Marketing Your
Book
You love to write, we know that. We also know that it is your
decision where to go from there.
Maybe you wrote a book because you wanted to say you did –
and now with so many self-publishing options out there you don’t even need to
sell your idea to a publisher. Just maybe you wrote a book because you want to
deliver a message to the public. Just please do not say you write a book to get
rich – the percentage of authors who make a living from their writing is quite
low, getting rich is far less.
Let’s assume you want your message out there and wouldn’t
mind earning an income and maybe some fame, you need to get your book noticed
and convince folks to buy it. Now is the time to make a concise book marketing
plan. If you plan to do the self-published route, you need to know which way to
go – And if you want a traditional publisher to take notice of you and invest
the time and money necessary to publish you, you will need to prove that you
can be a part of the team and work towards your book’s success. A book
publishing plan also helps you focus and stay on topic when you are writing a
non-fiction book.
Here are some of the components of a book marketing plan (put
it down on paper so you have a guide when you need direction), this is not in
any specific order: Know your audience, who is going to benefit by reading your
book; where will you be able to find your target audience, where will they see
news about your book, what websites, magazines, and even other books will they
be able to see your book promoted; what is your marketing budget; where can you
guest blog (what topics can you blog about), who can you get to interview you,
where can you make in-person appearances (speaking or book signing); organize a
group of people (street team?) who will help spread the news of your book via
email and conversation; get your book to a few potential reviewers, don’t limit
it to professional reviewing sites (and do not pay for reviews); compile an
email list where you can blast news about your book; post a book trailer on
YouTube; and start gathering your SWAG (bookmarks, pens, labeled candies, etc)
to give away to readers at in-person events.
Make sure that you have established a solid web-presence –
use social media to interact with potential readers and other writers, maintain
an up-to-date and informative website, start a blog where you can demonstrate
your creativity on a regular basis (two to three times a week is comfortable),
and keep writing. Writing more is always going to be the best way to spread
your name and interest your readers in everything you write. Use your web
presence to help announce appearances, contests, new reviews and new writing
material. Let your readers “touch you” by giving them a place where they can
post questions and comments and be sure to respond. Use Twitter to help keep
the discussion going. Plan to donate a few books, giveaway books in contests
and post sample chapters on places like BookBuzzr.
Have a plan, write it down, and follow it.
Writing Exercise: Describe a recurring nightmare
that your hero has had since his childhood. How does he cope when he wakes from
this nightmare?
Writing Prompt: List the colors of up to 10 of
your frequently worn outfits. Next to each color write the type of occasion you
would wear it for and how the color makes you feel when wearing it.
