Essentials of Book Promotion
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Why you need Book Promotions
So yes, you need to promote your books. Even if a large publishing house picks you up, they expect you to promote your book. Here are reasons book promotions are essential in today’s competitive world.
Discoverability
With over a million books published yearly, it takes a lot of work for readers to discover new books organically by browsing bookstores or online retailers. Authors need to actively promote their work to have any chance of standing out.
Building Readership
Very few authors immediately start with a large readership. Through ongoing promotion across their website, social platforms, events, etc., authors can gradually connect with readers who enjoy their work and are eager for more. Promotion helps build those critical repeat readers.
Sales:
Most authors hope to sell enough copies of their books to make a living from their creative work. While quality writing is the baseline, realistically, authors need to promote each new title to sales levels that support their careers. Without promotion, most books fade quickly into obscurity.
Establishing Credibility & Expertise
Active marketing and engagement with fans enable authors to establish themselves as credible experts in their field or genre. This makes publishers, event coordinators, and other influencers far more interested in working with the author moving forward.
Legacy & Longevity
An author’s legacy lives beyond any one book. Maintaining visibility through continuous promotion of new releases and one’s backlist catalog is vital to sustaining a career over the long term. With ongoing marketing, authors can retain reader consciousness quickly.
The bottom line
In today’s competitive digital era, even excellent writing gets buried without authors taking an active role in marketing themselves. From well before launch and continuing long after, savvy authors prioritize promotion.
We Can Help
We can help you promote your book. You can list your book with us for free, and we will promote it on social media! This will help you build links to your website and establish credibility.
Building Your Writer Platform: Start Now!
You’ve repeatedly heard writers need to develop their “platform.” But what exactly does that mean, and how do you do it? Your writer platform encompasses your reputation and reach as an author beyond your writing credentials alone. It’s about establishing your expertise and visibility in the writing community. Here’s how to get started:
- Create an Author Website A professional website that showcases your work and credentials lends credibility. It’s the hub that drives all your other platform-building efforts. Include at least an author bio, headshot, portfolio page, speaking page, blog, newsletter sign, and contact page.
- Use Social Media Strategically. Actively engage on the 1-3 social platforms where your target readers are most active. Twitter and Facebook are powerful outreach tools. Use hashtags related to your genre and connect with influencers in your niche. Share writing victories and struggles to be relatable.
- Start an Email Newsletter. Collect email addresses on your site to build direct relationships with fans. Send out irregular newsletters with writing updates, free stories, special giveaways for subscribers, or behind-the-scenes peeks at your writing life.
- Guest Post and Collaborate Pitch creative guest posts to build backlinks, showcase your expertise, expose your writing to new audiences, and connect with influencers. Propose interviews, joint articles, or swap blog ads with fellow writers in your genre.
- Attend and Speak at Events Connecting in person shows you’re an authority worth listening to. Attend book festivals, workshops, or local author events. Take every chance to speak on panels, teach workshops, or give readings yourself.
- Pitch to Publications Start building published writing credits by pitching stories, essays, and articles to print and online publications, including magazines, literary journals, and genre websites. Getting published raises your writer profile and platform.
- Use Free Promo Channels Promote your website, books, and events through accessible outlets like Goodreads, Meetup.com, subreddit groups, LiveJournal communities, podcast appearances, and more niche platforms related to writing or your genres.
- Foster Organic Word of Mouth Satisfying every person who discovers your work helps transform them into loyal advocates. Ask for reviews on retailer sites, author pages, and your mailing list. Deliver on your brand promise consistently so happy readers spread the word.
Developing an author platform requires dedication and ongoing effort, but the hard work pays dividends through greater reach and writing success. What platform efforts will you focus on first?
How to promote your book
You’ve put your heart and soul into writing your book. You’ve edited countless drafts, hired experts, and finally hit publish. But your work still needs to be done – next comes the marketing. Promoting and selling your book can be even more challenging than writing it. Use these key strategies to get your book the attention it deserves.
Start Early
New authors’ biggest mistake is waiting until their book launches to start promoting it. Begin building buzz around your book up to a year in advance. Create social media pages for you and your book to establish an author platform as early as possible. Let readers sign up for launch updates to foster engagement. Consider preorder opportunities to boost initial sales.
Leverage Your Network
Tell everyone you know that your book is coming out! Share updates and previews through your social media channels. Email lists of friends, families, and colleagues and ask them to share with their networks, too. Don’t be afraid to brag – you’ve-you’ve accomplished something unique! Offer friends discounts on preorders. Utilize connections for speaking events or features before launch.
Reach Out to Influencers
Research bloggers, journalists, podcasters, and other influencers who share content relevant to your book’s genre and topic. Pitch exclusive content, quotes, or interviews related to your book. Ask them to review or feature your book around its release. Publications want to highlight new books their audiences will be interested in. Make it easy for them to do so.
Organize a Blog Tour
A blog tour involves multiple bloggers reviewing and featuring your book on their sites on or around its launch date. Schedule posts in advance by reaching out to lesser-known blogs first, then using their commitments to help snag more significant sites. Offer guest posts from you to sweeten the deal. A successful blog tour will expose your book to many new readers.
Discount Promotions
Consider running occasional discount promotions through sites like BookBub and other ebook deal lists or advertise in newsletters with reader deals. While you’ll get lower royalties, the ultimate goal is to boost your rankings during your launch window, expose your book to new readers, and build some word-of-mouth excitement. Promote your promotions heavily through your author platform.
Launch Day Marketing
Your book’s release day only happens once! Do everything you can to maximize exposure: host an online launch party with giveaways, share lots of enthusiasm on social media, reach out to your network for support, post on Reddit groups related to your genre, enlist your email subscribers to leave reviews, and more. Launch day is when all your early promotion pays off.
Keep Momentum Going
After your initial 30-60-day launch window, you must shift from short-term launch promotion to long-term marketing efforts. Keep engaging on social media, look for continued PR opportunities, run additional promotions, attend in-person events, maintain relationships with influencers in your niche, and continuously connect with readers. Successful book promotion is an ongoing process as your author brand grows.
Promoting and marketing a book takes significant time and effort, but the most successful authors swear it’s a critical investment. Use these tactics before, during, and after launch to give your book the best chance at finding its readers.
Remember we can help you!
Every Writer specializes in helping authors. We want you to sell your book, and we are happy to promote you. Submit your book here!