Q&A With Jennifer Gans Blankfein 

Today’s Q&A is with book marketing consultant and fellow book blogger Jennifer Gans Blankfein! Check out Jennifer’s book blog booknationbyjen.com  

Q: Jennifer, what made you go into book marketing consulting and book blogging? 

A: My career began in advertising and marketing, and I have always been a big reader.  People always ask me for book recommendations so in 2017, when a friend suggested I write a book blog, I went for it.  I knew nothing about creating a blog and just did a lot of googling to learn how to set up a website and write reviews.  I don’t make any money writing Book Nation by Jen; it is really a passion project for me.  Most of my reviews and written author interviews are published on booknationbyjen.com and then get republished on Booktrib as well as on my social media.  I enjoy spreading the word about great books and authors and have had the opportunity to interview some interesting people.

My interest in interviewing authors for the blog brought me opportunities to meet lots of writers, and I have come to understand their marketing challenges.  This has led me to lots of fun, tangential projects.  I have helped authors with their marketing plans, taught them how to use Instagram, arranged school visits, orchestrated corporate speaking engagements, book tours and book signings, helped place their books in luxury and boutique hotels across the country and in the Hamptons via an incredible program called Bedside Reading, helped them design book covers, proofread manuscripts, and now, my newest venture… I am publishing books!   The Author’s Press is launching soon, and we will be publishing books along with offering unique marketing opportunities in an a la carte menu to address the needs of authors who want to get their books out in print in a timely fashion, become a best seller and create a presence online and in real life.  My team has collectively been in the book business for decades; each of us is passionate about what we do, and we are excited to come together to help authors make their dreams come true!

Q: What is your favorite part of being a book marketing consultant and book blogger? What is your advice for anyone wanting to do book marketing consulting and/or blogging? As a book blogger myself since 2019 I would also love to learn from you too! 

A: For me, books and reading are a passion, and marketing is what drives me.  To have been able to create so many opportunities for myself that touch upon both is really a dream.  

Blogging has brought me some fun perks.  I love getting ARCs in the mail!  It is exciting to have access to a book before the general public, and I am lucky so many publishers send me early copies.  Almost every book I receive makes an appearance on my blog, usually in the first of the month blog post announcing newly published books.  I also love my Book Nation Book Club author interviews.  Readers from all over the country join my Zoom events where I chat with the author, and they can ask questions and participate in the conversation.  

Working as a Marketing Consultant has also been challenging and fulfilling.  For over a decade I have done small business marketing projects locally, which has parlayed into the book marketing world.  One of my favorite projects was working with Melissa and Doug Bernstein (of the hugely successful toy company, Melissa & Doug) to help promote Melissa’s book, Lifelines, along with her mental health and wellness company of the same name.  Her book came out during the pandemic and all bookstore and library events were online.  After helping to plan and execute her virtual tour, I stayed on to help with corporate speaking events and media outreach where I learned a lot and had great success.  Another unique project was with Piglet, the deaf, blind pink puppy and his vet mom.  Dr. Melissa Shapiro has written a memoir and a children’s book about her disabled rescue dog, which we promoted, but the focus of our efforts was to get schools and libraries to use her Piglet Mindset free educational materials that focused on diversity and inclusion, and to plan school visits for Piglet and her other dogs.  Taking the train to NYC with 2 deaf blind dogs in their double decker stroller and walking across town to the Javits Center for the International Vet Show was an adventure!

If you want to become a book blogger, I suggest the first thing you do is create a website.   I started with a free WordPress website and eventually upgraded to a paid version.  I wrote a bunch of book reviews before I launched so I could release a new one every few days to gain momentum.  That is the biggest challenge for me now because I don’t have as much time to read as I used to so my blog posts are less consistent.  Utilizing social media to promote your blog is also helpful.  I haven’t taken Tik Tok but I think that would be an avenue to pursue if I were to start my blogging project today!  Signing up for a Net Galley account can be great if you want to get early access to books online before they are released, and leaving reviews on Amazon and Goodreads helps to build credibility and your following.  

As for consulting, I believe you must be able to offer your clients something they don’t have and don’t know.  There are a lot of free seminars online to learn about all different relevant things, from AI and SEO to paid advertising on social media and Amazon ads…the information is endless and if you can teach authors’ something they find valuable, you can become a marketing consultant!

Q: If you were to become an author, what genre or genres of books would you write? Would you be your own book marketing consultant or would you have someone else, do it?

A: I doubt I will ever become an author; the amount of work it takes for me to write a blog post or prepare for an author interview is enough to manage, so an entire book would knock me out!  But if I did write a book, it would be an essay collection or a memoir; I subscribe to the idea of writing what you know, and I could come up with quite a few things to say!  As for marketing, I would probably do it myself and utilize my network of connections to help spread the word!

Q: I saw on your blog you’ve interviewed authors just like I do! Some of them I haven’t had the chance to interview yet and others I have. Who is next on your list to interview? 

A: I’ve been lucky to have interviewed many amazing authors, some of which are recorded and live on my YouTube page, Book Nation Book Club.  One of my favorite conversations was with Victoria Christopher Murray about The Personal Librarian and I totally forgot to press the record button!  Luckily, I invited her back for her next book, The First Ladies, along with her co-author, Marie Benedict, and it was recorded.  Another great conversation was with Sara Novic about True Biz.  Sara is deaf and we had an ASL translator join us, but Zoom only recorded the people generating sound, so we never even saw Sara, only the translator!   My first in-person interview was with Bianca Marais, author of Hum if You Know the Words and If You Want to Make God Laugh, at RJ Julia, and a week later I was on a stage in front of over 350 people interviewing Candace Bushnell, author of Sex and the City.  My next online interview is with debut author Nanda Reddy, to discuss A Girl Within A Girl Within A Girl.  That conversation will be on Zoom on Wed., April 23rd at 8pm.  Everyone is invited and all you need to do is email jen@booknationbookclub.com to get the link which is sent out the day before the event.  I just finished the book and really enjoyed it, so I am looking forward to getting to know Nanda!

Q: As a book marketing consultant, you’ve worked with so many authors. Can you give me a list of authors you’ve worked with? 

A: Most of my clients are not widely known.  There are so many writers who self-publish and want to do some additional marketing but do not know how to go about it.  I have helped lots of local authors plan their launch events and find their niche to grow their following.  I have also done countless written Q & As for Book Nation by Jen that authors are able to use for their own marketing purposes.  Here are some of those Q & As.

https://booknationbyjen.com/author-q-as/