Paid Book Marketing, Is It Worth It? (Link Roundup)

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Authors of all stripes confront an inevitable question at some point: Should I use paid book marketing? It’s a serious question with a lot of unclear answers. While I’ll leave it to the links below to let you explore the bigger, public conversation on this topic, I’ll offer a few thoughts.

Marketing is complicated and, most of the time, cookie cutter “systems” can’t deliver on their promises. By nature, systems function on churning out sameness and the best marketing leverages uniqueness. No marketer can ever guarantee a fixed number or percentage increase of sales. Any marketer that does make these kinds of guarantees is lying to himself or herself, lying to you, or filled with a dangerous kind of hubris. Never spend money on marketing that you can’t afford to lose, because most marketing takes time to show a return on investment (if it ever does show a return on investment.) With that said, on to the link roundup.

Should Indie Authors Pay for Book Reviews?

Book Marketing Services, Are They Worth It?

Book Marketing Using Paid Promotions: Targeted Email Lists

Paid Book Marketing: Should Authors Bother?

Book Marketing Methods That Don’t Work

Paid Book Promotion – Yes It’s Necessary, But Beware

Please leave a comment to share your thoughts on or experiences with paid book marketing.