Book Marketer 'Works For Free' & How It Worked Out

A Literal Literary Loser Won't Let Up

Have I got a doozy for you this week! We all know the drill by now… I offer to pay for book marketing services only after I see proof the seller knows what they’re doing. Here is my latest chat (with links to the brilliant marketer’s brilliant marketing!):

Abdulsalam Adelani: I came across a post you commented on and i am more than willing to work side by side with you. I know most people wouldn't want to accept such offer. But i see no reason why a professional would decline such offer. It's a win win game. And it aids in building trust. I am more than willing to assist.

(Ed. note: In the name of trust, I went to his website. Scroll down to the see glowing author testimonials. My favorite is the one from “Edward James,” who writes, “From refining the storyline to strategic marketing advice, every step of the way, [Expert's Name] demonstrated unparalleled expertise and genuine passion for the craft." If that doesn’t build trust, nothing will! And check out what other best-selling authors he claimed to have worked with!)

Alina Adams: So you are willing to do all the promotion upfront for no pay and only get paid when you've sold the number of books you promised?

AA: Yes

Alina: OK, so how many books do you promise to sell and how much will you charge when you sell that number?

AA: I promise to sell 100-300 copies.

Alina: And how much will you charge for that?

AA: How much are you capable of paying

Alina: Not how this is done. Name your price.

AA: Its not really my thing to tell the price, but i never meant ro stop whem you attain 300 sales. I am bound to continue after attaining 300 sales. But I'll charge $300 for all.

Alina: So you will charge me $300 when you sell 300 books?

AA: Yes. But note! I am bound to continue.

Alina: Ok. Here is the book: https://www.amazon.com/When-Man-Loves-Woman-Multimedia-ebook/dp/B005NSDVO6/

AA: I will create a book trailer and do email marketing to over 1000 readers. And also do social media promotion. But that's when you trust me. And also do book mockup. And landing page for your books. The reason why I'll need to gain your trust before doing the social media promotion is because you will have to create a facebook page for your books and i will use the page for promotion. This is alsopart of the promotional Plan for Your Books 1.Targeted Content: I will Tailor content across platforms to resonate with your target audience, ensuring relevance and engagement. 2. Audience Engagement: I will Foster meaningful interactions with your audience through comments, messages, and polls to build rapport and loyalty. 3. Consistency: I will Maintain a regular posting schedule across all platforms to keep your audience engaged and ensure your brand remains top of mind. 4. Call-to-Action: I will Include clear directives prompting your audience to take action, such as visiting your website, signing up for newsletters, or purchasing your books. 4. Leverage Hashtags: I will Research and use popular and relevant hashtags across platforms to increase visibility, reach new audiences, and join relevant conversations. 5. Email Marketing Integration: I will Incorporate your book promotions into your email marketing campaigns, nurturing leads, and encouraging repeat purchases. This would require trust and teamwork Facebook Promotion: I will Utilize Facebook's extensive user base and advertising options to target specific demographics interested in your book genre. Instagram Promotion: I will Leverage visually appealing content on Instagram to showcase your books, connect with followers, and drive interest. Twitter Promotion: l will Utilize Twitter's real-time nature to share updates, quotes, and promotions, engaging with followers and relevant communities. Quora Promotion: I will Answer questions related to your book genre on Quora, positioning yourself as an expert and subtly promoting your books where relevant. Medium Promotion: I will Publish articles or excerpts from your books on Medium to attract readers, drive traffic, and establish authority in your niche. Reddit Promotion: I will Engage with relevant subreddits to share valuable content, participate in discussions, and promote your books authentically without being overly promotional.

Alina: I trust you to do whatever you need to. As soon as I've sold 300 books, I'll send you $300.

(Ed note: This is the Facebook page he created for me - which I did not ask for, btw, I already have a very active FB page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2324661424276901/user/61564567723272/. If you click, you will also see the one promotion group where he posted the link to my book from this page. The most hilarious part is that the ONLY responses to that link were from OTHER book promoters offering their services!)

AA: Done with the landing page

Alina: Great, let me see it!

AA: I am unable to send it.

(Ed. note: Here is what he ultimately sent me, not the page with a url, but the image of the page. Note the generic language which could be from anyone about anything.)

