Why is Publicity and PR so important as an Author

As you're either a self-published or indie-published author, or you're planning to become one very soon, you might be thinking about what happens after that exciting moment, once your book hits those shelves, or digital selling platforms. You've let all of your friends and family know that you're a bonafide writer. You've posted across your social media channels about how your new book is now released!

You've even felt a "buzz" around you, as your friends and acquaintances get excited for you.

And then, what happens next? You wait for some Amazon reviews to appear and hope that these will encourage buyers? You do a few more social media posts and cross your fingers that those 'likes' will turn into purchases?

You feel a little annoyed when some of your friends start to ask if they could have a gifted copy of your book?

At the end of the day, when we've poured our heart and soul into writing a book and bringing it to publication - we want to know; how do authors make a name for themselves and get readers for their books?! 

I've spoken with and worked with many self-published or self-funded authors, who have felt totally overwhelmed, or in the dark, or like there is a secret that everyone else who publishes must be privy to, except them.

I know that you haven't written your book, or books, for them to simply give you a couple of weeks of satisfaction and congratulations. I know that you don't want to see your book solely on your own bookshelf at home. 

I know that you want other people to read your book, and to get enjoyment from it. 

I also know that you'd like to be taken seriously as a credible author. 

I know that there are a lot of services out there for self-published authors at the moment - including copy editing, proofreading, cover design, publishing. 

But, in my professional view, knowing how and importantly getting support in promoting your book - for the long haul (because we are talking about seeing the long game with publicity, this isn't a "quick fix" or a marketing job that you get to tick off your list after one session) - is the most important job of all, once your book is written. 

If you are indie or self-published, you haven’t got a big marketing team behind you or publicists who are going to put in the leg work to ensure that you get reviewed in the right places and seen by the right people; those who are actually going to buy your book and recommend it to others who will also buy.

Your social media channels, when put to proper use, can certainly bring you some success. But at the same time, if you haven’t yet figured out how you’re presenting your Author Brand or your Author Brand Story, then finding the right messaging that will compel your potential readers to buy is going to be very difficult indeed. 

The first thing we do in PR and Publicity is to establish “what’s the story”, in the same way, that journalists do when they’re in the newsroom. The story, as you’ll know if you’re a writer, is the driver; is the thing that gives a book or an event or an action its reason for being in the first place. Stories are what connect us as humans to other people, places, and things. 

You may have heard marketers say before that people don’t buy objects or things. They buy feelings. They buy stories; or in other words, what the things signify, the emotional attachment that they have assigned to the thing. The story that we believe about the thing. 

It is the same with books. We’re buying what we believe the book is going to give us, emotionally. How the book will make us feel. This might be to feel cosy, warm, transported to a fantasy world; or to leave us feeling that we have really expanded our minds and learned a new perspective, or gained a new insight into a part of the human experience with which we weren’t already familiar. 

In order to sell our books, we first have to be confident in conveying who we are as authors, and what story is behind our book? What drives you as an author? Why do you write the particular book or books you have written? What has led you, either circumstantial, emotional, or spiritual, to write your book? And how are you going to convey this underlying story of your book to your potential readers, to compel them to want to find out more?

This is the principal concern we have when we embark on PR and Publicity for your book. It’s not a simple paint by numbers game of this review in this publication. We want to get to the heart of your book and from there to the heart of your readership. Because no two books are the same, no two authors are the same, and no two stories are the same. 

You can find out more about how you can work with me as an author here 

—

Isabelle Knight
Founder & Director
IK Publicity / Build Your Brand with PR

Facebook Page | Instagram | Linkedin | Twitter | Clubhouse |

Enjoyed this post why not subscribe to our Newsletter