Marketing Misconceptions

Dear Authors,

In talking with authors about book marketing and promotion, I've become aware of many misconceptions authors have about the subject. For example, authors often think their biggest priority is getting their book into the bookstores. While it certainly will make you feel good to see your book on the shelf, it may not be the most profitable accomplishment. Let's do the math:

Let's say your book has a retail price of $10.00. Typically, bookstores get about a 40-50% discount off retail. That means if you sell your book to stores, you'll only receive about $5-6.00. Compare that to selling your book at full retail at a speaking engagement where you would receive $10.00. Your profit margins are even slimmer if you go through a distributor to sell your books. Distributor discounts can range from 55% to 70%.

Here's another misconception about bookstores: Did you know that most books are not sold in bookstores? Only 47% of books sold are actually sold in bookstores. That's right: 53% of all books sold are sold somewhere else. That somewhere else includes general retail stores and special markets (organizations, ministries, etc.). Also, when books are sold to stores, they are 100% returnable! Special market sales are usually non-returnable. Returns can be (and have been) the downfall of many a publisher or author.

Another misconception that many authors have is that if they just had enough dollars to run lots of ads, their book would become a bestseller. Sorry, this just isn't so. While it is true that advertising will often help a book that is already selling well, it won't jump-start a book by a new, unproven author. A case in point is a fiction book we published a few years ago. The author wanted to promote the book heavily through ads and offered to contribute thousands of extra dollars to the ad campaign. Bottom line, after a year, the book only did as well as it would have done WITHOUT the ad dollars!

Since that time, we have occasionally run book ads. These ads have helped to keep our name before the bookstores, but we haven't sold many books as a direct result of them. On the other hand, book flyers that we inserted in distributor's mailings to bookstores have resulted in increased book sales to the distributors. This is because the distributors anticipated higher sales and, as a result, ordered more copies to fill the anticipated demand.

Yet another misconception about book promotion is "If it doesn't COST me anything, it must not be WORTH anything. Under this category of activities fall booksignings, interviews, press releases, and emails. While it is true that these activities won't produce HUGE sales of books, they will produce some sales—enough to warrant their use. The real misconception here is that if a certain activity doesn't produce big sales, it's not worth doing. The truth is that every little fire you light for your book can spread. A book mentioned in a press release could lead to an interview, which, in turn, could lead to a large order. Sales beget sales!

What about the internet? Doesn't Amazon sell tons of books every day? Yes, they do, but the typical book sells one or two copies a month. I suspect that the typical author only sells a few copies of their book each month on their own website as well. I base this on my own experience with www.jokesforchristians.com, our mini website where we just sell seven of our humor books. It has been up for about three months, has had about 30,000 hits (due mostly to Adwords and Overture pay-per-click ads), features some of our best-selling titles—yet has only produced two sales. Two sales that I know of: some surfers may have gone to Amazon to order the books—to save a few bucks.

Does that mean that websites are a waste of time? Not at all. Just don't have unrealistic expectations about them. For most authors, a website is an online brochure. It's nice to be able to send visitors to your website. They can find out more about you, maybe receive some ministry, and perhaps have their interest in your book piqued. Your website will help make or strengthen your relationship with a potential buyer. Marketing experts say it takes at least seven contacts with a prospect to make a sale. Your website may be just one of them.

Now that I've mentioned the marketing RULE OF SEVEN, another misconception that authors, and many businesspeople in general, have is that people will buy your book, product or service after the first email, radio interview, or mention at a meeting. If you do get a sale on the first contact, great! But don't expect it all the time.

I've prepared a diagram I call THE MARKETING PYRAMID which shows the relative effectiveness of various forms of book marketing and promotion. If you'd like a copy, send me an email and I'll reply with a pdf attachment of the one-page file.

That's all for now, and remember: Major on speaking, but keep doing the little things that increase your visibility.

Warmest Regards,
Brian Banashak, Publisher
© 2005 Brian Banashak