From Book to Best Seller: The Savvy Author’s Guide to Book Promotion, Smart Branding, and Longterm Success
Penny C. Sansevieri
Author Marketing Experts, Inc.
If only I could put this book under my pillow at night and wake up with all the work done.
From Book to Best Seller by Penny C. Sansevieri is packed with excellent marketing information—but it comes with a warning label: If you want to see results, you’re going to have to do a lot of work.
Sansevieri is a long-established book marketing expert. She sets the stage by telling the reader:
If you want some basic book marketing ideas, From Book to Best Seller isn’t for you. But if you’re ready to uplevel your marketing, then you’ve come to the right place.
Marketing a book takes an incredible amount of time, energy, and knowledge. Most authors would rather be writing than marketing (and a lot would rather be doing anything other than marketing)—and that’s okay if you don’t care about book sales.
I’ve had a few ghostwriting clients over the years who genuinely didn’t care how well their book sold, but most of my clients and other authors I know want people to buy and read their books. That’s simply not going to happen without strategic marketing.
In an easy-to-read, conversational style, Sansevieri begins with a solid explanation of author platform and branding. She emphasizes how important it is to tackle these two issues first before doing any other promotion or advertising.
Some authors will find this an enjoyable challenge; most will respond to Sansevieri’s advice with anything ranging from feeling slightly intimidated to totally overwhelmed. That’s okay. Keep reading, then go back and break down all the steps once you have your big picture.
Next, she discusses superfans and street teams—another huge challenge for most authors. Then she gets into the nitty-gritty of marketing, explaining a wide range of tactics from pre-launch promotion to getting reviews, doing events, and much more. This is where you can be somewhat selective in what you’d like to do. However, keep in mind what Sansevieri writes:
If none of your marketing is working, you’re either doing the wrong things or you’re marketing to the wrong people. Likely it’s both.
If you want to get serious about marketing your book or books and you’re ready to make the investment, From Book to Best Seller is a great place to start.
Jacquelyn's latest book is Christian Business Almanac, scheduled for release in summer 2024.
She is the author of the novel Choices (A Joyful Cup Story) as well as the nonfiction books The Simple Facts About Self-Publishing, Words to Work By: 31 devotions for the workplace based on the Book of Proverbs and Finding Joy in the Morning: You can make it through the night. With her husband, she is the co-creator of several coloring books for adults.
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