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Top Book Marketing Mistakes Self Publishers Make and How to Avoid Them
Rebecca Hamilton • March 10, 2024
Other Book Marketing Sites Have Been Lying To You!
So you've poured your heart and soul into writing your fiction book, only to find your marketing efforts are falling flat. Don't worry, you're not alone! Many authors make common mistakes when it comes to promoting their work. In this blog post, we'll explore the top mistakes authors make when marketing their books and provide practical tips on how to avoid them. Stay tuned to learn how to effectively promote your book and reach a wider audience!
Introduction to Book Marketing
Many sites will tell you that, as an author, writing a book is just the first step in the publishing journey, and then you need to start marketing your book.
They're wrong.
Marketing actually happens at every step leaving up to publication...
...and then Promotion and (sometimes) Advertising will take over.
If you want to reach and engage potential readers, you need to know who those readers will be before you every put your fingertips to your keyboard.
Do that, and book marketing won't seem like a daunting task. In fact, when you do things in this order, the promotion and sales will happen nearly automatically.
Authors using our methods often tell us they feel like they should be doing MORE, yet they are making better money by doing LESS.
Successfully promoting and selling books to your ideal readers is not the behemoth task authors think it is. It's actually something that happens automatically if you do the marketing work before you writing and launching your book. The only reason authors struggle with this now is because they are doing things in the wrong order.
It's a bit like trying to put socks on AFTER you put your shoes on. Why do this to yourself?
What you DON'T need is social media promotion, influencer support, or book signings. You know, the things every other book marketing blog has been telling you to do.
Spoiler Alert: YOU are not the problem. Their terrible time-wasting "busy work" advice is!
Conversely, a solid marketing plan that can significantly impact the success of your book by increasing its visibility and sales happens on AUTO PILOR when you're done all the prep work correctly.
While the best time to do this is before launch, if you missed out on doing this PRIOR to launch, it's not too late to fix it.
In this section, we will discuss some common mistakes that authors make when marketing their books and how you can avoid them.
Mistake ONE: Not defining a target audience.
One of the biggest mistakes authors make is not identifying their target readership before writing their book. Without a clear understanding of who would be interested in your book, it becomes challenging to make sure you're delivering the elements they are looking for. That is going to make it even harder to create effective promotional campaigns that resonate with potential readers down the line.
Think of it this way: Which cake is easier to sell to someone for a birthday party. The cake you made after hearing about the birthday guy or gal's favorite flavors...or some random cake you made with whatever you could find in your pantry at the time?
The latter requires some luck to sell, but the former strategically sets up the sale.
Now, with this I want to caution that your target audience is not THE WHOLE WORLD. The goal here isn't to "write what sells" - you don't have to write a genre you don't like, you don't have to chase down the latest trending fads or tropes, and you don't have to sacrifice your personal beliefs.
You CAN write what you want. This is just about making sure it also aligns with the readers you plan to sell it to later.
So to avoid this mistake, all you have to do is take some time to research and understand who would be interested in your brand! Who is already reading books like what you want to write? What do both love about this genre or topic? How can you make sure to highlight those features in the development of your story and, later, in your promotional and advertising efforts?
Mistake TWO: Focusing on the WRONG things.
A survey by Written Word Media in 2023
showed that authors spend, on average 31 hours a month "marketing" their books. (Quote, Unquote.) Unfortunately, they aren't actually marketing their book in most cases. They only think they are. What they're really doing is shouting into the social media void for dozens of hours a day, successful authors are writing their next bestseller.
And those successful authors? Outside of writing more books, only ONE hour a week is going into making those books sell. Yet they are making $10,000-$100,000 PER MONTH. Versus authors who are promoting for nearly 7-8 hours a week yet on average are only making $100-$1000 per month.
That means some of these authors are making less than $3.50 an hour while other authors with the same amount of books are making as much as $25,000 an hour. That's a HUGE discrepancy, and while other "marketing professionals" want to claim those authors just got lucky, the truth is...
