Marketing Your Books

Indie authors can give themselves the greatest opportunity to sell more books if they create interest long before the book is in print. By giving focus to how you’re going to promote and market your book before it is out there in the world will assist you to plan and organise your marketing campaign for optimal sales.

Usually, self-published authors seek out reliable book reviews and/or endorsements as a means to market their book and persuade readers to buy it. This is a great marketing tool because word of mouth is one of the best avenues for getting your book out there.

The internet has also levelled the playing field for authors in a big way by creating an online environment where they can develop their writing platform and invite the audience that is most suited to their genre.

The biggest challenge indie authors face is which promotional stream is going to be most effective in getting the word out to readers and keep them interested until the book’s release. Posting excerpts from the book on social media sites and your own website, and cover reveal teases all create a buzz and keep potential readers interested. But these ways of marketing have all been done before.

Some indie authors use ‘keywords’ (for search engine optimisation (SEO)) on their websites, blogs and social media pages so their books will pop up first in the particular searched for genre. Others network with authors of a similar or the same genre and increase interest by promoting each other’s books. This also increases readership for all concerned.

Becoming savvy about how to promote your book and create interest takes time, effort and some skill. The important factors that come into play here are having a professional author platform and building a loyal audience, using social media to network and create some hype for your book, and how you’ve chosen to distribute your book (print and/or electronic).

YouTube is another effective way to market your book. You can either create an exciting book trailer, read excerpts from your book, or both. I would recommend both. By reading excerpts from your book, you create an online rapport with your readers and anticipation of what’s to come.

Because there are so many authors (traditional and self-published) online making noise about their books, it’s up to you to think outside the box and develop new ways to get the word out there. Readers (fans) are fickle and it is essential that you market your book and ensuing books in such a way that your fans will want to follow you to the ends of the earth. Literally! You can become a social media celebrity without a lot of effort if you put your mind to reaching the audience that you want.