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Health & Fitness

When it comes to book marketing, always follow up

It's easy to send an e-mail or leave a message and expect a reply, but unfortunately that's not always the way it works. To be successful in your book marketing efforts, you need to follow up!

People can be flakey. It’s unfortunate, but true. Professionally and personally, not everyone has the ability to stay on top of everything. That’s why, when it comes to marketing your book, following up often and multiple times is crucial.

As you promote your book, you’re going to reach out to a lot of people, and while many of them may have the best of intentions, life will often get in the way. You might have a great conversation with someone about arranging a review or an event, but at some point he or she might forget to e-mail or call you back – even if it’s technically his or her turn. In ninety-nine percent of those cases, if you don’t get the ball rolling again, that will be the end of it. Believe me.

In a previous post I discussed the importance of keeping a marketing spreadsheet to track your efforts. If you can be diligent enough to make a note each time you send someone an e-mail or leave a voicemail, it will pay off in the long run by reminding you to get back in touch with those you haven’t heard from. It’s easy to send an e-mail or leave a message and expect a reply, but unfortunately that’s not always the way it works. Another good trick is to keep a “waiting to hear from” list with dates indicating the last time you reached out to different individuals.

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Someone else’s job and family are always going to come before your book, and that’s completely understandable. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll stop feeling neglected and start being more proactive.

-Maria

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Palo Alto native Maria Murnane is the best-selling author of the romantic comedies Perfect on Paper, It's a Waverly Life, and Honey on Your Mind. She also provides consulting services on book publishing and marketing. Learn more at www.mariamurnane.com.

This blog post originally appeared on CreateSpace.com. Reprinted with permission. © 2012 CreateSpace, a DBA of On-Demand Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.

 

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