I had a fabulous interview with Sylvia Hubbard of the Michigan Literary Network (listen here 0:37 minute mark). One of the topics we discussed was writers who’ve previously released a book and weren’t finding success marketing. She asked if I had any advice for these writers and I thought wow what a wonderful idea for a blog post.

I want to encourage anyone with marketing challenges not to give up on their book! Giving up sometimes seems like the easiest thing to do; but when you reflect on all the time and effort that was put into writing your manuscript, not to mention getting it published, its not such an easy decision after all.

Why do writers give up on their books?

– Unable to find their target audience

– Slow sales

– They didn’t give themselves enough time to market

– Not enough publicity

– Lacking understanding of the marketing and publicity aspect; and

– Not engaging their target audience in advance of the book release

If this is you, you are not alone! There are many writers who are in a similar situation as you. As a matter of fact, my own earlier experience with marketing is what encouraged me to write the eBook Book Marketing Ideas For The Author. While networking I found that my earlier days weren’t too different from that of other writers. They too were having marketing challenges.

You shouldn’t feel ashamed or embarrassed if you don’t understand the marketing aspect of publishing. Besides…who knew you even needed to understand marketing or that it was so much work?!?

You’re probably thinking, “To hell with marketing, I just want to write!” And believe me, I understand…

As writers we all wish it were that easy…

I’m not here to make promises that you’ll sell thousands of copies of your book once you understand the marketing and publicity component. Not at all! It’s not that easy. It honestly takes a lot of time and dedication to roll out a successful book launch even after understanding the marketing aspect but the potential to sell a lot of books is definitely there once you understand how to engage your audience and where to find them.

If you don’t have a basic understanding of the marketing component, why its important to engage your audience, where to find your audience, and how to start over if you’ve already started on your marketing plan, then it will be very difficult to have a successful book launch and/or continuous success. Understanding the marketing component, will allow you to:

– Find your target audience

– Increase sales

– Utilize your marketing time wisely

– Gain publicity to compliment your marketing efforts

– Understand the importance of both marketing and publicity; and

– Engage your audience in advance of the book release

I’ve found that a lot of writers feel this is an area they can slack off on and I’m here to get in your face and tell you that writers have to let go of this thinking or you’re going to doom your success!

Have you thought about giving up on your book? Does marketing scare you? Please share in the comment section below.