How to Beef Up Your Proposal Marketing Section

When writers take personality tests, the majority are introverts. They prefer to write more articles or books instead of marketing their books. Yet the marketing section of your proposal can be the difference between rejection and acceptance. Every writer must learn these marketing skills.

The great circus promoter, PT Barnum said, “Without promotion, something terrible happens. Nothing.” Publishers create well-designed and well-edited books that they distribute to bookstores. These companies make large financial investments in the production of these books to get them out to bookstores. Every book inside your brick and mortar bookstore is 100% returnable to that publisher—for the lifetime of the book. It’s a long-standing practice in bookselling since the Great Depression. The returned books are not put out on the used market but destroyed.

What many authors don’t understand is it is up to them to drive their readers to the bookstore to buy those books. If you self-publish, then you have 100% of this marketing responsibility.

When you pitch your book to agents and publishers, I’ve found many publishing professionals will read the marketing section of your proposal before they read your writing. Every publisher is looking for authors who take action and know how to reach their readers to sell books.

Studies have shown people need to hear about your book repeatedly before they will decide to buy your book and take it home from that bookstore or buy it online. Most authors do nothing so if you are actively talking about your book, your efforts will pay off. As marketing expert Sarah Bolem says, “Consumers generally need to be exposed to a new product seven to twelve times before they will purchase it.” What are you doing as an author to stir that awareness and entice readers to purchase your book? There is not just one way but dozens of possible paths in this process.

The marketing section of your book proposal is where you explain your various ideas. As you write it:

• Show your passion in actions. Successful authors will continue to market and promote their book long after others have given up. For example, I’m still doing radio interviews to promote my Billy Graham biography even though it was released five years ago. The book continues to sell and reach people as long as the author is engaged in the marketing process. I also continue to tell people about this book every day. Selling books is not a sprint but a marathon—a long term process.
• Create a practical plan which you can execute on your own timetable. From my biography, I pulled 10 Facts about Billy Graham into an infographic. These facts became a bookmark on one side and the other side includes the book cover and a brief endorsement. Can you create this type of practical tool for your book then distribute the bookmark to bookstores for bag stuffers? Booksellers will appreciate your author activity to help them sell books.
• Read book marketing books like 1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer or The Book Marketing Coach by Brent Sampson or then apply what you are learning to the marketing section of your proposal.

Build these types of marketing plans into your proposal for it to shine for editors and agents. Every author needs to make their marketing section in their book proposal standout.

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in Colorado. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. Get Terry’s newest book, 10 Publishing Myths for only $10, free shipping and bonuses worth over $200. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. The revised and updated edition will release October 5^th. Check out his free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.