Different writers have a variety of temperament in life just like many others who pursue diverse paths with the same goal—to succeed in whatever profession they choose.
Self-publishing is a whole lot interesting to some because of a great privilege of the authors to take full control of the entire process. But somehow, some new self-published authors might not be that interested in marketing their newly published book/s. They’re just gratified with the fact that their books are published and to see their names appear as the writers of those titles.
As a book enthusiast, I wonder if there could be a lot of authors who are wishing they get returns of their published works. I found out there are numerous of them who desire to stay at home, write a book, and earn.
Most of them are just not so confident that it can be possible. But first off, we need to know that selling and earning from your published book do not happen in seconds.
Publishing a book may or may not make you a billionaire. It solely depends on your attitude by applying the best marketing practices to promote your book.
Word-of-Mouth
It is not just about how your book looks but how your book performs in the market. Keep in mind that patience, perseverance, and hunger to earn are just a few of the bits and pieces you need to incur in yourself so that you’ll get optimistic responses in this process.
If you could market your book to any of your family members, relatives, and closest friends; why would you walk farther yet? Start from there.
Talk about your book at home. Discuss what lessons or in what way your readers can benefit from your work. In that way, these people might be helping you out in talking about your book to others they know in the offices, schools, and other organizations these people are connected with. That’s where the word-of-mouth advertising kicks off.
When your reader experiences or has read something far beyond what was expected, word-of-mouth is triggered. When you’re confident about your book, there’s nothing to worry and there’s no need to try to go beyond their expectation; your book will say it all.
Advertising Online
Have you wondered how some of these self-published authors make it to the top of the best-selling lists? Or simply amazed the way they are able to manage to sell more than the average of 300 books per year?
You might start putting on your own list of who are making millions recently simply by writing books. Of course, anything is possible and I believe you’ve thought about that a couple of times too. And let me guess you know the answer. We all know that all it takes is great strategic planning and marketing plans for their books.
Anywhere online are millions of people connected with each other using the Internet. And according to internetlivestats.com, the world has an average of 3,000,000,000 Internet users this year.
Among the many possible ways to get started is by joining online forums where people discuss about anything under the sun. Obviously, I would suggest that’s one of the best book marketing you should try today if you haven’t done it yet. It’s your time to be noticed online; so stay connected with the others today.
Here is a short list of great book promotion sites.
- BookBub – Is one of the premier eBook promoters in the world. It has a very high success rate and is well respected by many authors all over the world. Its services are fairly high end and could cost you a hefty sum. But the payoff is worth it though.
- Paid Author – This book promotion company is perfect for self-published authors because the services are both versatile and very affordable.
- BookRunes – Is a thriving book promotion site that gives authors a chance to use separate links for people from various countries that uses Kindle. This enhances the author’s chances of getting into smaller markets.
- Riffle Books – Is made up predominantly of bloggers and is a cheap yet effective eBook promotion site.
Social Media Marketing
You have to admit to yourself how important the social media is these days. Everyone has his own social media account: Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, LinkedIn, Multiply, SkyRock, and more. I once made a try in making an advertisement online and it’s about calling the attention of some bloggers to hit like on my blog page.
I was right to use the social media sites because my blog page got numerous visits, thousands of “likes” and numerous “shares.” In this practice, you are not required to invest your money but your time.
Here are some social media sites that are perfect for promoting your book.
- Facebook – Considered by many to be the most widely used social media site.It is a highly versatile book promotion tool that allows authors to reach out to a multitude of potential readers.
- Twitter – Is an online news and social messaging network that authors can use to interact with potential fans through clever messages called Tweets. It’s mass messaging function allows authors to be in constant contact with their fan base.
- Instagram – Will allow authors to reach out to fans by sharing great photos and videos.
- Pinterest – Authors can use Pinterest to get great book promotion ideas.
Before you start, consider your goals in this journey. It is very essential to start a social media marketing campaign with a plan in mind so that you certainly can wander and pursue in realizing your goals without getting lost. Think through your target audience, their location and how do they use social media.
Book Reviews
A book review is a method of literary criticism in which your book is scrutinized based on the character, content, theme, style, and the like. Getting a book review is among the many possibilities that mostly self-published authors take advantage in adding visibility for their books.
While this can be done scholarly or through hiring some professionals to do it for your work, getting a review for your book can be done simply by letting others read your book. You can ask your friends or pay a book reviewer.
You can also go to online book retailers for book reviews. Even better is the fact that you can increase your book’s visibility at the same time. Here is a list of top online book retailers.
- Amazon – Is one of the largest online book retailers. They offer great and comprehensive book reviews and combined with Amazon’s range of influence, will grant authors impressive promotional options.
- Goodreads – Is a great website for self-published authors because it is predominantly made for book lovers.It is free and readers are in charge of making the book reviews.
- Powell’s Books – Is a chain of independent book stores based in Portland, Oregon.They offer well made book reviews that will surely entice would be readers.
Most self-publishers explore this kind of marketing platform and consider it more persuasive for most readers since it involves editorial content.
Blogging
If you consider yourself an online expert; why not take advantage of it? You sure know you can start making blogs about your book and let billions of people around the world know what you’ve got.