Their marketing methods don't work WITHOUT luck. Because their marketing methods don't work.
All you have to do is take what people are "luckily" doing...and do it on PURPOSE.
Just. Like. Any. Other. Successful. Business. On. The. Planet.
The truth is, you don't need social media. You don't need a website. And unless you're selling non-fiction, you don't need a blog, either.
You just need to tap into the trillions of dollars worth of technology that will connect YOUR book with the RIGHT reader...and that sale will happen IF you did the marketing work you needed to do BEFORE writing and while loading your book for sale and launching it.
Mistake THREE: Poorly Craft Marketing Materials.
And no, I'm not talking about social media images or teasers! Again, you don't need those. Hundreds of thousands of authors are doing things that way (at the behest of other book marketing articles) and they are NOT getting results from that. So save your time and money on "promo images" and focus on the one Marketing Image that matters:
Your book cover.
Using unprofessional or poorly designed book covers can actually hurt your brand. Your book cover (or other graphics) is often the first thing a reader sees. The reason "judge a book by it's cover" exists is because SO many people do exactly that. And they clearly aren't taking the advice not to.
You can make it your life mission to try to change their minds where so many before you have failed...
...or you can accept that most people judge a book by it's cover and go with the flow. Get a great cover. Make it so you have one less barrier to pass and one less obstacle to overcome.
Your cover is the first impression a reader gets of your brand. This tells them at a glance how important your product is to you.
Do you care about what you're about to sell them? Do YOU think your book is worth spending money on? Because if YOU won't spend money on your book, why should they?
When you buy things, don't you want whoever is selling it to you to care about experience and the quality of what you're about to buy? Would you buy something that looks like little effort went into it? Would you want to spend money on an item that you can tell just by looking at it was created by cutting corners and creating the least "passable" product possible?
If the person selling that product told you, "But this and I'll use that money to make a better product for you to buy next time?" how would you react? Does that make you want to give them your hard earned money?
Maybe. But for most people, it's a turn off. They aren't lining up out the door to buy something someone hobbled together. Readers don't care that you want to make money; they care if you will sell them something entertaining - something worth their hard earned cash.
And here's the thing: there are authors out there who are delivering them Ferrari level quality for Wish-level prices... The competition is steep! They don't want a Wish.com Fiction Book! Remember also, readers don't just invest their money with you, but their TIME. The most valuable resource of all <3
So make your book cover promises them that by having one professionally designed that is visually appealing and eye-catching.
Then make sure the book is professionally edited so you can deliver on that promise.
To wrap this up...
Book marketing is an essential part of the publishing process that cannot be overlooked, but it begins a lot sooner than you think, and it's not something you can skimp on. By avoiding these common mistakes and implementing effective strategies, you can successfully promote and sell your book to reach a wider audience.
If you're already utilizing top of the line cover designers and professional editors and you're still not seeing 6-7 figure a year returns, fill out an application with Seven Figure Author Career, and if you're a good fit, they'll chat with you for free about how to turn that around.
Or message the Six Figure Author Coach
the word FRAMEWORK to discover the 12-Step Process hundreds of authors are using to market their books effectively in the modern day.
