Mistakes Authors Make

Rick Frishman is Publisher at Morgan James Publishing in New York and founder of Planned Television Arts (now called Media Connect). He has been one of the leading book publicists in America for over 37 years. Rick works with many of the top book editors, literary agents, and publishers in America, including Simon and Schuster, Harper Collins and Random House. Rick is the coauthor of sixteen books, including national bestsellers “Guerrilla Publicity”, “Where’s Your Wow”, “Guerrilla Marketing for Writers”, “The Expert Success Solution”, and “250 Rules of Business. 

 Bret Ridgway and Bryan Hane are co-founders of Speaker Fulfillment Services, a company that works behind the scenes with authors, speakers and information marketers. Bret is author of three previous books including “50 Biggest Mistakes Information Marketers Make” and “Biggest Website Mistakes Online Business Owners Make.” Bret and Bryan have worked for over 10 years with NY Times bestsellers such as Joel Comm and John Assaraf.

Section 1 -- Before You Write
Mistake #1 Believing You Can't Write a Book


Mistake #2 Writing a Book for the Wrong Reason


Mistake #3 No Real Understanding of Your Target Market


Mistake #4 Expecting Instant Success


Mistake #5 No Understanding of the Various Publishing Models


Mistake #6 Lack of Perception of Perceived Value in Information Marketing


Mistake #7 Trying to do Too Many Products at the Same Time


Section 2 -- The Business of Your Book


Mistake #8 Overproducing on an Initial Book Launch to Lower Per Unit Cost


Mistake #9 Not Understanding the Lifetime Value of a Reader


Mistake #10 You Don’t Know Your Numbers


Mistake #11 Not Knowing How Bookstores Really Work


Mistake #12 Trying to Wear Too Many Hats


Mistake #13 Not Understanding the Differences Between a Distributor and a Wholesaler and a Fulfillment House


Mistake #14 Not Using a Literary Agent When You Need One and Using One When You Don’t


Mistake #15 Not Understanding Your “Rights”


Mistake #16 Failure to Register Your Copyright


Mistake #17 Expecting Other People to Do It for You


Mistake #18 No Commitment to Continual Learning


Mistake #19 No Continuity Revenue


Section 3 -- Writing Your Book


Mistake #20 Writing a Crappy Book


Mistake #21 Poor Book Title


Mistake #22 Bad Cover Design


Mistake #23 Writing a Book that is Not Easily Consumable


Mistake #24 Poor Interior Layout


Mistake #25 No Name Capture Mechanisms Built Into Your Book


Mistake #26 No Branding


Mistake #27 Doing an Ebook Only


Mistake #28 Forgetting to Put Disclosures/Disclaimers in Your Book


Section 4 -- Marketing Your Book Before It’s Written


Mistake #29 Failure to Develop a Book Proposal/Book Business Plan


Mistake #30 No List Building Efforts in Advance of Book Publication


Mistake #31 No On-going Communication with the Lists You're Building


Mistake #32 No On-going Commitment to Marketing


Mistake #33 Not Using Social Media Properly


Mistake #34 Lack of a Press Kit


Mistake #35 Lack of a Blog


Mistake #36 Not Attending Live Events to Network


Mistake #37 Not Owning Some Key Web Properties


Mistake #38 No Understanding of How One Achieves Bestseller Status


Mistake #39 You Can Write a Book but You Can’t Write Sales Copy


Section 5 -- Marketing Your Book After It’s Written


Mistake #40 Not Using Public Speaking to Build Your Platform


Mistake #41 Becoming a Media Diva


Mistake #42 Not Being Ready for the “Big Stage”


Mistake #43 Underestimating the Power of Radio


Mistake #44 Not Leveraging the Full Power of Amazon


Mistake #45 Not Getting the Most Out of Book Signings


Mistake #46 Incomplete Profile Pages in Your Distribution Channels


Mistake #47 Underestimating the Value of Book Reviews


Mistake #48 Not Capturing the Browsing Buyer


Mistake #49 No Use of Video in Your Marketing Efforts


Mistake #50 Afraid to Give Books Away