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The Publishing Game - How to Play Better and Sell More Books

This month: Does Media Coverage Translate Into Sales?

by Fern Reiss, CEO, PublishingGame.com/Expertizing.com

It’s wonderful to get media coverage for your book or business. But even if you’re successful in getting publicity in magazines and newspapers—how can you guarantee that your publicity will translate into sales? Here are five ways to up the odds that your media coverage will translate into sales:

Target the right publications and media.

Getting media attention, by itself, is no guarantee of sales, particularly if your media attention is in the ‘wrong’ media. While it’s probably true that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, there definitely is such a thing as ineffectual publicity: If you’re a vendor trying to target homewood floors manufacturers, an article in “Homewood Floors Magazine” will go straight to your target market—and probably will result in more sales than a generic article even in The New York Times. So think carefully about what your market is reading and listening to, and target those specific outlets. (A side benefit is that those publications will probably be easier to break into than more high-profile publications.)

Be sure your distribution is set up and seamless.

There’s nothing worse than getting the perfect media attention, and sending thousands of potential buyers out to stores in search of your book or product—and then finding out, belatedly, that your book wasn’t available to be purchased. If you’re going to go to all the effort of going after the media coverage, be sure your distribution is set up and ready to roll. Otherwise, you’re wasting your time and energy.

Make sure the publicity you’re getting ties into your product.

A lot of people end up pursuing media attention for the sake of media attention. And it’s true that any publicity is a good thing. But if the media attention you’re getting has nothing to do with the product you’re selling, or if you make it too hard for people to make the connection to your product, then that is sure to diminish, if not completely curtail, your sales.

Be careful about word of mouth.

Regardless of how good your ‘official’ publicity is, companies are made and lost on their reputations. So be sure that your product, and company, stay immaculate. Try to address problems early and respond to customer complaints promptly. The mark of a good company is not that they don’t have problems from time to time—it’s inevitable—but how you respond to your customers over time.

Keep the buzz going.

Remember that regardless of how much publicity you garnet, the public’s memory is very short. So however good your publicity is today, be sure that you’re also keeping an eye on tomorrow. The better you are at keeping your company and book’s ‘buzz’ going, the more successful your publicity, and your sales, will ultimately be.

So get out there and rustle up some publicity. And then be sure you reap the sales that you’ve earned.

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Links to previous Publishing Game articles:

Create a National Association

Use an Email Newsletter to Promote Your Book

Five More Things Your Literary Agent Won’t Tell You

When Your Topic is Timely

When NOT to Publish a Book.

Sixty Day Deadline to New ISBNs

Five Things Your Best Friend Won’t Tell You

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Fern Reiss, CEO of PublishingGame.com/Expertizing.com, is the author of The Publishing Game: Bestseller in 30 Days (book promotion), The Publishing Game: Find an Agent in 30 Days (traditional publishing), and The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days (self-publishing).

To learn how to get better media attention for your book and business, sign up for Fern’s free Expertizing email newsletter at http://www.PublishingGame.com/signup.htm or register for her Expertizing Publicity Forum at http://www.Expertizing.com/forum.htm

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