Do I need to market my book?

Most authors believe that publishing their book is the culmination of their work. Once it’s published and sits in their hands, then all the hard work is done. They don’t ask themselves, “Do I need to market my book?” They don’t even consider marketing an important facet.

They simply believe that everyone will clamor to read their beautiful piece of work.

Sadly, the vast majority of authors who believe this are in for a rude awakening. They cajole their family members or friends into buying the book or even give them a free copy. With excitement and anticipation, they wait a few days before asking that dreaded question.

“What’d you think of my book?”

The number one answer they get? “Oh, I’m sorry. I haven’t gotten to it yet. I’ve been really busy.”

And they get that same answer…over and over and over again.

Authors need to accept a simple reality: no one cares about your book.

Now, obviously, that’s not necessarily 100% true. Maybe your mom reads it and likes it. Maybe your wife or husband gets through half of it and says it’s not too bad.

But for the most part, no one cares about your book.

Every year, over 4 million books are published. This means your book is a drop in the ocean when it comes to works of literature. And that’s okay. As long as you understand your positioning, you can do something about it.

Are you wondering, “Do I need to market my book?”

If so, this article is for you. We’re going to break down not just whether it’s important to market your book, but the mindsets to have going into it, and some strategies on how to help build your community of loyal readers.

1) Do I Need to Market my Book? Your book is a product

You have two choices. You can choose to treat your book as a work of art that you’ve produced and refuse to try to “sell.” That’s fine. However, unless you’re a unicorn that magically catches fire in the market, the book will remain your work of art, sitting on your shelf, in your house, belonging to your heart alone.

And that really is okay, if that’s your goal.

Your other choice is to accept that your book isn’t just a work of art, but it’s also a product. If you’ve produced the book in hopes of getting your work into the hands of readers, then please understand that the easiest part of your job is finished.

The writing process was the research and development of a product. Once you hit publish, your product has been launched. It’s time to get to work.

If you understand it’s a product, then you need to answer “Yes” to “Do I need to market my book?” And who understands that marketing is necessary? An entrepreneur. You need to treat your book as a product that the market doesn’t know or care about…until you help them understand the value it brings.

2) Marketing means solving a problem

To understand your book, you need to understand what an economy is. In reality, an economy is simply one person solving another person’s problem and trading something of value for it. 

Whether it’s a product or a service, the thing you offer should solve a problem someone else has. Your solution is something they’re willing to pay money for.

Your book provides that value. You just have to know what problem the book actually solves.

Ask yourself, “What is my target market dealing with and searching for?” If your market craves a good fantasy story that helps them escape reality for a little bit, then the solution your book should provide is exactly that.

If your book helps business owners understand advanced business strategies, then it’s offering a solution: answers to business problems.

Instead of seeing your book as a glorious creation of your artistic acumen that people should clamor for based on its genius, view your book as a valuable solution.

Define the problem your book solves and understand how it does. That helps you sort out who you’re actually trying to reach.

There’s no point in selling a book about knitting to a bunch of strongman competitors. Yeah, one of them may knit, but it’s not a problem they’re looking to solve. Instead, your book, which covers the merits of speed knitting, may find plenty of buyers in a retirement community or a women’s knitting circle.

Define the problem, clarify your target customer (the one who has this exact problem), and be the solution.

3) Book sales are a grind.

Most people do not make a living from their books. And of those who do, they’ve built and crafted a ready-made audience that can’t wait for the next book to come out. This is why traditional publishers give big advances to celebrities, politicians, established authors, or people with massive online audiences. They know there’s already a willing market for the product.

Think about it: if you’re a brand-new musician who plays shows to 4 people, and two of them are your parents…will you sell more books than Taylor Swift? No. Traditional publishers know this, and they act accordingly.

That means you need to treat your book as a product that 340 million people in America have no clue exists, and plenty of competitors are vying against you to solve the same target’s problem.

While that may sound pessimistic, it’s not. It’s merely letting you know the landscape you’re stepping into.

Do the footwork to make people aware of your book. Reach out to people, go to events/conferences in your community, put free copies into people’s hands, and build up a presence.

Craft your market. Be aware, it takes hard work and perseverance. And in the end, it may not pay off for your first book. But it might help your next book launch in a more established community of readers.

4) Do I need to market my book? Recommendations are the key

Most books are sold on recommendation. Whether it’s through the suggestion of a friend, an influencer, a mention in an article/video, or even the reviews, most books are not sold randomly.

Early in the life of your book, you need to build recommendations and reviews. You can do this several different ways:

• Give friends and family a free copy with an expectation: Please leave a review.
• Sell the eBook version for super cheap or even give it away, and follow up to ask for reviews and recommendations.
• Give people an extra copy early on and tell them to give it to a friend
• Find people with greater reach than you who would recommend it to their audience or market

No matter what option you choose, be ready to persevere. It takes follow-up (most likely they’ll forget to review it the first time) and patience. A good chunk of the people you approach won’t do anything with it. But if you get some word started about the book, there’s no reason it can’t find a place in a community that loves what it offers.

Those recommendations and reviews (especially on Amazon) are a major component of a product’s viability. Think about it: if you see two similar products, but one has 20,000 reviews with a 4.7 rating, and one has 4 reviews…which one will you trust more?

5) Don’t take it personally

Maybe you’ve been pounding the pavement, reaching out constantly, and doing everything you can to raise awareness, yet you’re not making many sales.

• It’s okay. It could be that the book just isn’t that good. In that case, work hard to improve it or do better on the next one.

• Maybe you haven’t zeroed in on your market. It could be that you haven’t refined your ideal customer enough to get it into their hands.

• Perhaps you just need more time. It could be that the curve is about to hit when sales start to become consistent, and you’re just in the divot prior to it.

• Or, the sales just aren’t there. It happens. A market can be a devastating and magical place at the same time.

As an aside: Avoid the people who tell you that all you need to do is follow their formula and your book will become a best-seller. They may have a formula, but there are way too many factors in the market to believe that a specific formula will bring you wealth and happiness.

Marketing is never an exact science. It’s a slow process of testing variables one at a time and refining your messaging, approach, thought process, and even product or service. What may have worked in one situation may fail miserably in the next.

Bonus: You need to see the value in your own work

If you see value in your book, you’ll talk about it that way. You’ll represent it to your market with a true enthusiasm about what you’ve created and the problem it solves. And that energy transfers.

So, to be sure, if you don’t see the problem-solving value in your book, then set it on the shelf and be proud of what you’ve accomplished. A person who deep down doesn’t see value in their book will never do the work necessary to get it to their prospective market.

Believe in your book and go for it, or appreciate it as a completed project and move on with life.

So, do I need to market my book?

The truth is, marketing your book is a tough and long-term process. If you don’t feel like doing that, that doesn’t make you a bad person. There’s nothing wrong with that. And if that’s you, don’t put pressure on yourself with sales or lack of sales.

But if you’re bound and determined to make money from your book and want to try to maximize its potential, then you need to be honest with yourself about a few things:

• How good is your product?
• How much work are you willing to do to sell it?
• How well do you know your target market?
• What are you willing to spend in time, dedication, money, and resources to sell it?

This is just the beginning of marketing your book. Welcome to the journey. It is a transforming process. And no matter how many copies you sell, it can be a frustrating, mind-bending, absolutely rewarding experience.

Welcome to the author’s club. You are now an entrepreneur. Let’s do this.

If you’re looking to write and publish a book, but have no idea how to get started, then Panthera Publishing is your solution. The satisfaction of seeing the cover of your book on Amazon isn’t as far away or as overwhelming as you think.

Let Panthera Publishing get you started on your journey to becoming an author.