 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Plug Your Book!
31
Amazon Bestseller Campaigns
The Internet has become an effective marketing tool for authors
because it enables your audience members to find you, instead of you
finding them. With online word of mouth, you gently reel your audience
in, instead of blasting an advertisement to a crowd that isn’t listening.
Let’s face it, traditional advertising is dying, and it never worked
with books anyway. More than ever, people are tuning out commercials,
junk mail and spam.
There is no shortcut for getting word of mouth for your book. And
as we’ll see, not only are shortcuts ineffective, they can backfire.
One shortcut many new authors are trying these days is “Amazon
Bestseller Campaigns.” And who can blame them: What author doesn’t
want to have a No. 1 book and millions of loyal readers?
Amazon doesn’t endorse these campaigns, but doesn’t really
discourage them either. Independent marketing consultants charge
$2,700 for their Bestseller Campaign courses, and to a new author it
might seem worth every penny. According to advertisements by these
Bestseller consultants, one author racked up more than $35,000 in book
sales during the first 48 hours of her campaign. Could it happen to you?
You bet—you’ll have a “guaranteed” bestseller within “38 days.”
So go ahead, dream a little. Once your book tops the chart at
Amazon, you’ll be on the red carpet. Lunch with publishers. Bookstore
tours. Agents calling. Movie deals, foreign rights sales. And next, you’ll
be on the real bestseller lists: New York Times, USA Today, and Wall
Street Journal.
So what’s wrong with all that? The bestseller consultants say they’re
simply applying good old-fashioned marketing to the digital age. But
critics say these campaigns are just smoke and mirrors. These
consultants don’t discuss whether the book needs to be any good.
Apparently anyone who coughs up $2,700 is guaranteed a bestseller.
Is it too good to be true? Are these programs worth it, or just a waste
of time and money?
|
 |
|
