Writers Must Be Willing To Promote Their Own Book
By Jerry D. Simmons | February 28th, 2006 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Writers must be willing to promote their own book! This is especially important if you are self published. I recently had dinner with an excellent small California publisher who commented on the fact that too many authors are not willing to do what is necessary to help their publisher sell books. From knocking on doors of booksellers to contacting their local media, most authors are not comfortable with what is required to make a book successful, meaning sell copies.
My fellow writers, this is a problem! Forget the fact that my conversation was with a small publisher; let’s take the larger New York houses for which I worked for more than 23 years. If your book is positioned somewhere in the middle of the seasonal list, you will be expected to do a certain amount of promotion on your own. Obviously, the more you are willing to do the better your sales. These companies cannot afford to spend resources on every book, so in order for you to be successful as an author, you must promote your own book.
The competition for book sales is intense, if you sit back and depend on your publisher to do everything; the chances of your book being successful are slim. Even the best-selling authors, with whom I have spent time, work hard at writing and generating publicity for their book(s). They are always looking for ways to get their face in the news and let the public know they have a new book.
Most of the authors that I meet are less than enthusiastic about walking up to complete strangers and asking for help selling their book. It can be uncomfortable, but necessary in today’s marketplace. If you fit this scenario, please let me know, I will seek out writers who have been successful with making unsolicited calls to booksellers. I will put together some information that will help you promote your book. However, you must accept the fact that self-promoting is not only important, but also necessary.
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