Seven Things to Avoid When Marketing Your Book

1. Not realizing that you need to market your book.

This may sound like an obvious point, but in order to reach commercial success with your book, you need to actually market it. This rule applies to both self-published authors, as well as most traditionally published authors. Hash out a marketing plan and put it into action.

2. Being too pushy. 

You don't want to seem like you're forcing your book on someone – if it's good, it will speak for itself. If you're constantly harassing people to read your work or promote your work for you – or even if you talk about it ad nauseam – people are going to get annoyed, which is no way to sell books.

3. Not being pushy enough.

On the other hand, don't sell yourself (and your book) short. Make sure that people know about your work and create a buzz around it so that people want to read it. Have a copy handy in case someone is interested in your work, or find ways to subtly network so that it doesn't come off as abrasive. .

4.Setting expectations too high.

Don't expect to become an overnight celebrity. Marketing takes time and connections to put into action what will one day make your book successful. Make sure you have realistic expectations when beginning to market your book, because if you set your goals too high, you will get discouraged if you don't reach them.

5. Overlooking the small things.

It's the little things that make the biggest difference when marketing your book, for example, the cover art. This is the very thing that is going to grab a reader's attention. Or, not giving someone the time of day because you don't think they will further your writing career. But this is an opportunity to expand your network! You never know who that person has on speed dial.

6. Thinking too "big picture".

Any marketing specialist will tell you: start out marketing your book locally. You know that old saying, "Rome wasn't built in a day"? Well, the same applies to book marketing; you can't expect to succeed right away. Start marketing locally before moving to regional, and then national audiences. Make sure to pay attention to detail and build a solid foundation to work from.

7. Utilizing the wrong media outlets to reach your target audience.

The best example of this would be using a social media tool, like Facebook, to reach your targeted audience of people over 70-years old—it's most likely never going to work. Make sure that your message is going to reach your potential consumers when choosing your marketing strategy.

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