To help authors attract more sales and media attention (TV, print, radio, podcasts and videos), the Goody Business Book Awards is sharing three new book marketing tips with examples of how to get someone’s attention.

Whether it’s a reader or a reporter, they will be much more interested in your book if you can explain a compelling backstory that emotionally connects.

The Goody Business Book Awards are sponsored by Goody PR, who’ve booked thousands of media interviews (TODAY Show, NPR, People Magazine, and more) for authors, thought leaders and business experts in the health, financial, technology, entrepreneur, lifestyle and entertainment industry clients. 

Along with winning book awards, an author’s best way to stand out to a reader, producer or editor is to entertain and educate the target audience. As a first step in your book marketing, you can Nominate Your Book for the Goody Business Book Awards using our easy 3-step process (and don’t miss the Sept 30 deadline).

And with thousands of experts in your field, “I’m great” is not a PR strategy that will work for an author. You need to have a complete public relations strategy and build a library of online content with positive press. If a producer Googles you or your book, you want your story to dominate the content on the first few pages, Google Images, Videos and News tab.

Bottom line, if you don’t have the right story, title, author biography and tons of content online, your message will get nowhere fast. So take a close look at these 3 Book Marketing Tips for Authors.

1. Win Book Awards to add to Your Google Search Results

With 46+ million books on Amazon now, one of the best ways to stand out as a thought leader is to win book awards. While it is much easier now to become a bestseller on Amazon, book awards recognize authors based on a panel of judges. It’s much more selective and is not based on tricking an algorithm. 

If you are selected as an Award-Winning Author, you can then add it to your biography to increase your credibility, send out a press release, add it to your website, post on your Amazon book page, add the awards seal to your book cover, and/or share the good news on social media.  And if you a Winner or a Finalist for the Goody Business Book Awards, we are going to promote the heck out of your book online.

2. Explain the Author’s WHY Behind the Book

You want people to remember your book by sharing the author’s WHY or backstory for writing the book. For example, one of Goody PR’s former clients is Son/Editor Rob Schwartz for “The Wisdom of Morrie” (Blackstone Publishing, 2023) by his late father Morrie Schwartz. What is so powerful about this recent book’s backstory is that it was written by Morrie Schwartz before he got ALS, and got famous by his former student Mitch Albom, who wrote the book, “Tuesdays with Morrie”, that sold 19 million copies. 

As an author and thought leader, Rob Schwartz shares how he found his father Morrie’s book in his desk after he passed, and decided to publish it due to the record-breaking interest in his father’s life lessons in “Tuesdays with Morrie”. Rob calls this book a “deep dive” into Morrie’s thoughts as a Sociology Professor, who was forced to retire at age 70, when he was not ready to be considered “old”. With millions of baby boomers retiring daily now, this new book especially resonates with that generation.

3. Select a Unique Book Title with a Powerful Backstory

To make it easy for readers to find you and your book, make sure you select a unique book title that is different and memorable. And then, buy the exact title website address via Go Daddy, share the website everywhere, secure social media usernames using that title and build your website BEFORE publishing and/or doing any marketing.

While this book marketing advice tip may sound obvious, you’d be surprised how many authors skip this step, and call us after their book is published for help. As a result, we always focus on promoting the author’s name and their personal WHY.

For example, we did PR for an author who selected a cliche title called “Playing for Keeps”. While we loved the book, the title made it much harder to remember and get SEO (Search Engine Optimization) when that title already had 128 results on Amazon (multiple books, movies, tv shows and more). As a result, we ended up branding the author’s name, but a unique title would have really helped with book marketing.

In comparison, another former Goody PR client wrote a WWII book called “40 Thieves on Saipan” about his father’s platoon who bravely fought behind enemy lines in the Pacific. The idea for this book originated when the author Joseph Tachovksy opened his father’s off-limits footlocker in the garage after he passed. Because his father never spoke about the war while he was alive, the footlocker’s contents opened a treasure chest of information. Based on his father’s platoon’s roster, Joseph traveled coast-to-coast for almost ten years interviewed any survivors or relatives of men in his father’s platoon. After collecting 600+ pages of notes, Joseph collaborated with co-author Cynthia Kraack who helped him organize the book into a compelling and untold story. 

The results of this book marketing for “40 Thieves on Saipan” have been over 1054+ reviews on Amazon with a 4.7 rating, being recognized with top book awards and a Regional Emmy-Award for Pioneer PBS for their story about this historic book and backstory.

So take an honest step back to see if your author and book brand are connecting with reporters and viewers. If you’re not getting your desired results, consider revamping your book marketing plan. 

Consider nominating it for book award categories in your niche subject area, revise your book brand story and/or doing a public relations campaign.

And don’t miss our final deadline of Sept 30 to Nominate Your Book for the Annual Goody Business Book Awards.

For your book marketing and media success, authors should always start by defining a Wow Story that is unique and emotionally connects with your ideal target audience.