A Simply Audiobooks Blog entry by Sanjay took me by surprise. Sanjay asks why book publishers "don't really promote anything at all." Sanjay cites the lack of advertising as proof that book promotion doesn't happen.
Apparently, Sanjay is confusing ads for books with other types of book promotion.
Apart from the fact that you do see ads for books (in book review sections of newspapers, in trade magazines, on banner ads, all over search engines, and so forth), you certainly see authors interviewed as experts in all the media. And each of those interviews is a book promotion opportunity for the author.
Try watching television, or listening to the radio, for an hour without hearing an author mention his or her book. And try reading anything without seeing the phrase "...is the author of..." or "...his/her book is called..."
Doesn't happen. The media is hungry for experts, and experts answer the calls for interviews because they have something to sell: their services, their goods, or their books.
Sanjay is right about one thing. You don't hear a whole lot of radio or television commercials for books. Then again, you don't have to. Authors -- because they are authors -- have opportunities to promote their books on radio and television for free all the time. Why, then, would they pay for book promotion opportunities that they can get for free (or for the price of hiring a book publicist)?
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