So, you are done with the writing part of your book. Great. It has taken you months to have your manuscript done, got it edited, and then published it all by yourself. It deserves kudos. Then again there is still work to be done. Unless you are a household name, books don’t get sold themselves. One needs to be proactive and relentless to promote self published book. Your brand as an author needs to be strategized. It is an uphill task for, after all, you are a writer and not a marketing pro. So you need to pull your socks up and hit the ground running with missionary zeal.
So how to promote a self-published book?
First up, we will have to understand what a book promotion essentially means. The idea of self-promotion is tricky. Not everyone is narcissistic. The idea of self-promotion pushes many on the back foot. Blowing one’s trumpets doesn’t come naturally to everybody. Then there are new-age authors going tongs and hammer about their work. Again, that’s also not an ideal way to spread the word around. Book promotion in essence means to get people to find your book, and NOT find people to get your book. It is about getting your work in front of readers who’d love to buy it and not annoying the uninterested people. In how to promote a self-published book, one should understand that it’s not about gimmicks. Spending a fortune on press releases is not really the best way forward.
The prerequisites to promote a self-published book are a nice book cover and some book reviews, ideally from influencers. They should be ready before the real promotion kicks in. Like it or not, a book is judged by its cover, well mostly. Cover design is totally worth the investment. Ideally, a professional may be hired for it. A professional and well-designed cover may be the key differentiator in deciding the fate of a book. Getting reviews for your book is equally important. When a book fetches your attention on Amazon, you may end up reading the reviews. Chances are, you might simply glance at the star rating and the number of reviews. A book with 20 reviews and a 4.5-star average is probably well worth the reading. Also, if you can get reviews from unbiased readers who don’t know you in a personal capacity, that’s best.
Some time-tested ‘marketing Ideas for your book’ are as under:
1. Guest posting/Guest Blogging:
Guest posting is a brilliant way to reach a big, engaged audience. As a guest blogger, you write a blog post for someone else’s website. They publish it on their designated section. A short bio about you and your book gets mentioned in the end. You get to write the bio and link to your book or website.
2. Have a presence on Podcasts:
Podcasters are often actively looking for people to interview, so do reach out to the pertinent podcast hosts you know of. Reach out to people who talk about your subject area or fiction genre.
3. Virtual Book Tour
A virtual book tour means touring different websites, podcasts, social media, social profiles, and so on. One needs to spend a dedicated stop time at each of the avenues. This usually is an effective way to get your book in front of lots of people. Going on a tour just after the launch helps immensely. It can also bring you website traffic, more followers, and email subscribers. If you are a serial author it can help you with the next launch, as well.
4. SEO Tone Up
SEO is search engine optimization. It’s the art and science of getting your site to appear at or near the top of search engine results. If your website ranks at the top of a Google search for terms related to your book, then that will help you get the mileage and sell more.
5. Email Marketing:
A mailing list, containing the email addresses of people who are interested in your work, is one the most effective ways to build a solid audience base. Regular communication means you know the pulse and accordingly can package your book. A regular newsletter is the best way to reinforce the relationship between you and your prospects.
Suggested read: How to Increase Your Book Sales
6. SMM:
SMM is social media marketing. If one has to disrupt the ecosystem and gain mileage out of it, one needs to inundate various social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google with a precise introduction and summary of your book. The same message across the platforms reinforces the connection and creates curiosity about your work.
Taking the mileage out of Goodreads:
If you’re hesitant in using social media, Goodreads might just be the tool for you. It’s a social network all about books! Once your book is published, it should automatically and immediately appear on Goodreads. As the author, you can create an author page, which you can customize. You can also list and rate books you’ve read.
Additionally, if money is not that big an issue, you can try Facebook Ads or Amazon Ads. It breaks the barrier and catapults you right with the best sellers and renowned authors. It should be used judiciously though.
In summary, an author in the internet age must know how to promote a self-published book. There are various marketing ideas for a self-published book. It doesn’t have to be one or all. As mention above, marketing ideas for a self-published book need a judicious mix and match from the mentioned ones. An author needs to be mentally prepared for the toll it takes to get the book to its desired readers. Writing is half part done. For the other half, there are people to push you in achieving your goals. One can reach out to the self-publishing entity with a track record and plan up the whole scenario.
