Sell Your Book Like Wildfire

by Rob Eager

I actually downloaded this ebook a couple years ago, thinking I would get around to it when I was closer to being ready to publish my book. Well, I'm getting dangerously close to having a decent manuscript, so I figured now would be a good time to read this book.

Turns out, it was the perfect time. First of all: it's excellent. Second: every author knows the importance of having a strong platform before you publish, and this book gives you the tools to do it. Admittedly there was a lot of information in here that I already knew, like the importance of finding your target audience and marketing to them specifically (duh). His wildfire imagery was great, though. The idea that you can't light a wildfire by holding a match under a log is totally true. He explains that you need to build smaller fires that build it up into a wildfire, and that's as true in marketing as it is in the forest.

He also has some excellent tips for getting speaking gigs, and why those are so important. I never would have thought to approach the producer of a radio or television show, but now I'm seriously considering it. As Eager points out, you have nothing to lose by trying.

I understand that speaking engagements were a large part of his marketing strategy, but despite his insistence that all of his tips work as well for fiction as nonfiction authors, I do have my doubts. I don't think you can deny that fiction and nonfiction are different animals, and people expect different things from those two types of authors. Although a fiction author may certainly have information worthy of a speaking engagement, I think a nonfiction author who specializes in relationships is going to have a lot more opportunities to speak at events than a fiction author. I agree with his assessment that fiction authors still have something of value to offer, but I don't think it's necessarily as easily recognized as the kind of expertise that nonfiction authors bring to the table.

That being said, I thoroughly appreciated his final chapter on marketing specifically for fiction authors. Again, there was a lot of stuff in there that I already knew, but it also gave me plenty of new ideas and I can't wait to start implementing them.