Book marketing is the next step after publishing your book. Don’t shy away from the importance of marketing your book. Marketing is a necessary component of writing. In this blog post, I am going to share with you three different ways to market your book. You should start by creating a monthly book marketing plan. The book marketing plan should cover different essential aspects regarding your book, such as writing content. Write at least two book-related blog posts a month and follow up with social media pins that go along with your posts. I like to use Pinterest and LinkedIn. Then there’s the email marketing aspect. It is always good to have an email list so that you can stay in touch with your readers and build relationships with them and potential readers.
Just remember, the key is not so much learning new book marketing techniques but building relationships with potential readers. People are more likely to buy from people they trust. Your potential readers need to hear your voice outside of your books. If you are a self-publisher looking for how to market a self-published book, then these three book marketing ways will work great for you.
Author Website
If you don’t have one already, I highly suggest you create an author website. An author website is your own personal space and allows you to build an email list. By having an author website, you can build a site around a specific theme and create blog posts at least twice a month related to your books. An author website is a great way to build a relationship with their readers and potential ones. It gives you a platform where you can freely use your voice! Announce to your readers of upcoming books or book signings, etc. Just make sure your blog posts are SEO compatible. This is very important if you want search engines to categorize them. You will want your blog posts search engine optimized so that people can find and read them.
Social Media Engagement
I’m not a huge social media user. I do, however, use LinkedIn & Pinterest to promote my books and my blog posts. Canva is a great tool for creating social media pins. Canva has templates for the different social media mediums and is pretty easy to use. I use Canva for my social media pins, my prayer team letters, and for some graphics on my website. I have a paid account, which gives me unlimited access. Another idea is to write posts or articles on LinkedIn. You could use LinkedIn to promote your books, share a bit about yourself, and/or connect with potential readers. LinkedIn is a great way to build a network of people and promote your author website as well. Create graphics with quotes from your books, share book reviews, run polls, or giveaways. Social media engagement can help you connect with more people and possibly draw in more readers.
Email Marketing
Having an author website gives you the ability to build an email list. It’s a good idea to have a gift or magnet to encourage visitors to sign up for your email list. An email list is a great way to share a bit about yourself, give someone a taste of your writing, and market your books. Once a month, I send out a newsletter with content such as something I learned, what I am working on, and what’s coming up, like a new book. The bigger the number of email subscribers, the greater your outreach. An email list is a great marketing tool and relationship builder.
I want to share with you one more valuable tool- prayer. Have you considered putting together a prayer team? I have one, and it has made an enormous difference in my writing. It’s great to have a group of people you can trust to hold you up in prayer concerning your writing projects and/or personal needs. Prayerfully consider who you can bring in to team up with you in your writing endeavor. In Exodus 17, Moses held up his arms during a battle against the Amalekites. As long as his arms were up, the Israelites were winning. But if he lowered them, they started losing. So Aaron and Hur helped by holding up his arms, ensuring a glorious victory for Israel. Even Moses needed someone to hold up his arms when he got tired to ensure a glorious victory. God honors us when we reach out to him. Never underestimate the power of a prayer team.
There you have it — three ways to market your book: author website, social media engagement, and email marketing.
About the Author
EO Writes has written and published three books. Getting Unstuck: A Guide to Self Publishing is her most recently published book. She is currently working on a children’s book that she hopes to publish in December. You can reach her at https://www.eowrites.com. She has been married for 27 years. When she is not writing, she and her husband enjoy traveling throughout the United States on their Harley.
“Never judge a book by its cover. What you find inside the pages might surprise you.”
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