Book marketing has come a long way since Medieval scribes advertised their services in the Middle Ages. For one thing, there is an entire branch of psychology that deals specifically with marketing. I recently came across a great post by a marketing student with 7 psychological tricks you can use in marketing. That post formed the basis of this one, only this one deals with book promotion in particular instead of marketing in general. I hope you find it useful!
1. Your Book Needs To Fit Your Genre
It’s important to understand your readers and what they expect from you. Every genre has some common traits. And you need to respect that.
Everything about your book, from your title to the book cover, needs to fit your genre.
Let’s take YA fiction, for example. Your readers will probably be 15-to-25-years-old. The most common trait in these age group are – openness to experiment, rebellious, energetic, young, and so on.
So, your book should keep these traits in mind. Choose a name that reflects their traits. And promote it while keeping these traits in mind.
2. Your Ads Should Include Stimuli
By stimuli, I mean anything that will trigger an emotional response.
When composing your blurb, a question like “who would you save; your wife or daughter?” creates a conflict that will act as a hook. It will draw the reader in and stay with them, encouraging them to buy the book in order to find out how you resolve the tension (read more tips on writing the perfect book blurb here).
Similarly, when you create an Ad or a book cover, you can use visual stimuli to trigger an emotional response. Color choice is an easy way of achieving this. The idea is that the Ads should act as a catalyst to speed up the process of need recognition: here is a book that will answer a need of mine. Your blurb, cover, and Ads should convey that this book will fulfill your undiscovered needs and complete your lifestyle.
3. Target the Subconscious Mind
When you try to convince someone to buy your book using arguments, you are addressing their conscious mind. This is what we do every time we’re at a booth discussing our books.
However, you can also put your book in the mind of readers even as they are unaware of it. Appeal to basic human instincts: rebelious teens will appreciate the image of a tough YA heroine that goes against the grain, thus making them feel good about themselves. And why do you think all such heroines are scantily clad? Again, it’s an appeal to readers’ most basic instincts.
Love it or hate it, appealing to our subconscious works.
4. Trigger the Mirror Neurons
Mirror neurons are parts of our brain that mirror other people’s behavior. They let us relate to others.
Triggering our readers’ mirror neurons is fancy talk for creating Ads that make our book relatable to our audience. This principle is widely used in marketing: you want people to imagine themselves as desirable and attractive as the people they see in advertisement.
You can take advantage of this through the power of influencer marketing, among others. To better understand how to take advantage of influencer marketing to boost your book on social media, check out this post.
5. Follow the KISS Principle
KISS – keep it simple, stupid. The importance of simplicity can’t be overstated.
Your Ads should convey a simple message to be understood easily. The message should be represented in a way that viewer finds it interesting and gets engaged with the Ads. Avoid anything that may confuse your readers.
6. Help Readers Remember You
Long-term memory depends on so-called structural stimuli. Basically, we find it easier to remember two kinds of things:
- Things we encounter often. Repetition is key.
- Things that excite us. Novelty and uniqueness are crucial.
To retain your readers, you have to keep writing. Every new book you write will make you more memorable. Every reader who remembers you is a potential buyer. Yes, it’s as simple as that.
Also, promoting your books both online and offline will help readers remember you. The more channels you use, the more people you can reach and the more memorable you and your books become.
7. Remind Readers Your Best Points
This takes advantage of the so-called selective retention. People tend to remember good points. That’s why the past often looks brighter than the present.
To use selective retention, focus on well-chosen information about your author brand and your books. Don’t confuse your readers with uninteresting or irrelevant information. Only present any those facts that can attract more readers.
jenanita01 said:
You have some very good ideas here, Nicholas… Thank you…
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks Anita! I hope they inspire you 🙂
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beetleypete said:
Thanks, Nicholas. Now I am worried about my subconscious mind being targeted!
Best wishes, Pete. 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
All the time, Pete. It’s a fascinating subject, actually. To experience product placement at its best all you have to do is talk a walk to your local Tesco…
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beetleypete said:
Oh, I am all-too aware of that, unfortunately. 🙂
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Charles Yallowitz said:
Reblogged this on Legends of Windemere.
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theshammuramat said:
Reblogged this on theshammuramat and commented:
Great Ideas!
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Don't Lose Hope said:
Really interesting! Thanks for sharing.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed the post 🙂
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rupasarkar706 said:
Very interesting post.. First time I came across the concept of mirror neurons.. And one more thing I would love to say – I will be waiting for your upcoming post related to offline and online promotion of books… 😊
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks! Actually, I have a number of posts on both online and offline book marketing. Your first port of call can be this page: https://nicholasrossis.me/guides/
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The Story Reading Ape said:
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
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robbiesinspiration said:
Seven great points, Nicholas.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you, Robbie 🙂
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Bryan Fagan said:
This is just what I needed. Huge thanks.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
|Yay! So glad you found it useful 😀
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Marje @ Kyrosmagica said:
Reblogged this on M J Mallon YA/Paranormal Author and commented:
Interesting marketing ideas from Nicholas Rossis. #mustread #marketing #books
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Darlene said:
Thanks for these great points!!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you for reading, Darlene 🙂
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Don Massenzio said:
Reblogged this on Author Don Massenzio and commented:
Check out this great post from Nicholas Rossis’ blog with 7 Psychological Tricks For Book Promotion
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joylennick said:
Plenty of common sense and subtlety to digest! Thanks Nicholas.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you, Joy! I’m so glad you enjoyed the post 🙂
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V.M.Sang said:
Some excellent ideas here, Nicholas. Thank you.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks! Glad you found it inspirational 🙂
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patriciaruthsusan said:
A good post, Nicholas. 🙂 — Suzanne
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jjspina said:
Great tips, Nicholas! Thank you so much! 🤗
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you, Janice! Glad you found them useful 🙂
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Marina Costa said:
Reblogged this on Marina Costa and commented:
Always interesting things on Nicholas’ blog!
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wilfredbooks said:
This looks like sound common sense! Thanks, Nicholas 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
The best kind of tips usually do 🙂
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wilfredbooks said:
Reblogged this on Wilfred Books and commented:
These seven points should help you market your book.
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tracikenworth said:
Reblogged this on Where Genres Collide Traci Kenworth YA Author & Book Blogger and commented:
Nicholas always has such informative posts.
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kimwrtr said:
Reblogged this on Kim's Musings.
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Unchaptered said:
A simple and straightforwardly marketing post that still makes me nervous ^_^
As an introvert, marketing does not come naturally to me and always makes me feel as though I’m selling myself, or trying hard to be something I’m not. Point 6 is probably the most introvert-friendly technique. I’ll definitely try putting some of these into practice.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I know what you mean. Marketing my book lies well outside my comfort zone. I suspect that’s why I mention my own books so rarely in my blog 🙂
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Jan Sikes said:
Great tips! Thanks for sharing!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you, Jan! I hope you find them useful 🙂
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chandu dakka said:
Great tips thanks for sharing
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you, Dakka 🙂
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Damyanti Biswas (@damyantiwrites) said:
This is really useful information. Thank you for sharing.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Yay! Thank you for reading 🙂
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