AA: I am done with the book trailer.

Alina: Go ahead and share the trailer. If it works to sell books, great, if not, then we'll know. I trust you completely to create a book trailer that sells books, since you are a marketing expert!

(Ed. note: Here is the book trailer on his Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/abdulsalam_adelani/?hl=en. Note there is only one like. It is from him.)

AA: Promise me one thing. You will tell your colleagues about my service once I achieve our goal.

Alina: Absolutely. I will write a whole post about it, and link straight to you.

AA: Can you do a review about book trailer now since i am done with the trailer and I am sure of it and you do a review about book sales growth once I achieve our main goal.

(Ed note: This was followed by weeks of excuses for why I have yet to see any sales. He hadn’t started yet. He hadn’t started the most important part yet. He was sick. He was away at a conference. He was sick again. He hasn’t started the key strategies yet.)

AA: Its hard to do promotion without a capital but it is possible, and the last time I went to my office aside yesterday was Aug 30. And have bot being fully able to do much, but not nothing. I should have tge full time tomorrow, sorry about the delay. But no worries i already signed up for an appointment with my money. If my boss get to know about this, I will pay a huge price so i will delete this once i confirm you've seen it. But still, i can only get little ARC's I work with a team/company , it is not just me.

Alina: What ARCs? You don't have any ARCS.

AA: Dont get me wrong i do have lots of ARC readers , but as i said i am not working alone, so i can't make decisions on my own.

Alina: I don't understand. What ARCS are you asking readers to read?

AA: Its something related to marketing authors book, it makes it easy to get a book promoted successfully and you easily but the sad fact is that is requires charges,as in not free.

Alina: I never asked you to send out ARCS, which would be impossible, anyway, since you don't have any. I thought you were going to promote my books via social media, which is what you promised at the beginning. Isn't that why you built all those pages?

AA: Alright, guess we'll stick to that, sorry about that, by the way, I never said I had no ARC readers at hand.

Alina: No, what you have is no ARCs. How can you give ARCs to ARC readers when you have no ARCs. What were you planning to give them? ARCS are Advanced Review Copies. It can't be advanced, because the book has been out for years. Maybe you have reviewers, but you have no copies of my book. So what were you going to give them to review?

AA: Leave that part alone, lets deal with marketing through social media

(Ed note: He then sent me a link to yet another promotional Facebook post… which was not even of my own book.)

AA: Sorry that was a mistake. I sent the wrong link

Alina: So you've been promoting someone else's book instead of mine by mistake? Wow, that's a big oopsie!

AA: I did what I could have done with tge available resources. But, don't worry

Alina: OK, thanks for letting me know. It is very brave and honest of you to admit you don't know how to sell books.

AA: I did what I could have done WITH THE AVAILABLE RESOURCES. So I ain't admitting to nothing

Alina: Right. Thanks for your honesty. You reached out to me saying you could prove you could sell books, and then you couldn't. Very few people are as honest. I am going to write an whole article about you.

AA: Whatever, but do be straight forward with you, you give no encouragement.

Alina: Oh, yes, right. I am definitely going to write about how I gave you no money.

AA: You are the reason behind your success, you act based on what you intend to achieve.

Alina: Can you imagine how silly I would feel now if I gave you no money and you got no results?

AA: That's impossible. At the first instance, I never asked for it. We were to have a deal. But you just kept on acting naive about all I am trying to explain to you

Alina: Yup. We had a deal. You would sell books and I would pay you. No sold books, no results. You kept up your part of the bargain. You were terrifc.

AA: Not just that. I definition made it clear to you, what has to go in line with the deal. I kept repeating it but you kept acting naive. I have my basics, you can't outrule any and expect the right result. I came to you for the deal, you didn't. Only because I am confident of myself.

Alina: Absolutely, I will write all of that up.

AA: Good job doing that.

Alina: I'll send you the link when it's ready

AA: Good luck doing that.

Alina: I'm pretty sure I know how to send a link.

AA: To be candid, I had something else in mind for you at the beginning, but you f**ked up, so what should I do about that?

Alina: You are so funny!

AA: Oh really. Sounds good.

So. what did you all think of the work he did for me? Let us both know in the Comments since, as promised, I’ll be sending him this link. Maybe he can promote it using ARCs?