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You know how authors these days feel like they have to pump out new books every single month just to keep the lights on? It's kind of crazy when you think about it, right? I mean, the whole concept of royalties is to create passive income from past work. This should be creating a steady income for authors from the previous publications so they can kick back a bit and enjoy life, or at least know when they retire they will have a stream of income still. But instead, we've got authors stuck in this daily grind, barely able to catch their breath between one book release and the next. It's time to make royalties the way it was intended. Authors should be able to rely on their backlist to bring in some cash while they focus on what they do best – writing! Instead of treating royalties like some kind of monthly paycheck, let's get back to the original idea of passive income. Imagine if authors could invest their resources into their older books and do so at a positive, scalable ROI…95% on autopilot and the rest more on maintenance mode. If they did that, they could turn those forgotten titles into a goldmine of passive income. Instead of chasing after the next big (temporary) thing, authors can invest in long-term strategies and value sustainability over quick wins, which is how my clients are thriving long term, having $50k months while on vacation, making 7 figures even when they take a year off for their health, and paying off their kid’s college education and expenses. Why SHOULDNT that be the case? It’s because authors have been lied to. They’re so busy being afraid they are going to “fall” for something that won’t work…so they aren’t trying what WILL. But you know what they do fall for? The idea that success isn’t possible. Now talk about falling for something that won’t work. There’s a bit of irony there. The bottom line is, the current system of monthly book releases is wearing authors thin and missing the whole point of royalties. It's time to give authors the chance to kick back, relax, and let their backlist do some of the heavy lifting. If you want to bring some balance back to the world of fiction publishing, drop me a line. I can help anyone who is on board with hiring cover designers, editors, and investing in marketing/advertising. PS: we can do it all without any social media, too. Because surely by now you can see that people just do that because it’s free, not because it works. They’d be better off getting a job in fast food or being a neighborhood dog walker and taking those funds to invest in their author career to turn it into a business so they can quit the job they might not like. Instead. They take on another job they don’t like (begging on social media for readers to try their books) except that job they hate doesn’t even pay! Makes no sense! Let’s stop the insanity and work smarter, not harder. Learn how to run your author career like a business so you can make passive, scalable income. Looking forward to chatting to anyone who is serious about making 6-7 figures soon 🥰 Just Message me on Facebook to get started! And don't forget to Join Our Free Facebook Group for live events and inspiring case studies! Wanna see the results you can get when you do things the right way? Rebecca Hamilton Case Studies Rebecca Hamilton Testimonials Six Figure Author Coach/Seven Figure Author Career Reviews
A little while ago, was invited to participate in a information stack via Infostack.io. First off, I was pretty skeptical. Infostack is a discount deal site that offers various themed bundles of digital resources worth thousands of dollars for a low price (usually $49 bucks) for a short period of time. Here’s what went through my mind: Sounds like a scam... It can’t be legit. How can they offer so much value AND make money? Impossible... It sounds WAY too good to be true, and we all know what that means... It’s probably just a bunch of bargain basement dud products no one would buy anyway... It’s a scam. Ok I know I said “scam” twice but these days getting a deal worth thousands for just $49 doesn’t feel legit. There’s got to be a catch. At the same time, I'm hesitant to accuse people of scamming without doing my own research and getting to know a product for myself. So I clocked the 60-day money back satisfaction guarantee and hit buy. At first, I was overwhelmed. There were a lot of resources. In fact, there were so many resources I wondered if this was part of the “bamboozle” - overloading us with a bunch of crap so we can’t see we’ve been conned. Especially because I get so many messages from authors who tell me that they've been scammed by other author coaches in the past, or telling me I'm their first experience with getting any real value out of a program. So I decided to see if this was going to be like one of those times. Things didn’t turn out how I expected. Here’s why. In fact, here’s five reasons