How Can Authors Get Attention?
The way to communicate
today is not completely the same as 25 years ago – or 50. One’s social media
footprint, zoom presence, and phone etiquette surpass one’s in-person persona
and energy on the priority list. We live more through a screen than being able
to literally reach out and touch another. So, as an author, how will you master
today’s communication landscape?
Let’s first look at the
means at your disposal to reach, connect, and communicate with another:
·
·
text
·
social
media
·
phone
·
video
conferencing
·
meet
in-person
·
mail:
letters, books, gifts
What are the raw skills or
assets at play here?
·
Writing
style/vocabulary
·
Energy
level/attitude
·
Speaking
style/voice
·
Your
appearance – clothes, make-up, hair
·
Your
physical look – size, age, setting
·
Ability
to motivate, help, be supportive, inform-enlighten-inspire-entertain
·
Morality
and ethical standards expressed
Now, think about (assess)
your strengths and weaknesses. Where do you come across as strong – and weak?
Can you limit the situations where your shortfalls are exposed and maximize the
opportunities where you tend to shine?
For your strengths, can you
improve and make them even better? For your weaknesses, can you get them to a
point where they may not be an advantage for you, but at least can be neutral?
could you even come to see – and sell – your liabilities as assets? Turn a
negative into a positive?
There are five attention
triggers at your disposal according to Matt McWilliams in his book, Turn
Your Passions Into Profits . he says the following:
Trigger 1: Pattern disrupt
“You can do this by being
bizarre, quirky, or just downright controversial…The key is to stay on brand
and not be so weird that you creep people out or e so off-the-wall that people miss
your message.”
Trigger 2: reward
“What are some short-term
rewards you can offer your avatar to capture their attention? How can you
connect with your avatar n a way that makes them feel they are being rewarded
for being in your audience?”
Trigger 3: Prestige
“What are some trust
symbols you can use to demonstrate prestige, believability, and credibility in
your niche? What are other influences in your niche doing to increase their
perceived reputation and prestige? Study them!”
Trigger 4: Uncertainty
“Uncertainty works like a
cliffhanger. When people don’t know what’s going to happen next or they don’t
understand something, they pay attention until the uncertainty is resolved.
Until their questions are answered or their curiosity is satisfied, you have
their attention. In marketing terms, we call these incomplete stories.”
Trigger 5: Recognition
“People pay attention when
you recognize them. They give their attention to those who encourage them and
support them. We all have an intense desire to be known, recognized, and acknowledged.”
Authors have many ways of
getting attention – from what they say and do – as well as how they say
something and how they look doing it. Play the game. – fund your public persona
and sell that image to others. Be the best version of you.
Need
Book Marketing Help?
Brian Feinblum, the founder of this
award-winning blog, can be reached at [email protected] He is available
to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He
has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in
all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!
Read
This!
How Do Authors Build An Email List?
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/06/how-authors-grow-email-list.html
Are
You A Clickable Author?
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/06/are-you-clickable-author.html
Should
Authors Blame Anyone For Book Marketing Failures?
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/06/should-authors-blame-anyone-for-book.html
How Do Authors Reel Readers In?
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/06/how-do-authors-reel-readers-in.html
Do You Really Know Why You Wrote Your
Book?
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/06/do-you-really-know-why-you-wrote-your.html
How Do Authors Fix Their Social Media?
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/06/how-do-authors-fix-their-social-media.html
How & Why Should Authors Guest-Blog?
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/06/how-why-authors-should-guest-blog.html
A Book Award Authors Should Avoid!
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/06/a-book-award-authors-should-avoid.html
Book Marketer Brian Feinblum Interviewed
By Book Shepherd Cathy Fyock
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/05/book-marketer-brian-feinblum.html
12 Habits of Highly Successful Authors
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/05/12-habits-of-highly-successful-authors.html
About Brian Feinblum
Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter
@theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. Born and
raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and
Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer
and IBPA’s The Independent. This
award-winning blog has generated over 3.3 million pageviews. With 4,400+ posts
over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by
BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018
as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com
as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as
the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and two
jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time,
self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors
and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine
Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren
Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy,
Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for
Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers
Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod
Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, and
Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have
been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY
Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington
Post . He has been featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald .
For more information, please consult: www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum .
