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The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » reviews

reviews

Overselling Your Book

By Dan Balowon August 1, 2017
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I recall a television advertisement a few years ago touting a company as “#1 in Chicago.” After seeing the ad a few times, I focused on the fine print at the bottom of the screen and noted the claim was based on a “company conducted internet survey.” I started to feel some skepticism at the validity of the “#1” ranking.

Overselling a product, service, store, company, movie, church, theme park or park district pool can come back and haunt you. Setting the bar so high in an attempt to stand apart from the crowd is rarely effective long term, or short term for that matter, especially if whatever is being sold doesn’t really deserve the high praise.

Similarly, unbridled enthusiasm for their book can lead authors and publishers into the same world of overselling.

Promoting and selling Christian books has the additional element of God’s truth in them, which can dramatically impact a reader’s life. But while God can use anything to accomplish his purpose, no book ever written by a human can claim to have the kind of eternal impact of the Bible.

“This book will help millions achieve their highest aspirations. It will change the world!”

Must be pretty special writing.

But the reverse of overselling is underselling, which could end up becoming rather unappealing.

“My book will help several people inch a little closer to figuring out an answer to the problem. Maybe. I could be wrong. Don’t get your hopes up.”

Can’t wait to read this one.

For those involved in marketing Christian books and authors who promote their own work, the landscape is a dangerous minefield.

While every instinct within the “promoter” wants to communicate a particular Christian book as the most important ever written on a certain subject and will change the world, the truth is more along the lines of the book will “help many people inch a little closer to God.” Maybe thousands if God so desires.

So what is an author or book-promoter to do?

In the description of your work, use as few adjectives and adverbs as you can. The believability of any message decreases the more frequent they are used. Even in objective endorsements or reviews, too many adjectives and adverbs can make a book unreal at best or worse, deceptive.

To claim your book is the best ever for anything, is not true.

To claim your work is more important than anything prior exhibits an acute lack of knowledge for the rich history of books and literature.

Claiming something as “unique” is also untrue. With almost a million books published in the United States every year (traditional and self-published) are you suggesting none of them are even close to yours? This is simply not true. There may be hundreds or thousands of new books in the same vein as yours, competing for the same reader.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned readers buy a promise, a solution to a problem, a special experience or a key to unlock something within them. Use one or more of these when writing your promo copy…a promise, solution, experience or key takeaway. How will a reader benefit?

Instead of adjectives and adverbs, focus on “key words” which fuel the online search for your book. (This is an important issue, be sure to spend some time learning about it.)

To conclude, it appears I suggest a rather non-creative, facts-only, bland method of promoting.

Quite the contrary.

Layered atop all this is the most powerful promotional message of all…the genuine, glowing review by a reader.

The most effective promotion is when someone who is not the author (or related to the author, or works for the author) tells the world the book they read encouraged them, gave them a memorable experience or helped them realize something of importance.

Patting yourself on the back looks strange to others and hurts your shoulder joints. Let others do the patting, replete with well-chosen adjectives and adverbs. Those kinds of compliments are from the heart and other readers know it.

 

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Category: MarketingTag: Marketing, Overselling, reviews

Why Do Professional Reviewers Dislike Bestsellers?

By Dan Balowon May 30, 2017
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One of the most interesting issues I’ve confronted in my years involved with traditional publishing is why some books sell well despite less-than-stellar reviews and why some with five star ratings barely move the sales needle. It would be similar to films which win Oscars or top honors at film festivals but are barely noticed in the marketplace. I recall attending a showing of a movie with my …

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Category: Book Sales, Reviews, The Publishing LifeTag: reviews, The Publishing Life

Appreciating Reviews

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 24, 2016
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While researching my St. Patrick’s Day blog, where I reminisced about writing a novella, I must confess I poked around and looked at the fate of a few other books I wrote as well. I tell authors that a one-star review isn’t as bad as they think because that shows that your book is being read by impartial readers. I had to remind myself of my own advice as I read a few poor reviews. …

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Category: Book Review, CareerTag: Career, reviews

Reviews: The Spread I Like to See

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon September 17, 2015
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No, it’s not what Daddy calls, “middle-age spread” but the spread of starred ratings on sites such as Amazon. When I see a book reviewed, believe it or not, I don’t like to see ten five-star reviews and then nothing else. An author might ask, “Why not? Doesn’t that mean everyone loved the book?” Yes. All of your friends and family loved your book. I’m not saying those five-star ratings aren’t …

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Category: CareerTag: Career, reviews

Bad Reviews

By Dan Balowon August 11, 2015
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This post isn’t about what you think. I am not going to address how to handle the emotional sting of a bad review. Instead, I am going to talk about those closest to you, showing how your friends and family can hinder your writing career. If you cannot stand the thought those you love may be undermining your career, stop reading now and go make yourself a smoothie and relax. For those of you who …

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Category: Book Proposals, Book Review, Career, Get PublishedTag: Family and Friends, Get Published, reviews

Should I Respond to a One-Star Review?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 27, 2014
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    Have you ever received a one-star review? Or do you dread the day that might happen? Or perhaps you are hoping to be published so you can get a review. Any review. When you start receiving reviews, some of them might not be as stellar as you had hoped. So what, if anything, should you do? Good, Bad, Indifferent? When I look at reviews of sites such as Amazon, I think it’s healthy to …

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Category: Career, Marketing, TamelaTag: Career, reviews

Avoid Trashing a Book Online

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon August 29, 2013
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When I'm thinking of buying a book, I do read the one-star reviews. There. I admitted it. But would I write one? No, and here are three reasons why:

The author is not a moneymaking machine, but a human. A mean reviewer won't see the fallout of posting a nasty review, but writers cry, get angry, sulk and fall into depressions over one-star reviews. It's not fair to use the Internet to vent at a …

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Category: Career, Reading, Reviews, TamelaTag: Reading, reviews

Influencers and Etiquette

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon June 6, 2013
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Recently one of my author friends needed a couple of people to act as influencers. She asked me to give her the names of people who aren't writers, which I think is a fine idea because readers in other professions will reach new audiences. I asked several people. None of them knew what an influencer is until I explained it. So when you are tasked to find influencers, feel free to direct them to …

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Category: Book Business, Book Review, Career, TamelaTag: Endorsements, influencers, reviews

Everyone is a Critic

By Steve Laubeon April 29, 2013
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by Steve Laube

One of the burdens an artist must bear is the scrutiny of public opinion. It can either be exhilarating or devastating. At the risk of oversimplifying the issue let’s look at some of the categories that define this topic.

Opinion
Everyone has an opinion. The problem for the author is to determine how much weight to give to those opinions. One mistake a writer will make is to …

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Category: Book Business, Book Review, Career, Craft, Creativity, Steve, Writing CraftTag: Career, Critiques, reviews

Paid Book Reviews?

By Steve Laubeon September 3, 2012
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by Steve Laube

You may have read or heard of the NY Times article where an author admitted to using a now-defunct service that wrote positive online reviews for a fee. Unfortunately I was not surprised. There have been many attempts to game the system over the years.

One man bought thousands of his books in various locations to launch it onto the NY Times bestseller list (Read a report …

Read morePaid Book Reviews?
Category: Book Business, Marketing, SteveTag: bestseller lists, Book reviews, reviews

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