One-Track Marketing Doesn’t Create an Author Tipping Point

A recent reader of the Author U blog emailed about her strategy for marketing her book. She was an alumnus of a university with a few hundred thousand graduates and 15,000 current student body. Getting a review in the alumni magazine was her game plan. Assuming it was positive, that, she felt, would spread the “get this book” word.

Other forms of marketing would be bypassed. She didn't want to put her time or energy into other forms of marketing, including all things social media. Blogging and Facebook were questionable. Reviews would be her strategy alone. Those she would direct to her past educational connections.  She writes, “Isn’t that one review worth more than all of my blogging would be?”

Maybe, maybe not. Could she succeed in creating a book buzz? Would it create the momentum to propel her book forward? And would it create the tipping point?  Success book sales do have a tipping point … sometimes it’s obvious as book sales begin to domino; most times, it’s the collective energies and actions of a variety of activities.

There are, of course, exceptions. You may be a major player in an industry that waits with bated breath to hear your words. The instant a book is birthed, reprints are already in the works. Or you could have a topic that is on the lips of the media and the population who want to, who feel, that they need your words.

Those are the exceptions, not the rule. We authors should, no must, create a broad effort in our marketing strategies. Rarely is it going to happen with just one strategy—reviews, blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube—or whatever platform surfaces as a tool. Sure, one will be more dominate than another—but keep in mind—your buyers don’t just read reviews. They don’t just blog, or Tweet or Facebook or Pin or watch YouTube.

When you start tuning into the tools that can cut your time, such as Hootsuite, you can create something that goes everywhere at the same time with one click. It requires that you get organized and become efficient. When you do, you become effective. And the tipping point may come your way.

 

Dr. Judith Briles 
The Book Shepherd - The Author and Publishing Expert
Create. Strategize. Develop. Publish. Achieve.

Chief Visionary Officer: AuthorU.org