The cornerstone of effective book marketing campaigns is reaching the right audience – people who will be interested in reading a book and buying it. A good example is a need for a personal finance book to be promoted to media and bloggers that cover investing and personal finance. It may radiate out one level farther and interest lifestyle editors or general-interest media with finance columns. When you plan a publicity campaign, the target media list needs to be well suited to the topic. Otherwise, there won't be many nibbles on a book's promotional materials, and you need the media to sell books.
Authors also need to be clear with publicists about their priorities and expectations. Surprising as it may sound, some people write books more to publicize themselves and their businesses than they do to win fans and readers. Publicity needs for those books and authors are very different from fiction writers who want to earn a living writing book and therefore need to sell thousands of copies. Also, while it's fun to shoot for significant, national media coverage, sometimes it doesn't bring the best results. For example, a niche blog with a small audience fanatically interested in a topic might get more book sales.
The most effective book marketing programs are often divided into short-term and long-term goals, which is crucial. It helps book PR people know what to pitch and when because in the short-term phase, you're generally selling books. Over the long haul, it's more about promoting you as an author and earning fans to buy copies of future books. Most non-fiction authors are experts in their industry or profession. The visibility from a book PR campaign makes them sought-after spokespeople on a topic.
While it's nearly always an excellent idea to have professional book marketers promoting your work, it's helpful for authors to contribute ideas. Be open-minded about what you suggest because a publicist may tweak your concept based on their experience. Knowing what will work (or not) gives you a leg up, and your campaign gets underway. Some trial-and-error may be needed with the campaign's more creative ideas, but there needs to be a strong group of proven-effective tactics. No two books and authors are alike, so each PR campaign is unique and structured to suit the target audience(s).
