by Penny Sansevieri
Are you thinking about hiring out services but don’t know if it’s worth the investment? Well, I’m here to, I hope, ease your mind. There are lots of benefits to hiring marketing services, and it doesn’t have to be all or nothing!
Ideally, you’d like to hire out services that require lots of early heavy lifting and research because often, once the initial round of work is accomplished, handing this over to the author gets much more manageable–at least that’s how we’ve always worked here at AME.
I never want to assume authors need to hire book-marketing services and companies for the duration of their career. Most authors like to do an initial push with a professional team and then take over. This is one of my favorite kinds of collaboration!
So here are five elements to consider when determining which book-marketing services you should hire out, at least to start, and why it will likely support you better in the long run.
1. Managing Amazon Keywords and Categories
You can find a lot of automated and bot services, but the problem with those is they don’t understand the human experience. Keywords should be researched and assessed based on buyer behavior. People, not bots, potentially shop for your book. When it comes to categories, the reality is you need to dig deeper, put in the time, and get creative. It’s also challenging to ensure you’ve hit all the right notes when you’re too close to your work, so an outside opinion never hurts.
2. Keeping Up with Amazon Ads
Amazon in general requires a huge learning curve—that’s the reality. However, the ads change and morph explicitly based on buyer behavior, which means authors need to learn and keep up with a lot. So, if you want to start supporting your book better on Amazon and get in front of more readers, finding someone (like our team) that offers book-marketing services for Amazon ads and helps reduce the learning curve is worth it.
3. Goodreads Networking
Goodreads is a huge site with many features to take advantage of, so getting started and generating momentum can be a big undertaking. Taking it over after a team gets you set up and ready for success dramatically reduces the amount of time it will take before you start seeing results. Let a team do hard work for you!
4. How to Pitch Media and Influencers
Pitching media and influencers is often a book-marketing services gold standard. Bigger media pitching, like TV, radio, and national publications, is more successful when you have the right contacts and the right pitch/angle. Even online influencer pitching can be a big waste of time if you don’t have the right pitch and don’t know how to find the right people. Book marketing services can help you connect in key areas and introduce you and your book to individuals in more lucrative ways. It’s also easy to say, “I’ll do my own pitching,” but often much harder to execute because going after media and influencers always requires many steps.
5. Author Brand Building and Brainstorming
I know, I know; branding and brainstorming may feel a bit boring to you. But honestly, getting too close to your work is one of the biggest challenges I’ve seen authors face. If you’re feeling stuck in any way, it’s always a good idea to get some professional input and outside opinions to change things up or to reach the next level. Getting an opinion from someone who isn’t emotionally tethered to your work will make a big difference.
I believe all authors should become an integral part in their own success, and part of that is hiring a book-marketing services company that will be your collaborative partner. A company that will help you set the stage for success and do the kind of things you don’t have the time or talent to do, but also leave room for your input and creativity. When done right, hiring out marketing services is the best of both worlds.
Penny Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. (AME) and an adjunct professor at NYU, is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns.