why. #1. They actually feature truly legit contributors When I first started digging into the Super Stack as they call it, I reviewed all of the contributors and all their products. I thought for sure these would be no-name scammers who are just trying to make a buck. I was proven wrong. I discovered these are just some of the heavyweights Infostack collaborates with to create their writing bundles: USA Today bestsellers TEDx talkers NYT & WSJ bestsellers Bram Stoker Award finalists Emmy nominated screenwriters And even the multiple Emmy-Award winning writer and producer of HBO’s BAND OF BROTHERS. As if that wasn’t enough, Steven Pressfield (author of The War of Art) and Kate diCamillo (author of Tales of Despereaux) have given glowing testimonials for two of the products in their bundles. That's when I decided maybe participating with my own offerings wouldn't be a bad idea after all. I mean, look at some of the names they've worked with before inviting me: Lise Cartwright - USA Today, WSJ bestseller lists Melissa Storm - NYT bestseller Tom Leveen - Bram Stoker Award finalist, SPAWN comics contributor Alexa Bigwarfe - USA Today bestseller Alan Watt - Product praised by Steven Pressfield (author of The War of Art) Susan May Warren - USA Today bestseller Heather Cardona - USA Today 3x bestseller Esther Jacobs - Int’l TEDx speaker Nina Amir - Published by Writer’s Digest and Penguin House Mary Buckham - USA Today bestseller Christine Merrill - Amazon bestselling romance author Michelle Richmond - NYT bestseller Stacy Bauer - Bestselling children’s book author Erik Bork - Multiple Emmy Award-winning writer-producer of projects including HBO's BAND OF BROTHERS Mark Boutros - International Emmy nominated screenwriter Caye Kim - NYT and USA Today bestseller Ray Brehm - USA Today and WSJ bestselling author Eva Langston - Pushcart Prize nominee Michelle Medlock Adams - Bestselling children’s book author and journalist Ryan Zee - Founder of Plottr, Booksweeps, & MailerLite Maggie McCloskey - Product praised by Kate DiCamillo (author of Tales of Despereaux) Now they've added me to their list: Rebecca Hamilton - NYT, USA Today, WSJ bestseller, the six figure writing coach who has launched over 500 USAT/NYT/and WSJ bestselling author careers and helpful countless authors hit six figures a year (sometimes *per series*) #2. The products in the bundle aren’t crappy bargain basement products Instead, I only found really good products. Worse, I found products I already use and have paid full price for, like Book Brush! *slaps head* It’s hard to feel conned when you realize you can spend $49 to get a ton of products and scoop a whole year’ subscription to your favorite book cover creator / social media book ad template platform for half the price you pay to subscribe to a year of Book Brush! Here’s a few of the first class products they’ve included in their writing stacks… Storiad’s Author Book Promotion worth $280 The Writer’s Block Party 6 month sub worth $162 The Novel Factory 12 month sub worth $75 Plottr 3 month sub worth $111 Bublish 12 month sub worth $120 30% off for life Stencil Pro worth $215 Book Brush 12 month sub worth $100 20% discount on professional editing services ProWriting Aid 12 month sub worth $79 20% discount to Silver or Gold Membership toThe Page Turner Awards (winners awarded literary representation) 50% Discount on 100 Covers Pro Cover Design Real products. Real prices. Real savings. Mind = blown. #3. I couldn’t prove they weren’t offering tons of value I contacted the guys at Infostack wanting to know the deets about their previous writing stacks. Of course, they were more than happy to share. Turns out none of them cost a penny more than $49! It’s crazy...but it’s true. Write Publish Profit 3.0: 53 Products. Total Value: $5,695.14 Write Publish Profit 2.0 Flash Sale: 57 Products. Total Value: $6.057.82 Write Publish Profit 2.0: 48 Products. Total Value: $5,267.84 Writer’s Craft 2.0: 54 Products. Total Value: $5,192.52 Writer’s Craft Super Stack: 66 Products. Total Value: $5,560.39 Kidlit Creators: 26 Products. Total Value: $2,214.96 Coming on June 8th: Write Publish Profit 4.0: 49 Products. Total Value: $7,050.73 (and growing) That’s a LOT of content for writers...and given that the contributors and products are all top-class, it really is impressive how they’ve managed to put all this together. #4. I couldn’t ignore the premium quality eCourses, masterclasses, and training programs included from leading experts At this point I’m getting tired of having my expectations smashed, but maybe the ecourses and training programs would be cheap products no one would want. Right? Wrong again. I got my hands on some of the ecourses, masterclasses, and training programs Infostack have included so far in their June 8th: Write Publish Profit 4.0 deal … They asked me to keep some of the details a secret (for now), but my main takeaway, as someone who knows what