Aim Off Target

 

Writing the book is merely the top of the iceberg, as every new author will tell you. After writing, there's revising, rewriting, editing, finding a publisher, and the long, tedious task of selling it. You can't just create a book and expect the masses to rush to you these days. To succeed, you must take your book to the masses.

While the obvious options (local media, book reviewers, editors, and authors who specialize in the subject area or genre you've written in) are usually overloaded with review copies, certain media sources aren't used to receiving book releases. And that is why I’ve found a bit of success with an alternate strategy: aim off target.

Keep in mind that you're not shooting at random; you should aim and polish your pitch. Here’s how we did it with Flightless Goose years ago.

When sharing the book with publications in the medical and disability fields, we spotlighted that this is a book that teaches children how to deal with disability and difficult situations. When we went to automotive magazines, we highlighted that the goose is playing too close to the road and has an auto accident, so the book promotes road safety in play areas. When we went to style and fashion publications, we shared images of outfits worn by the geese and touted the style of the illustrations.

Flightless Goose received as much attention from these non-literary markets as it did from the traditional book reviewers.

Read my full article on the topic at Writers Weekly:

https://writersweekly.com/this-weeks-article/aim-off-target-by-eric-d-goodman