This post has been updated to more accurately reflect the source of the idea that book sales won’t make you money.
This is the second in a three-part series about attending the Independent Book Publishers’ Association (IBPA) Publishing University last weekend in Chicago.
In Part I, I shared my experiences from a “macro” view. That post focused on the opportunities and my general observations. Today’s focus is on books from the book publishers perspective.
Your book is part of the discoverability process. It is not the end game.
Everyone agrees that your book is an investment – your creative capital, your time, and of course money to pay for it all. What was new to me, however, is the idea that a book is a tangible piece of a broader marketing plan. More than a “prop,” but clearly just one piece of a broader strategy.
Book publishers sell books, they aren’t marketers. In our session, Deltina Hay Mary Agnes Antonopoulos explained that book sales won’t make money. The book is a vehicle, but it is the product services that draw your audience first.
Discoverability at its core. Guy Kawasaki explained in his presentation that writing a book to get speaking engagements won’t work. As he – and many others – explained, though, discovery can’t happen unless you have established your expertise.
How? It takes a well-defined strategy that you can realistically implement. Here are three takeaways:
- Don’t try to be everywhere. You don’t have time and it dilutes your message. [Panel: Strategies for a Winning Social Media Campaign]
- Do only the type of promotion you enjoy [Earlybird General Session: Dan Poynter: Book Promotion 2013]
- Marketing is about connecting to people / readers, not [insert company name]. [Dominique Raccah, Luncheon Keynote]
I’ll close with this quote about book publishers from Dominique Raccah …
Book publishers are solving problems for readers in ways that are useful for authors.
What are your experiences in trying to get your book discovered? Is it strictly book events (like signings) or does it take more?