5 Big Changes in Book Marketing in the Last 10 Years

The publishing and media industries have each undergone rapid and significant change. As a result, book marketing and book promotion has changed as well. Here are 5 changes we’ve seen in the past 10 years.

—Media shrinkage, media expansion – Hundreds of newspapers have closed, and some popular magazines are no longer around. Most of this was caused by the expansion of the Internet, and some publications made the mistake of offering their content online, for free.

Ironically, this change has also expanded the number of media outlets that are either Internet based, or replicate content online. With limitless space, massive amounts of information can be made easily accessible on the Internet. So, some traditional media closing doors, has opened up a huge door for an author publicist, and the Internet creates many new opportunities for coverage of books.

—Podcasts! – Put simply, podcasts have slowly become a very popular medium. Essentially, many podcasts are really akin to long-form radio interviews, made portable through smart phones, tablets, etc. More and more, podcasts are becoming a staple of our book promotion campaigns.

—Byline articles – At Smith Publicity, we’ve found that byline articles – articles written by an author on a topic related to their book and pitched by us to media – are outstanding ways to secure print placements. This applies especially to non-fiction books. These ready-made articles make the job of media easier, and editors, etc. love to receive great content! In the past, byline articles were only occasionally used but are now a staple of many publicity campaigns.

—Book reviews – Traditional print media has consistently reduced the amount of space allotted to book reviews over the past 10 years. The Internet, however, has opened up completely new opportunities – and a lot of them! Online reviewers and bloggers who review books are plentiful and many of them are quite influential. Also, platforms like NetGalley and Goodreads offer even more opportunities for online book reviews. This change has also created great ways to enhance ebook marketing.

—Methods of contacting media – Going 10 years back and beyond, the ways we contact media have changed dramatically. In the “old days,” cold phone calls to media were the standard. Then, personal and broadcast faxing became a preferred method. And then, of course, email grew in popularity. Today, most book publicist-to-media communication – at least initial communications – are through email. The most effective way is to personalize email, not send bulk email blasts that annoy media!