Author Name: Jay Thomas Willis
Book Title(s): Implications For Effective Psychotherapy With African-Americans; As Soon as the Weather Breaks; The Cotton is High; Born to be Destroyed; Paranoid but not Stupid; Why Black Americans Behave as They Do; Hard Luck; When the Village Idiot Get Started; Educated Misunderstanding; The Devil in Angelica.
Marketing Subject: Self-Doubt in Promoting and Marketing Your Self–Published Book
I’m just a poor, deprived, neglected, and abused country boy; how can I get the wherewithal to market and promote my books. It is rare that someone of this description is able to write a book, but when they are able to do so, there may be sufficient hurdles to overcome, but not obstacles that are insurmountable. This kind of thinking does not have to apply to an individual of a particular origin, but applies to a cross section of people.
We hear people say that this industry is being controlled by other groups. Regardless of this situation, there is nothing preventing an author from promoting his books—especially, if it’s a book that will appeal to a large percentage of the masses.
So get off your duff and do what you can to market your books. You need to first of all learn the business of marketing if you are going to write books. Don’t just sit around feeling sorry for yourself. It is common for those with a sense of powerlessness to see themselves as not being able to effect a better situation. There are things you can do to promote your book, but you must study your particular marketing opportunities, and do what’s best for you. Make an effort to first do what’s possible for you to do with your own efforts, what has been commonly practiced. Then make an effort to get on radio and TV. This will provide the greatest amount of exposure.
Not every method of marketing will fit every writer. You must figure out what method will work for you, based on your time and your economic situation. Some bookstores will not be receptive to a self-published author, and even some distributors may not be responsive to self-published authors. But keep trying until you make that breakthrough.
As a self-published author I had almost given up on any productive marketing for my books. All of a sudden I got a call from a national TV interviewer. This made me realize that marketing opportunities came as a direct result of your efforts. I wondered at that point how many of such interviews I could have gotten had I put forth a consistent and persistent effort.
Once a friend told me that achievement was directly proportional to the amount of effort expended. I believe it works this way in marketing your books. You must make some opportunities, be ready for others that come along, and take advantage of them. Just don’t sit around feeling that you are powerless, and nothing can be done in your situation. Read everything you can about marketing, and utilize methods that are appropriate to your situation. You can’t be successful at being adequate on the writing end, you must also be a good marketer and promoter.
