6 Steps to Marketing a Book: Check Out Your Map to Success by Jill Bennett
Please welcome Jill Bennet as a guest writer and enjoy her article on “6 Steps to Marketing a Book: Check Out Your Map to Success.”
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Books for sale! Books for sale!
You can keep shouting these words, but if you’re talking to the wrong audience, you’re just wasting your efforts. Even if you lose your voice from shouting, nothing will come out of it. Yeah, that’s the truth about book marketing. The harsh reality that every self-publishing author has to face before they can sell copies of their work to the world.
But don’t be dissuaded by this cold fact. Instead, you should use it as a constructive challenge to help propel yourself towards your goal of becoming one of the bestsellers in the industry. If you need some help with that, then you ought to use these steps to marketing a book to your advantage.
- Prepare your materials beforehand.
Think about printing your marketing materials right after you have finalized the book details. This way, you’ll have plenty of time to design and make marketing materials in preparation for your campaign. No, you don’t have to print a billboard to announce your book (although you can do it if you want to). You can just print posters, bookmarks, postcards and business cards – then give these things to your target readers.
- Start the announcement before publication.
Set your ducks in a row as early as possible. If you’re ready for publishing, tell your family and friends about it so they can spread it to their social circles and other people as well. This will create a hype and increase the anticipation of your book even before the words are printed on paper. And, of course, to support your word of mouth campaign, you can give out the printed marketing materials you have prepared beforehand.
- Say hello to online platforms.
Let’s face it, people are more present online than in the real world. They log on to their social media profiles for 24 hours a day and seven days a week. So, why don’t you take advantage of that? The first thing to do is scout the corners of the online world to find your target market. Once you find out, establish your online presence right away on the site.
Aside from social media marketing, you can also create your own website. Feature your book in an interesting way and present yourself as an authority on your genre. It doesn’t matter if you’re just a newbie or a veteran, what matters is how you construct your image to make everyone love you and your work.
- Strengthen your connection with readers.
Do you have followers on Twitter? Is someone asking about your book in your email? Then try to engage your potential audience. The link you create with them will make them want the book when it’s out in the market. And don’t forget to manage your platforms well if you don’t want to lose the connection you have with your target audience.
- Figure out your connections and networks.
Once the book is out in the market, you need help in marketing it. So, start looking for people in your personal or professional circles who might be willing to lend a hand as you sell your work. It can be a friend who can give a good book review or someone who has connections to the media. Just utilize your contacts and try to think of a way on how they can help you.
- Prepare for the unthinkable.
Be careful, marketing can be tricky. One minute your campaign is working, but in the next minute, you see everything falling apart. Now, stay calm and focused; it’s the only way to win this fight. That is why, you need to create a plan B in case your first plan won’t work. This way, you can have a fallback plan that will lower the risks of marketing your book.
And those are the six tricks that you can incorporate into your book marketing plan to achieve greater self-publishing success. So, what are you waiting for? Initiate your campaign, use these techniques and start your way for a successful and profitable future in the industry.
Care to share your other marketing techniques when it comes to self-publishing a book?
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About the Author
Jill Bennett is a Book Marketing Specialist at LitFirePublishing.com. Aside from working at a publishing company, she’s also written two books titled Step-by-Step Walkthrough to Submit Your Book to Online Booksellers and Hard Truths Every Self-Publishing Author Must Know. Get in touch with her through LinkedIn and Google+.
Other references:
publishing.about.com/od/BookMarketingAndPublicity/a/6-Steps-To-Pre-Publication-Book-Marketing.htm
amarketingexpert.com/eight-steps-for-successfully-marketing-yourself-online/
