Matching potential readers

to specific media outlets

Paid advertising can be used effectively by a self-published author or publish-

ing company if you focus your advertising dollars and resources on niche

advertising: finding media outlets that specifically target only those people

you believe are potential readers for your book. Sure, it would be a great

boost to your ego to see a full-page ad for your book in the New York Times,

Time, or People, but for many self-published authors, this isn’t cost-effective

or practical.

Niche advertising may include advertising on specific (local or regional)

radio or television shows, in special interest magazines and newspapers,

and/or within specialized newsletters or Web sites. See the previous section

for details on different outlets for advertising.

For example: If you’ve written a cookbook that teaches the art of Italian cook-

ing, advertising in Time magazine or Business Week will be expensive and not

allow you to reach your intended audience. While some of these magazines’

readers may in fact be interested in Italian cooking, you pay to advertise to

everyone who reads those magazines, not just the select few who have an

interest in what you’re advertising. That’s a waste of money and resources.

Instead, consider finding a special interest cooking or lifestyle magazine to

advertise in, so you can better reach your intended audience. The circulation

of the special interest magazine may be only 5,000 to 10,000 people, as

opposed to several million, but you know the readers of the special interest

magazine are far more likely to buy your book.

By figuring out your book’s target audience (see Chapter 4 for details on how

to do this), you can do research to determine their buying and media habits.

Some of this research involves making educated guesses about the forms of

advertising that will allow you to reach the most people in your target audi-

ence for the least amount of money. For example, are they more apt to listen

to a talk radio station on their way to work or read a special interest maga-

zine during their free time?

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