A blog for marketing can provide an identity and visibility of your book. It is where the interest is generated while you also display your work. It is where you can tell the story behind its title while allowing others to get involved with it through letting them leave their comments.
Here’s a list of great blogging platforms that you can use.
- WordPress.org – It is considered the world’s most popular blogging software. Through this platform authors are given overall control of their websites and are given great features that will help the author customize their work.
- Wix – Through this platform authors are given great options on how to customize their work. It offers drag and drop tools and is easy to set up.
- WordPress.com – Offers basic blog hosting for free. Authors are also given additional options such as custom domain name and additional storage.
Moreover, creating blogs about you and your book can be noticed by all sorts of media and other angles of marketing in as much as you can educate people with your words. These people reading your blogs might be those who can bring your work farther when they realize how worthy your book is.
Contribute to Various Online Publications
One of the most important aspects of book promotion is your reputation as a writer. And nothing helps your reputation as a writer better than contributing to various online publications. By writing for online publications you will not only gain a good reputation as a writer, you will also be able to make a fan base long before you release your book.
For example, you are a science fiction writer, and you want to make a reputation for yourself. And you know that publishing a book without an existing fan base is a risk. So you contribute to various online publications that deal in the science fiction genre. Just remember that the more you contribute and the better quality your book is, the more fans you get.
The best thing about online contributions is that there are definitely a lot of them. Here is a list of the publications you should strive for.
- The New York Times – Is the premier online publisher and is considered the standard that other publications aspire to.
- CNN.com – Is the CNN channel’s official online publication. It is a great publication that offers great insights into various topics all over the world.
- USAToday – It is the most well read newspaper in America and caters to a multitude of readers through it’s online counterpart also.
Book Trailers
Fans can be very hard to impress or even approach. And making an impact with them can be quiet difficult. Which is why you need an advertisement that is both informative and entertaining. A book trailer is one such method. Book trailers are very similar to movie trailers because they inform potential readers through well made video clips.
For example you are promoting your romance novel. Seeing as the romance genre is a popular one and it’s fan base is mostly female, then you should create a book trailer that caters to their tastes.Being a self-publishing author will come in handy when making a book trailer. This is because you don’t answer to editors. Thus you can be as creative as you want.
Here are some great video sharing types you can upload your video through.
- Facebook Video – Offers superior quality and privacy control compared to other video sharing sites. Users are also have the option to send voice mail back and forth between friends,
- Animoto – Gives users the opportunity to create slide shows with submitted music.
- Betawave – Gives users a network of partner websites that features various youth oriented content.
Book Fairs
Book fairs may seem outdated but they are still very effective, especially at the starting phases of your book promotion. This is because book fairs not only allow you to show off your work to a majority of people, but you also have the chance to sell it directly to fans. Not only that you can create a rapport with fans and fellow authors during the entire process.
For example you just created a new historical fiction novel and you want to spread word about it. Then you join an annually held book fair. This gives you the opportunity to cultivate a thriving fan base. As a self-published author, you don’t have a promotional team to help you spread word of your book. Joining a book fair is a great way to start.
Here is a list of top book fairs.
- Frankfurt Book Fair – A prominent book fair in Germany, the Frankfurt Book Fair is a great place to show off new books and seeing as it also caters to various enterprises all over the world, it is also a welcome place for new innovations and ideas.
- Singapore Art Book Fair – This multifaceted book fair caters to various art forms and celebrates the creative spirit to the fullest.
- Tokyo Book Fair – Is a truly vibrant book fair that caters to a multitude of galleries,book stores,independent publishers as well as individual artists and artist groups.
Online Forums
As it was stated earlier online forums are one of the best ways to make your online presence known. For example, you join an online forum for writers and you discuss books and other forms of literature. You soon become friends with the people in the forum and support each others writing careers.
Here are some great online forums to try out.
- Absolute Write Water Cooler – Is a great writer’s forum that tackles various genres that range from politics to science fiction.
- BookRix – Is a community for independent writers of various genres. It is primarily perfect for self-published authors. Through this forum self-published authors can show off their work and get valuable feed back from various other self-published authors.
- Critters Writer Workshop – It is a genre specific forum that tackles science fiction, fantasy and horror.
By creating a rapport with them you are technically cultivating a fan base right then and there. Thus when you do release your book, you will already have an existing fan base waiting.
Radio/TV Advertising
Radio or TV advertising can be expensive, but it is till a very potent book promotion tool. Which is why you should try your best to get a radio or TV advertisement for your book.
Seeing as these type of advertisement are expensive, your best bet to get more affordable advertisement would be at the local level. Such as within your town or city. That way, you will still have media coverage at a more affordable rate. Think of this as a supplement to getting your book the best promotion possible.
Here are some great examples of great radio shows that can help you promote your book.
- This Week in America – Is a well-known radio show that is hosted by radio show veteran Ric Bratton.
- The Nerdist – The show is hosted by Chris Hardwick and is mainly focused on comedy and pop culture.
- Radio Lab – Is heard on more than 500 local stations across the country. It covers various topics that range from science to politics.
There is so much to explore about self-publishing and book marketing. Still, everything depends on you. So, when you desire to get more sales of your book, make sure you’re focused and ready to do it.
