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{"id":12442,"date":"2019-07-24T08:00:14","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T12:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/?p=12442"},"modified":"2023-12-07T21:35:32","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T21:35:32","slug":"book-marketing-case-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-marketing-case-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"What all authors can learn from book marketing case studies"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve trained myself not to read the comments that appear below articles online. I rarely learn anything new, and more often than not, they’re negative.<\/p>\n

Whether it’s The Wall Street Journal<\/em>, HuffPost<\/em>, USA Today<\/em>, or lesser-known sites, the article feedback rarely makes me smile. It’s often depressing, in fact, as strangers argue with each other about something neither side knows much about.<\/p>\n

But when an author friend mentioned the comments on one of the Goodreads book marketing case studies<\/a> that I shared in the Build Book Buzz book marketing group on Facebook<\/a>, I broke my own rule.<\/p>\n

I read the comments.<\/p>\n

Good news\/bad news<\/h2>\n

There’s good news and bad news.<\/p>\n

The good news? The first few comments are positive. Yay!<\/p>\n

The bad news? There’s a lot of whining. A lot<\/em> of it.<\/p>\n

The case study<\/a> is about the role Goodreads played in making The Silent Patient<\/a>\"\"<\/em>\u00a0a best-seller this year.<\/p>\n

It’s a very good book. (I read it.) If there’s a formula for psychological thrillers that readers love, this book uses it. So there’s that, right from the beginning.<\/p>\n

Of course the publisher’s staff knew this book could take off with the right support.<\/p>\n

The right support<\/h2>\n

It’s that “support” that commenters seem to take issue with. In general, the negative feedback includes one (or all) of these messages:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Oh, sure, if I had a traditional publisher with a lot of money to market my book, I could have this success. But I’m self-published, so I don’t.<\/li>\n
  2. If my Rolodex included famous, successful authors who could blurb my book, it might be a best-seller, too. But I don’t know any incredibly popular authors.<\/li>\n
  3. Indie authors just can’t replicate this, so the system is rigged against us. We’re screwed.<\/li>\n
  4. Why doesn’t Goodreads share case studies about successful self-published authors? Now that’s<\/em> something we can learn from!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Let’s look at each of these points.<\/p>\n

    A different perspective<\/h2>\n

    Complaint 1: Big money<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Most authors — even those who have written excellent books published by big name publishers — don’t have this kind of financial support. To get this kind of marketing budget, you need to write a book with best-seller potential, get an agent, shop it around, and hope that a publisher sees the potential. Even then, there are no guarantees of anything.<\/p>\n

    This can mean making a choice between writing what the book-buying audience wants to read and writing what you are moved to write.<\/p>\n

    If you want a publisher that will start hyping your book a year before it’s published, study the books that are getting this treatment. Figure out the story success formula. Then write a fantastic book that follows the formula.<\/p>\n

    Complaint 2: Famous blurbers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    This is true. Most writers don’t have famous author connections. But what connections do<\/em> you have? Who can<\/em> you ask to blurb your book?<\/p>\n

    For lesser-known authors, the fact that anybody says nice things about your book is better than nobody saying nice things.<\/p>\n

    Mine your network. Take action. (If you don’t know how, my affordable training program<\/a> will walk you through the process.)<\/p>\n

    Complaint 3: It’s rigged against us<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    No, it isn’t.<\/p>\n

    Look at what goes into a top-quality traditionally published book and replicate it. Whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, a book that sells well usually includes:<\/p>\n