Who's in Charge of Your Book's Marketing Plan?
One of my students at a recent “How to Get Published” class asked me about the role book publishers play in marketing a new book.
“Don’t they market it for you?” she asked.
Unless you’re on the level of John Grisham or J. K. Rowling, your book’s marketing is squarely in your hands.
The marketing plan is part of the initial book proposal submitted to a publisher, which I explained in Five Things that Influence a Publisher to Accept Your Book Proposal.
It outlines, in as much detail as possible, who you will contact and where you will set up events to speak about your book’s topic, followed by a book signing, all coordinated by you.
A publisher will do little, if anything, to promote your book unless you become a superstar similar to the people you see on entertainment channels.
In 1997, my first book was mentioned in Publisher’s Weekly, the industry’s leading magazine. The mention went like this:
(Publisher’s name) has published How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business, by Shirley George Frazier.
How much interest in your book do you believe this simple line of text will create? Not much, and that’s what occurred for me. I embarked on my own marketing campaign, created and launched according to what I originally submitted to the publisher and expanded as the book went to print.
I must admit that my publisher also connected me with a Discovery Channel show called Home Matters. I provided a demonstration that promoted the book. However, getting to and from the studio, which was not in my state, was funded by me.
Your book’s marketing is on your shoulders, so plan on promoting it with the same passion required to write every word printed between the covers.
Before reading what’s explained here, how much time and effort did you think a publisher would commit to marketing your book?