7 tried and true ways to light a fire under stalled book marketing

Did you put a lot of time and emotional energy into your book launch?

Did you pour your heart, soul, and dreams into announcing your book to the world?

And then, did you walk away from it just a few weeks or months later?

Maybe you were burned out. Disappointed with sales. Hated putting yourself out there with your book. Or dying to get started on your next project.

Stalled book marketing can’t be permanent

There are many reasons for your marketing to stall out, but it should be a temporary situation, not a permanent one.

Your book deserves the attention you can continue to bring to it. You wrote it to entertain, educate, or inform people, so you have to let readers who will love it know it exists.

Let’s fix your stalled book marketing problem now.

It starts with mindset.

Here are seven things you can do to make the essential attitude readjustment that will help you get back to it.

1. Surround yourself with positive people.

And ditch the Debbie Downers.

via GIPHY

They will suck the life out of you.

Truth is, the negative, whiny people in your circle are often uncomfortable with what you’ve accomplished.

They fear your success. In their minds, the higher you soar, the more likely you are to leave them behind.

I realize, of course, that you can’t always remove these people from your life. But you can certainly get some distance.

Make that a goal, because you can’t fly high with anchors weighing you down.

2. Resurrect that book marketing plan.

Your book marketing plan is your action blueprint. It details what you want to accomplish and how you’re going to do that.

If you’ve got one, pull it out now and review it.

Never created one? Fortunately, it won’t take long to fix that.

Start with my article, “Create your book marketing plan by answering these 7 questions.”

It includes a link to my free Build Book Buzz Book Marketing Plan Template with complete instructions, but you can download it here, too.

3. Make yourself accountable.

One of the best ways to resurrect stalled book marketing is to make sure you’re accountable to someone who will hold you to your commitments.

I have a goal buddy for this. In late December, we meet to review what we accomplished that year and to share goals for the coming 12 months. We follow the annual review with regular check-ins that hold us accountable for hitting those milestones, or explaining why we didn’t.

Look for someone who can do this for you – and vice versa. Another author is your best option, but it’s not necessary. All you need is a friend or colleague who also needs accountability support.

4. Get out of your comfort zone.

Nothing invigorates me like learning how to do something new, especially when I think that “something” is over my head.

Take a few minutes to list book marketing-related tactics you think would work for your book and its audience, but that intimidate you for whatever reason.

Here are mine just to give you a few ideas:

• Creating short social media videos quickly
• Creating short social media videos quickly
• Creating short social media videos quickly

(I have to get over this, right?)

Whether yours include contacting an up-there-at-the-top influencer for a book blurb or mastering TikTok, pick one and start. Just start.

I promise that you’ll love the feeling that pushing your boundaries a bit gives you.

5. Find your tribe.

Do you often feel like you write in a vacuum?

The people you spend the most time with don’t understand your publishing challenges, struggles, and successes – not your co-workers, your friends, your family.

You need to plug into a writerly community. If you’re already connected to other authors, it’s time to reconnect or participate more.

Attend those meetups in person. Join the Zoom gatherings. Engage more in the Facebook groups (and please join the brilliant authors in the Build Book Buzz Book Marketing Group on Facebook).

Start conversations. Pay attention to what group members share about their book marketing experiences. Ask them to brainstorm with you – and return the favor.

6. Create a mastermind group.

If you’re already connected to authors – if you’ve found your tribe – invite a select few to join a mastermind group.

Not already networking with other authors? Now’s a great time to get started. A small, focused mastermind group will work fine.

With a goal of helping each other keep the momentum going – and that can be for more than marketing – establish ground rules and a regular meeting schedule.

Your reward will be inspiration, insight, and priceless moral support.

7. Be analytical.

Your goal with book marketing is to do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.

Think back to the last time you promoted your book. What seemed to contribute to awareness and maybe even sales? What disappointed you?

What did you share on social media that generated lots of engagement? Which types of posts got crickets?

If you didn’t track activity and results, scroll back through your social media posts. Check likes and comments on launch-period blog posts. Review the open rate and unsubscribes for newsletter mailings.

Invest a few minutes reflecting on what triggered the highs; what triggered the lows. All of this will help identify where to put your effort again.

What are you going to do now?

Which of these seven options will you start with? Which one speaks the loudest to you?

Do you need to surround yourself with other creative people like you to get motivated again?

Or do you need to return to what worked best during your book launch and do more of it?

Can I help? I offer one-on-one telephone book marketing coaching that lets me zero in your situation and help you find solutions that will work for you and your project. Learn more here.

Only you know what will help you eliminate that deadly stalled book marketing. But whatever it is, just do it.

I’ll be cheering you on.

Are you suffering from stalled book marketing? What are you going to do about it? Please tell us in a comment.