Choosing Book Publicity Services to Support Your Author Goals

by Penny Sansevieri | Sep 10, 2024 | Being in Business as an Author

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It’s no secret that book publicity and book marketing options are confusing. There’s a lot out there and while some of it is great, a lot of it isn’t.

And if you’re going to invest in your book (and you should), you want to make sure that you’re investing the right way.

This morning I got an email from “Kindle Direct Publishing” which talked about how they want to turn my book isn’t a movie. Really? Not only that, but they could probably get it done in three months’ time. Isn’t that amazing? Well, only until you realize that the book in question is over 12 years old and about how to get published. I’m thinking that wouldn’t be a very interesting movie.

Avoiding Scams and Options that Won’t Serve You

And that’s a big issue in the industry – scammers out to get all your hard-earned marketing dollars. It absolutely infuriates me. Which is why you want to be strategic when it comes to choosing book publicity services.

Ask good questions, and don’t settle for a cookie cutter offering.

Figuring Out Where to Start

So where do you begin? The heart of all good book publicity should start with your reader and your goals. It’s a good idea to figure out what you want to accomplish, besides book sales.

Because while we all want to sell books, the focus should be on the micro goals that get you there. And a good PR firm who specializes in working with books and authors, should know this.

At the core of this is that not all books need the same kind of book publicity services.

Understanding What Your Book’s Unique Needs Are

For some genres, getting lots of reviews will really help to raise the visibility of a book.

There are companies that will do just reviews for you, which on the surface seems great. But ask them what’s guaranteed, how many and where are the readers located. Not that you don’t want readers from all over the world – but Amazon has started to crack down on international reviewers.

For example, you can’t gift a Kindle book to anyone outside of the US. So if you’re trying to get books to reviewers, mailing them internationally could get expensive. It’s also the issue of whether or not the review “sticks” – some reviews from countries outside of the US get pulled, because Amazon is cracking down on people trying to populate their pages with fake reviews. So be careful if you decide to engage with a review-only company.

If you’ve written non-fiction, you’ll want to get reviews, but you also want to reach out to thought leaders and media.

Let’s say you wrote a book about being in business and how to succeed as a new startup. You’ve had your own business for a while and have a website, lots of newsletter members, a great social media following. If you came to me I’d tell you that you’re probably ready for media. Meaning I’d pitch you to magazines, podcasts, influencers, all the things.

But if you’ve just published a non-fiction business book and you have very little platform, I’d use the book to help you grow your reach. We might do some pitching, but the reality is it’s too early in your brand building to get very far with media, and it’s an easy way to waste a lot of money.

Better Results Are Anchored In Reality

And that’s the heart and soul of working with someone who will listen to your goals, but also support you in ways that make sense for where you’re at right now.

A lot of times you’ll see book publicity services that make big flashy offers, and some even guarantee ROI (with very fine print).

I wish we could offer that, but honestly, after 20+ years in business I know there’s no legitimate way to make that happen.

But I also know that ROI is a sticking point with a lot of authors!

You want to make back your investment. As an author myself, I get that – absolutely.

But you also have to be willing to make the investment and run that risk that you may not get it back right away.

Becoming an Author is Just Like Starting a Business

Which is why you’ll always hear me tell authors to make sure you have a great product. That’s step one. Without a great product you can throw thousands of dollars at book marketing and publicity, but nothing remarkable will happen.

Good book publicity campaigns always:

Start by identifying your unique author goals
Build off what you’re bringing to the table
Support the needs of your book based on its retail presence and genre
Focus on the preferences of your reader

Readers Should Be the Number One Concern

You need to exist where your reader is.

The idea of getting media coverage is very alluring, but I can tell you from experience that the vast majority of the authors I’ve worked with that have gotten big media breaks will tell you it didn’t really make a difference in sales.

Appeal directly to readers, in organic ways, and you’ll start selling books.

At the end of the day, you can throw a whole bunch of flashy stuff out there and hope something happens, but you’ll only wind up spending a lot of money on a scattershot marketing plan that never gains footing.

Investing smartly is the key to success, avoid the “get rich quick” stuff because it never works out, and instead, invest in something that has longevity and drops your book right on the reader’s virtual doorstep.