The ways of marketing have completely changed in today's world. The increased digitalization and emergence of technologies are opening new avenues of marketing.
Authors are also using these avenues for promoting self published books. Gone are the days when individuals needed to spend thousands of dollars on advertisements.
Self publishing is in many ways easier today and is opening more doors for aspiring writers. Similarly, the question of how to promote self published books is a lot easier to answer thanks to the multiple avenues available to authors these days.
The right steps can help you get the sales you want. Therefore, as an author, you need to ensure that you use all the platforms and avenues available for promoting self published books.
Social media and other digital platforms can help you easily engage the right audience and create efficient strategies to promote your book. Thus, using the right marketing tactics is important if you want to promote a self published book.
You need to understand different marketing techniques to get your ideas into the world easily. After reading this blog, you will understand how to promote self published books. You don't have to spend a fortune promoting your books.
Powerful Ideas For Promoting Self Published Books With Limited Budget
Digital marketing and digitalization have changed the norms of publishing and promotions. Today, writers are at autonomy to publish their work without the need of a publishing house. The idea of self-publishing has opened many doors for aspiring writers to publish their work. In addition, there are various ways of marketing your work that cost little to nothing. So, if you want to understand how to promote your book online, then this blog is for you. So, let's get started.
1. Build Your Network
The time to start laying the groundwork for your self published book is at least six months to a year before publishing. First, build relationships, identify people you can approach to showcase your book on their platforms. Then, get started on communications with people who can review your books.
Remember, all good things take time. Give the appropriate amount of time to this and more, and by the time you're ready to publish and launch your book, the word about the book should already have started going around.
If you have a blog or a website, start sharing the excerpts from your work with existing followers. Try to engage with the audience. Tell them about your book, the ideas behind it, and what made you write it. Network building will allow you to start on the right note with your book launch.
And in all this, don't forget to let your social circle know about it. If you've managed to do it right, it makes the next steps easier and, at the very least, can help you break even with your self published book.
2. Add Catchy Titles
Once you've started building your network or have developed your network, then you've essentially laid the groundwork for a lot of the marketing that needs to be done. The next step is ensuring your book is the best it can be. So, if you want to market your self published book, you need to give it an engaging title. Next, make sure that your book cover is aesthetically pleasing. It is essential if you want to compel potential readers to read your book.
The title is your book's identity, and it should highlight a certain aspect or the overarching theme of the book. For example, as a reader, are you more likely to pick a book from an unknown writer with a boring title like "The Poetry of Nathan Drake" or a more interesting title like "The Disgruntled Musings of a Millenial." Or a poetry book titled “we are all SINNERS in the end” is likely to catch your attention.
3. Maintain Your Blog and Website
Creating a simple website or blog is quite easy these days with platforms like WordPress. Blogs can promote your work ten times faster than any other method of content marketing could. Therefore, blogging is a crucial part of content marketing and is considered the most efficient method to generate traffic. Do your branding to get the right word out about your book.
A blog or a website can help you promote self published books and generate traffic. In addition, with a website, you can attract new buyers and give them an avenue for communication and buying. For example, a website for an author can help them tell their story, have reviews with reviewer profiles, have a platform for buying books and more.
4. Use Social Media
Social Media has changed the concept of marketing and the way books are promoted these days. Social media is free, and it allows you to reach a wider audience in multiple ways. For example, Instagram is an incredible platform for writers, especially self published ones. With over a billion users, the potential reach is incredible. You can check our post about Instagram for writers for more detailed tips.
All you need to understand is which platform is best suited for marketing your self-published books. Social media goes just beyond a marketing tool. It can also serve as an effective e-commerce platform for selling your self published book. Leverage the analytics tools to fine-tune your approach to promoting your self published books. Or use the sponsored post option to reach a wider audience. The tools are all there, and most are free to use, so get started and build your network and online presence.
5. Early Bird Reviews
Reviews can attract more buyers by lending more credibility to your work. It is where your networking comes into play. There are various ways to ask people for a review. You can approach other authors or prominent personalities and ask them to give you an early review. Most will probably refuse, but some will say yes.
