The Book Marketing Network

For book/ebook authors, publishers, & self-publishers

This is a forum to allow people to showcase the things they've done that have worked well for them in marketing their books. Please share your stories here. Then we can all read them and learn from them. If we work together, we will all be much stronger and more successful in marketing our books.

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The best marketing I have found is my website and being well optimized. Using simple SEO concepts I rank well for my target keyphrases: introvert, book on introverts, careers for introverts - etc. The same with business networking phrases. This is generally how I am found - including by newspapers looking to interview me which then generates its own wonderful marketing.

The next best thing - and obviously the cheapest-- is the book signing. Generally the bookstores are happy to have you come and sit with a few copies of your book and will put up posters (some ask you to provide them...) I always send invites to ALL my friends asking them to drop by for a minute at the bookstore that day. That way someone is always talking to me (I hate being left alone while signing... it is awful!) and the store manager thinks I am really popular! The friends generate the interest with others (everyone checks out someone with a crowd around them...) and the posters and publicity of the signing get people, even if they aren't interested in a signed book, thinking about buying. Some buy there, some online, but sales always spike near a signing.

Good luck to everyone. I am hapy to talk about web/SEO or signings anytime.

Meghan Wier
www.meghanwier.com
I just returned from a California conference and wore a t-shirt with my 1001 Ways to Market Your Books cover. I got a comment on the shirt from someone in the elevator down to the shuttle van, from someone at the front desk, from two people in the shuttle van who need the book (I referred them to my BookMarket.com website), another person in the van, the person at the check-in counter, someone in line to board the plane, the pilot when getting off the plane, and someone in the grocery store on the way home.

Not bad for a $17.00 t-shirt from CafePress.com.

More than one person commented: I guess that's 1002 ways to market your books (the t-shirt being the extra way). Of course, the truth is that t-shirts are already included in the 1001, but I just agree. It's simpler that way.
...Hi, Hohn! And whenever you stay in a hotel always leave a few books behind at the front desk for people. I just went to ICRS (Christian retail show) and 1 gal had me email her the file at the front desk and print out 26 pages at 2 a.m and I came down to get it. I gave her a book and about 5 to the front desk and they were all thrilled. My sister is a front desk manager at a Residence Inn and she said it doesn't matter what the topic is people are always more excited about books as gifts and "getting to meet and help the author" than anything else people could leave behind. Well, I'm sure cash is okay too, but...
Great tips and some cool ideas for self promotion.
Sometime the simplest things work surprisingly well. T shirts are a great advertising medium especially true when a promotion is local.
I've done the same same thing. bought 5 T-Shirts of my book cover, I got a great deal. $5.00 each, including T-shirts.
Sorry to say lost his #.

P.S I sent an e-mail to donate free book for children, just seeing if you received? I see you were in Cali.? What part? I'm located in the Bay Area.
A great tip and a good idea.
This is low-tech tip but potentially high-impact:
I have a very compelling book cover for my fantasy novel, The MoonQuest. So I went to vistaprint.com and had a t-shirt created with an 8x12 cover reproduction. I wear it everywhere all the time (having ordered several so I could do that) and it definitely attracts attention.

Recently, for example, at the front desk of my hotel: "What's that about?" the assistant manager asked pointing to the shirt. "Wait, I'll show you," I said, pulling my ever-present copy of The MoonQuest from my backpack. "Wow," she said. "Where can I get one?" "Right here, from me," I replied. And a sale was consummated. I don't get a lot of comments on the shirt, but I get enough to make wearing it (and carrying a copy of the book, of course) worthwhile.

Mark David Gerson
The MoonQuest
http://themoonquest.com
I like it!!! Thanks! Can get shirts, mugs, etc. from CafePress.com as well methinks.

Revvell
Self promotion is a challenge, not matter what you are selling. I'm sure that it's very gratifying to get direct feedback and better yet sales from readers.

At one time I had a small importing and distribution company. I sold other peoples products to store buyer for major chains and also through a network of sales reps. After some time I began developing my own line of products. I found an interesting shift in the way in which I approached buyers when it was my own stuff on the line. To my surprise I was much more timid, reserved and conservative when selling my own lines. I had to learn the skills of self promotion which for a time made me a bit uncomfortable, but I did get past it.
A very interesting title for a book. From an entirely male point of view, I must say that my first thought was that it was a perhaps a bit Chauvinistic. Weather that's entirely accurate or not I can say one thing for certain - the title caught my attention. From a publishing point of view that's a very good thing.
Knowing how tough it is for an unknown author to get published and knowing how difficult it is for an individual to nationallly market a self-published book, I did everything bass ackwards and it has worked beautifully!

After self-publishing my book, To Bee or Not to Bee, a year and a half ago I got a website made www.ToBeeBook.com which included a 60 second trailer. Then I identified email addresses of over 100 foreign literary agents through internet research and sent them a brief descriptive email with the link to the trailer. This piqued the interest of a dozen or so who requested a review copy. Several of them took me on and offers for translation rights from foreign publishers started coming--Korean, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Slovenian, Chinese and Romanian--with advances totaling nearly $40k. Several other languages are in the works. I strongly recommend using literary agents (as opposed to contacting publishers directly); they are worth their weight in gold.

With this track record I sent out 50 books to American literary agents, several of whom responded. I chose one and within 2 months had a contract with a nice advance from Sterling Publishing, a subsidiary of Barnes and Noble, for World English Rights. To Bee or Not to Bee will be re-released in hardcover in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Australia this fall.

If you feel your book has universal appeal I recommend going this route. I'd be gald to provide details and some sites that have lots of foreign rights agents listed.

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