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Rob Eagar

Marketing expertise to spread your message like wildfire.

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May 22 2017

How to Grade an Author’s Marketing Ability

As a columnist for Book Business Magazine, my latest article is entitled, “How to Grade an Author’s Marketing Ability.” Below is an excerpt with a link to the complete article. If you’re a publisher or an author at any level, you will find this information both revealing and essential.

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Every publisher has endured the horror of paying an author a big advance – only to watch that author do little marketing and sabotage their book launch. It’s a costly mistake that can quickly erode revenue and profits if the problem happens too often.

Recently, I worked with a first-time author who received a six-figure advance from his publisher. But, halfway through writing the book, the author decided he no longer felt interested in the process, turned in a bland manuscript, changed jobs, ignored the book’s release, and cost the publisher thousands of dollars.

I share this story because I see too many publishers incorrectly assess an author’s platform and actual marketing aptitude. The mistake typically revolves around placing incorrect emphasis on the author’s social media statistics or past performance. However, as people on Wall Street are keen to say, “Past performance is not indicative of future results.”

Examining an author’s social media popularity is like assigning grades to students based on their accent or physical attractiveness. It’s subjective and largely unrelated to the actual skillset needed to succeed. There is little correlation between the amount of Facebook followers an author displays and the amount of actual book sales they can generate.

Convincing someone to buy a book will always be a subjective process. Yet, publishers have access to objective marketing data about what works and what doesn’t. Informed publishers should focus greater attention on numbers that reveal more confidence about an author’s actual marketing ability. I recommend using these four metrics…

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Written by Rob Eagar · Categorized: Author Tips, Marketing Tips, Monday Morning Marketing Tips

About Rob Eagar

Rob Eagar is the founder of WildFire Marketing, a consulting practice that helps authors and publishers sell more books and spread their message like wildfire. He is one of the rare consultants to help both fiction and nonfiction books hit The New York Times bestsellers list. Rob has consulted with numerous publishers and trained over 1,000 authors. He is the creator of The Author's Guide Series, a comprehensive collection of resources that teaches authors how to sell more books. Find out more at: WildFire Marketing and follow Rob on Twitter.

Build your audience

Build Your Audience Before You Publish

May 15, 2022 Posted by Rob Eagar

Most authors focus on writing their books before marketing their books. But, what if this approach is a recipe for disaster? Rob explains why there’s a better way…

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