Relevance and Credibility – Key Selling Points in Promoting Your Book
Relevance and credibility are two key points in any form of advertising or promotion which includes social networking. I have yet to see book marketing experts address these topics when they tell us social networking, building our list, creating groups on Facebook, or a whole gamut of other marketing ways is of utmost importance if we want to sell our book. In reality, doing all these things isn’t go to get us anywhere if we don’t have relevance and credibility to what we say or do.
Relevance: You must prove to your potential reader how pertinent, connected, or applicable your book is to them , current times/ social issues, or currently popular.
Credibility: You must prove to your potential reader you are trustworthy and an expert on the subject. This also includes your personal code of ethics, integrity and reasonable grounds to be believed.
Relevance without credibility is just hype and without substance. Credibility without relevance is boring. But combining the two together you get power. You get the potential reader’s attention, you get respect, and you create interest in your book.
Are you frowning right now and wondering how you can do both? It’s easy:
Step #1: Find out what is relevant right now that pertains to your book.
I use www.OneRiot.com. For example, I just recently co-authored Rewriting Life Scripts: Transformational Recovery for Families of Addicts. When I search for key words pertaining to this book I find out what is relevant today; what is being tweeted and what bloggers say. This is relevance. I know what is being said today and I can write the press release, blog entries, or tweets according to what the buzz is.
Notice I said “relevant today.” Tomorrow may be something totally different and I can guarantee you in two weeks the relevance would have changed several times.
Step #2: Add your credibility on the topic.
Wondering what my credibility is for the recent book? I am a family member (a Mom of two recovering addicts, and yes, they gave me permission to say it,) I’ve personally experienced transformational recovery, and I have a Masters in Psychology. However, my main credibility is “I’m a family member of…” and “I’m a Mom of recovering addicts and experienced …” Families know I can relate to them. My degree doesn’t matter but what matters is I understand what issues families have when an addict returns from a treatment center.
Putting the two together I can speak to what is relevant right now from my own experience. I can help others and that’s the bottom line when reading and doing the exercises in “Rewriting Life Scripts.”
Okay, so you say this only works for nonfiction books. Well, you are wrong. It also works for fiction books, even mystery or fantasy genres.
Relevance: Repeat – what is relevant right now that your book pertains to?
Credibility: Repeat – why are you an expert in this area to talk about it?
If you can’t combine the two, then you will be spinning your wheels going nowhere. You can do all the tweeting and social networking experts advise you to do but if you don’t have content that gives relevance and credibility you are wasting your time. Your postings just aren’t going to move the dial on the “who-gives-a-crap” meter.
So, ask yourself:
- Does what I say have relevance?
- Does what I say speak to the emotions of my audience?
- Does what I say make them stop and think, or move them?
If you answered yes, then ask yourself:
- Is what I say credible because of my own expertise?
- Does what I say have evidence or is searchable?
- Will my potential reading audience have confidence in what I’m saying?
Relevance is emotion.
Credibility is truth.
No different than writing your book, it’s all about show, not tell. Are you combining both relevance and credibility in your social network messages to potential readers? Are you showing them relevance and grounding it with your credibility? Or are you just telling them to buy your book?
Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.
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