Do Traditionally Published Authors Need To Market Their Book?

So, do traditionally published authors need to market their book? The quick answer to this is 100% YES! If you are a traditionally published author, you still need to market your book.

Traditional publishers and their staff work hard and are passionate about books. If they were not passionate than they would not be in this business. But publishers are also working with a lot of authors, and the reality of the editorial process demands a lot from authors- especially when it comes to marketing their books.

Publishers expect authors to help promote their book and drive sales. They want to work with authors who will help promote the book before and after it is published- because there will be more sales.

Publishers want to publish your book for one of three reasons:

1. You are a great writer and have written a fantastic story
2. You will help promote your book and will work hard to get book sales
3. You already have an established reader base that the book can be promoted too.

Do Publishers Market Books?

To an extent, yes. But all authors are also expected to promote their books. If you are a traditionally published author, you need to work harder at promoting your book than the in-house book marketing and publicity staff.

The publisher mostly works on the author’s marketing behind the scenes by promoting the book to the industry itself. (booksellers, wholesalers, libraries, reviewers, media) This means you are in charge of your brand, social media, and online marketing campaigns. The publisher may guide you- but you need to manage it.

The publisher will continue doing their best to support initial sales through stores and create a positive track record. But once this is finished, they have to move on to the next season of titles.

So, as a traditionally published author you are expected to promote and market your own book over the years the same way as an indie author would if you want to be successful. Plus, for better or worse, the publisher’s industry-facing marketing initiatives may not produce a lot of sales, or may not cultivate a relationship with the targeted reader. So you need to help them promote your book. What will increase sales is working to develop a strong online brand and audience to promote to.

How Publishers Promote Books

Publishers use a wide range of new and old-fashioned ways to promote books. A lot of their book promotions can be seen at Book Expo America (BEA).

One of the leading marketing initiatives publishers do for a book is spend a lot of money to be apart of events like BEA. Publishers attend these types of events to increase brand awareness within the industry and cultivate partnerships.

Publishers will also purchase banners to promote the book. These banners are placed in stores, at events, and used for book signings. But one of the biggest marketing campaigns they run is giving out Advanced Review Copies to media, bookstores, buyers, and librarians. Their goal is to get testimonials, reviews and generate brand awareness. Testimonials and reviews build instant trust and credibility with your target audience. It is a market step that should never be missed.

Sales is another huge component of any Publisher’s marketing strategy. They have a sales team that schedules meeting with book buyers to sell your book too. But keep in mind that book buyers will choose to order books based on if they have an audience to sell to or not. It is so important to work with your publisher to create a ready audience of readers.

Never Stop Growing Your Book’s Readership

As an author, your goal is to continue to build momentum and have consistent sales over the long term. Try to worry less about how much your book continues to remain stocked in a Barnes & Noble, and focus more on ways you can get attention and word of mouth for your book from the readers who are most likely to buy it.

To increase your readership, you need to learn how to create and implement book publicity and marketing campaigns. You need to understand content marketing for authors and start building an audience on social media for your book before it launched. If you are interested, you can download my Ultimate Author Checklist To Selling More Books for free.

To Be A Successful Indie or Traditionally Published Author, You Need To Promote Your Book

The reality of the book marketplace is that all types of authors (whether indie or traditional) need to work on building their own brand. Traditionally published authors need to be prepared to market and promote in the same way self-published authors do. If they don’t then panic will set in, especially if they expected more from the publisher.   

Marketing and selling your book is a long-distance run, not a sprint. Don’t focus on the publication date – that’s only the beginning of your journey. Instead, you need to focus on developing long-term goals.

Create book marketing strategies that can achieve sustainability for your book. Short-term and quick plans will have short-lived results. You want to build results that last years and continue to grow. To get those results that increase over time you will need a long-term marketing plan.

Just remember, your book is a product and a time investment. So, it takes time and consistent work to grow a steady readership.

Good luck.  I hope your book finds the audience that it needs and deserves.