works and what doesn't, is there's a LOT of information in these stacks that are accurate and useful. It makes these stacks a PERFECT stepping stone for authors who can't afford the Six Figure Author Coach Publishing Mastermind, but want to get some momentum with their royalties so that they can eventually join in on those advanced trainings with me! Here's an overview of what type of content I saw inside... Build Your Author Platform: The marketing membership that shows you how to build your author platform like a business to become desirable to publishers and sell more books! ($425 value) A complete series of courses to build your author platform and launch your book like a marketing pro. ($125 value) The course that shows exactly how to get email subscribers from your books on autopilot! ($100 value) The ultimate shortcut to writing a great pitch that lands tons of interviews and gets your book sold. ($347 value) A simple way to increase your income, influence and email list by hosting your own Virtual Summit! ($297 value) Launch Your Next Book Like A Spacex Rocket An A-Z program that takes students from saying, “I want to write a book,” all the way to post-publication marketing (and maybe even a best-sellers list!) in less than five hours a week. ($497 value) The complete solution to build your author fan base, promote your book, and generate book sales. ($586 value) Everything you need to successfully launch and market your book, regardless of topic or niche. ($497 value) Self-edit like a pro and save a ton of money, too Get a structured approach to editing your manuscript that teaches you how to self-edit your manuscript in organized layers, going from the big-picture editing of story arc all the way down to small-picture edits like grammar and style. ($249 value) Perfect your story craft Dive into everything you need to know to write a character-driven, action-packed, world-changing novel readers will love. ($393 value) Craft satisfying plot twists with a self-directed workshop which will teach you how to make your story more suspenseful, unpredictable, and un-put-down-able. ($200 value) Get the mindset to fulfill your writing dreams Discover how to think like a successful person, and get your mindset on board with your dreams. ($197 value) Transform the way you think and feel about yourself so you can write your book with confidence. ($553 value) And this isn’t even the complete lineup. Wait til you see what I decided to throw in the mix after determining they are legit! #5. What about that 60-Day Money Back Guarantee though? That generous guarantee got me to buy with the intention to reveal what I believed to be the Infostack scam. It turns out Infostack is legit. While I personally didn't get a refund because I was happy with the product, I did reach out to other authors who have taken my publishing mastermind and asked for a refund. I asked why they asked for a refund and if they got it. Their answer? 1. The refund was sent within 24 hours. All they were asked was feedback on why they wanted a refund. 2. The reason they gave me (and I presume the reason they offered infostack) was because the content just wasn't what they needed at this time. (They were PMC graduates, so it makes sense, however, it's worth noting that MOST of my PMC graduates who got the infostack still say it was worth way more than what they paid and were happy with the stack.) But the point is, yes, the Money Back Guarantee is real. The Bottom Line... Infostack offers a lot for $49, and on the face of it, it really does look too good to be true. But as I discovered for myself, (and reviewed here) it’s all true. I think the evidence proves it. And it is kind of extraordinary. So if you are a writer, or a self-published indie and anything turns up in your Inbox that has Infostack’s name on it, you can count on it being super legit and the best value you’ll ever get for $49...in maybe...ever! So click on that link when it arrives like it’s a Willy Wonka Golden Ticket and get ahead of the writing curve like a pro. You can thank me later. - Rebecca
I’m sure you’re aware that the more books you write, the more money you'll make. Not just because you have more books to sell, but also because frequent book releases are favored by Amazon's algorithms , which improve the visibility of your books and therefore your brand. With this knowledge in mind, every time a new year rolls around, I vow to myself that I’m going to make this year even more productive than the last. Published five books last year? Screw it, I’m going for ten this year. It’s easy to make those lofty goals in the exciting, early days of the new year, when everything seems shiny and new. But how do you keep them if you’re on limited writing time each week? How can you increase your production without sacrificing quality? In this week’s post, we’re going to visit some solid productivity tips to help you rock your new year’s goals.
