Six years ago, Rob Eagar opened WildFire Marketing after publishers and authors came to him, asking how he sold 13,000 copies of his first book, The Power of Passion, which he self-published. Now he is distilling the lessons learned from working on the book and consulting with 400 authors in Sell Your Book Like Wildfire (Writer’s Digest, June).
“I love what I do, helping others,” says Eagar, who plans to spend BEA at the F+W Media booth (4448), where he will meet with publishers and authors, sign copies of his book (while supplies last), and offer free copies of his five-hour audio marketing course for authors. In addition, F+W is holding a drawing to win a private marketing consultation with Eagar, who has helped get books like Gary Chapman’s The Five Love Languages and Lisa TerKeurst’s Made to Crave on the New York Times bestseller list.
“The key to marketing,” says Eagar, “is to stop selling the book and start selling results. I see it on both levels. Neither authors nor publishers take the right focus. They tell readers what the book is about. They don’t tell them how it will make their life better.” As for social media, he says, “I don’t see it as a savior. Social media is passive. You’re not going to reach the full audience without active media, too—public speaking and news interviews.”
Given how quickly things can change in the book business, Eagar is offering free updates to the book on the bookwildfire.com Web site.