Others can be convinced by leveraging your network and contacts. Another way to get reviews is by connecting with a book blogger or influencer with a substantial following. Then request them to help you promote your book by giving a review. Surveys show that more than 90% of people read books that have positive reviews.
Another advantage of early reviews is that it gives material for your back cover, your website, and promotional blurbs. All of this can attract more buyers as the review lends credibility and increases the chances of a sale. For example, "The Invisible Man written by Ralph Ellison" has the following review at the book's backside.
"An extremely powerful story of a young Southern Negro, from his late high school days through three years of college to his life in Harlem."
Additionally, a book from an unknown author has a higher chance of appearing on search results if it is launched with several reviews on Goodreads or Amazon.
6. Giveaways and Signed Copies
The audience loves giveaways. If you want to promote yourself, then consider giving gifts to your followers and buyers. It helps in creating a positive impact on the audience. For example, you can either give your followers a signed copy of the book or book-related merchandise. Offer value beyond your book to your followers.
You can offer bookmarks, coffee cups, stress balls, tote bags etc., to attract more buyers. It shows that you value your readers and how important your fans are to you. You can grow your network and generate more leads than ever with this strategy. If you want to do something exciting, then consider giveaways for your fans. For example, the first 50 copies get a mug and bookmark. Or three lucky winners who each tag three friends on your posts will get a signed copy and merchandise bag.
7. Use Book Promotion Sites
You can even use book promotion sites if you want to boost your sales and increase your book's visibility online. For example, use Goodreads, BookBub, Bargain Booksy, or BookSends. These are some authentic sites that yield results. For some sites, you have to pay once to sign up, and they handle the rest.
For others, everything is free. For example, the Goodreads author program is free and allows you to create a profile and ask people to leave reviews on it. There are various benefits of using these sites as they give access to various marketing tools and keep you up-to-date with the latest trends.
From advertising to media coverage, these sites have many initiatives that can help promote your self published books. Many of these sites send daily recommendation emails to subscribers, which can help you gain more followers.
8. Word of Mouth
It is one of the oldest marketing techniques which is still relevant today. You need to be social and engage with people to market your self published books. For example, talk to your friends and family and ask them to share your book with others. Drop a message or call them to do this favour for you.
Your friends can promote your book in their circles. This tactic can help you generate more leads. In addition, your friends and family can help get the word out without any expense on your part.
9. Online Promotions & Events
Webinars and live sessions are some of the most common methods to promote a self published book. It can help you reach a much larger audience with little to no cost attached. In addition, they are different from simple videos as the audience can follow your ideas and thoughts in real-time.
In webinars and live sessions, you need to share insightful details about your books. Share your journey and what readers can expect while reading your book. Beyond these, you can also join various online forums and events for authors where you can showcase your work.
For example, a Facebook or Instagram live session where you read excerpts of your book is an excellent way to generate buzz. Post reviews that people may have done. The possibilities are endless. One needs to be creative with the tools and platforms at hand.
10. Collaborate With Influencers
Another low-cost step that you can take for promoting your self published books is collaborating with the bloggers and influencers that can help increase the sales and reach of your book. In addition, bloggers and influencers can help you with book promotion ideas, which can benefit you.
People trust bloggers they follow and consider buying the things they recommend. So, for example, you can send the bloggers or influencers your book with associated merchandise and ask them for a review. You can even work on a collaborative live session. And if you know them well, even interviews on their platforms.
11. Try to Get in Stores
The last and sometimes hardest step for promoting self published books is getting on the shelves of well-known bookstores. If you've been successful with the previous steps, then the chances of getting on the shelves are higher.
Build your network, stay in contact with the bloggers, and regularly publish on social media. You need to prove yourself as a worthy author to achieve this milestone. It is not impossible, but you need to work hard to achieve this goal. Plan your marketing strategy from today so that you can achieve this dream tomorrow.
Wrapping It Up
You can promote self-published books without hassle or the need to spend too much money by following the ideas mentioned in this blog. Just follow these simple steps, and you'll see a world of difference to the reception that your book gets.
Book promotion does not always need a lot of money, just time and patience. But, you have to understand the right way of promoting self published books. Each of these steps has its importance and builds upon the work done in the step before it. But don't stop once you've launched and started selling your book. Promotion is an ongoing process and needs to be updated regularly.
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