Before we dive into punctuation specifically, I want to go over "Said Bookisms." These are words that are used in Books to avoid the use of the word "said" - and you should NOT be using them. Example: "I can't wait!" she exclaimed . Example 2: "Can you believe that?" he questioned . Example 3: "I'm not sure I want to know," he extrapolated . Don't. Do. This. In most other areas of writing, variety of language is advised, but with dialogue tags, you don't want that. To strengthen your craft, stick to basic forms (said/asked). These two tags are considered "invisible" to readers. As a person reads, they pass right over them, which keeps them fully immersed in the experience. Extravagant dialogue tags like the examples above draw the reader's attention, and in today's reading market, stand out like a sore thumb. Tagging your dialogue this way is like putting a flashing sign over your head that declares you're an inexperienced writer. Like "Look at me! I have no idea what I'm doing and haven't put even 3 seconds into researching my craft." It's probably the #1 worst thing you can do with your dialogue, and easily on the top 10 list of worst things you can do in your writing overall. Maybe even top 5. It's BAD. Here are some articles on the topic: 1. http://www.dbjackson-author.com/2012/01/25/writing-tips-said-bookisms-the-obscure-sin-that-can-doom-a-manuscript/ 2. http://www.fmwriters.com/Visionback/Issue%205/tags.htm 3. https://litreactor.com/columns/on-dialogue-tags-why-anything-besides-said-and-asked-is-lazy-writing
Every indie author comes into their career fresh-faced and optimistic with a lot of preconceived notions about writing and publishing books. But we'll tell you a BIG secret - everything you THINK you know isn't the bigger picture. There's a lot more to making it in this industry than you think, and these three mistakes could be costing you success.
It sounds fancier than it is. Basically, your funnel is a product you give away for free to new subscribers to “hook” them into your audience. But, Heather, why should I want to give something away free? I’m trying to make money! Yeah, we all are. But I’m sure you’ve heard this common adage before: You have to spend money to make money. In the case of a newsletter funnel, you aren't SPENDING so much as you're allowing for the product to be a loss. That's why newsletter funnels are also known as "loss leaders." You’re taking a conscious loss on the product as a marketing tactic to get readers to step into your world - readers who may not have otherwise found you. From there, the funnel should hook readers to purchase the rest of your work.
I have co-written with 16 authors. Of that, 13 of my experiences were stellar. 1 partnership failed for creative differences, and 2 partnerships were, well, something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, costing me thousands of dollars I can never get back. In one case, I’ve had my words stolen from me and royalties never paid to me despite doing ALL the work - so I understand why people are afraid to co-write. However, I also know how rewarding a coauthorship can be. I know the benefit of each author contributing their strengths. I know how two heads can be better than one. A musician for example may be a wonderful solo artist, but they may still also benefit to play with a band every now and then. Knowing what I know now—not just from my experiences but experiences other authors have shared with me—I want to give some ideas, advice, and pointers on the subject.
Authors are creative creatures. We want to write books, not get a business degree or run our own publishing company. Unfortunately, unless you're lucky enough to land a six-figure deal with a big six publisher, you're going to be responsible for your own marketing and business building. As a result of that creative drive, many authors can be out of touch when it comes to the business side of things. If you don't have the knowledge or training, you won't know inherently what good performance looks like. So today, let's talk about cost per lead and how that relates to your growing business.
There are a lot of factors that go into what makes a successful paid advertising run. While there likely are some unknown "services" out there that don't work, you'd be surprised how few of these duds there are. Most scam artists aren't going to be out there actually marketing their services because the first person to be scammed is going to cry wolf . So if you've heard of a service from your friends or network, it's likely that service is legit. But why didn't your $25 feature make you hundreds of dollars? Let's discuss!
Today, I want to share a story with you that demonstrates what most (if not all) successful people have in common. I grew up poor. We were lucky that my grandmother let my mom and I live with her until I was 9. My mom spent those 9 years saving up for a down payment on an affordable townhouse unit. My life was full of a lot of love and a lot of "We can't afford that." Don't get me wrong; my mom did what she could as a single mom. (Then she married my dad, but he was also broke! But they both did what they could for all of their kids.) I had great birthday parties. I had amazing Christmases. But that came from the other 363 days of "No, we don't have the money." Either I was born with an inability to accept I was "destined" to do without, or at some point, I learned I didn't have to. Maybe it was because one of the first sayings I heard as a child was "If there's a will, there's a way."