buy the book.”
Keeping Your Book Alive Is Up to You
Your primary job with the publicity of your book is to keep your book alive in the minds of your target reader.
If you’re lucky, your publisher will provide some basic marketing with the launch of the book.
But within weeks, their support will likely fade.
Book marketing is your job to do.
Book publicity is about the long tail. The sales over time that crop up in small quantity because you don’t give up on promoting your book.
This might look like a book tour. It might look like doing a podcast. Or creating a course. Or speaking at small events repeatedly.
There will likely be costs to you: Financial. Time. Energy.
But over time, with repeated effort, you’ll sell the book you wrote for people to read.
