Jon Samsel

Authors, repeat after me: “The Internet is my friend. The Internet can help me publicize my book to millions of readers. The Internet is the world’s largest sales and marketing tool.”

The word is out that the Internet can help authors market and sell their books. Why is it then that so few authors utilize the Internet to help them guerrilla market their book titles? Why are so many authors hesitant to use the electronic medium to hawk their wares?

The answer is simple. From the Internet to radio talk shows––from Oprah to Larry King Live––book authors are just plain lousy at marketing. And nothing they do––short of buying all their own books––is going to increase the number of books they sell. What is an author to do, you ask? Open your eyes! Learn how to self-promote and market your book using the Internet as a high-tech sales tool.

Internet consultant Charles Austin sums up the importance of the Internet when he says, “Embrace the Web. It’s like an express train––you can either jump on board or it will run you down.”

Help your Publisher Market Your Book

Let’s face it, today’s publishers are having a hard time devoting proper sales and marketing attention to any one book. Most publisher’s promote a catalog of titles each sales cycle and authors are lucky if their publisher arranges a few book signings or radio interviews for them. It’s not that the publishers don’t want to promote your book. Of course they do. They want to make money––to see a return on their investment––just as much as you do. But the publisher looks at book publishing as a business. They approach the release of a book as a function of their business and the sale of a book as a business transaction.

But for the author, your entire career and financial livelihood may be on the line when a new book rolls off the press. Marketing a book is not a simple business proposition. It’s a matter of survival.

If authors were Boy Scouts they’d be lost in the wilderness. Marketing is not a natural instinct. It’s learned behavior. Most authors are great an putting words to paper, jawing about grammar over a cup of coffee, attending inspirational seminars, and discussing the finer points of literary theory. But those same wordsmiths rarely invest that same time and energy learning how to promote their writing career. They’re too busy doing other things. Authors need to learn some new skill sets to compete in today’s rough-and-tumble book market.

Best-selling author, James Halperin, uses the Internet and email for promotional purposes: “I enjoy interacting with readers. My publisher (Ballantine Books) created web sites for both The Truth Machine (www.truthmachine.com) and The First Immortal (www.firstimmortal.com) and I regularly contribute to discussions on those sites, although not actively enough to suit my publisher, of course!”

Halperin encourages his readers to interact with him via email. The online helps build relationships with his readers––and hopefully, will lead many readers to become regular buyers of his books. Halperin recently concocted an interesting challenge to his readers: “I encourage reader feedback. In the introduction to my book, The First Immortal, I offer a bounty for any reader who can find a factual error in the manuscript. I offer a scarce Ivy Press first edition of The Truth Machine to each reader who is the first to point out a scientific or factual error which I subsequently correct. My e-mail address is listed in the book, along with the mailing address for Ballantine Books.”

There are several ways an author can utilize the Internet to help promote a book. Ideas include:

• Create a digital press kit
• Promote your title on online bookstores such as BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com
• Provide third-party endorsements
• Start a blog or launch your own web site
• Position yourself as a leading authority in your field
• Launch a digital propaganda campaign
• Get listed on all the online search engines
• Convert a PDF version of your book into a 3D interactive experience using Pagegangster.com
• Consider self-publishing and promoting your title on Lulu.com (if you’re not yet published)