Find out who your book appeals to, get to know those people well, and be where they are, both online and off. Your launch is just the beginning, and you absolutely must continue marketing your book to build your brand. But if you are publishing by yourself and wish to be read by as many among your target audience as possible, you will have to. So many writers get overwhelmed with the abundance of information about the selfpublishing process, what itll cost, how to do it right, how to come up with a good book idea, and more.
When youve just spent time finishing a project, that can be hard to remember. If you have your own platform, like a podcast or blog, interview them and give them. Its a great way to get some backlinks to your site and maybe. From many years agowhen we became the very first book marketing company to secure a fullpage feature story about a selfpublished novel in the new york times, to the everevolving book publicity strategies we continually develop for selfpublished authorswe have earned. Here are 9 uncommon tips that ive used to turn my books into. For a selfpublished author, marketing the book can be more important than writing it. If you are just starting your selfpublishing journey you might as well get our 2018s best selfpublishing resources article. Sep 15, 2014 marketing your self published book involves a lot of focused work, typically as much work as it took to write the book in the first place. Many selfpublished authors have no interest in sales, advertising, or business in general, as they tend to be altruistically artistic. There are hundreds of ways to market selfpublished books. For many selfpublished authors, book marketing can be intimidating. Book marketing doesnt have to be complicated, but it also cant be taken lightly.
Create a community surrounding your passion and your brand. How to use bookmarks to market selfpublished books heres an easy way to market your books and a refreshingly lowtech one. Whether your book is published by a traditional publisher or you are an indie author. When to start marketing your book and how to balance your time. Look you can spend as much or as little as you want selfpublishing your nonfiction book. You can promote your book yourself with email, websites, and other outreach. You can create your own profile page to share about yourself and your books. Jul 12, 2018 once your book is listed on amazon, you will want to spruce up the book details page to help sell your self published book. To do this, you will need to submit a pdf file of your book to amazons. Selfpublishing was becoming popular and stories like amanda hocking and john locke convinced me a selfpublished book would be a great first product.
Sep 12, 2019 boost your books success and sell more copies of your book by following 20 marketing tips and tactics for selfpublishing authors. For a self published author, marketing the book can be more important than writing it. If your book is published by a selfpublishing or printondemand type of publisher, they may sell the book on their website, or market it for you. Whether youre working with a traditional publisher or youre going the selfpublishing route, one things the same. Book marketing and selfpromotion resources iuniverse. If you didnt get the message marketing your book is not about selling. But if its your goal to reach readers other than friends and family, then selfpromotion is a must. While its important to research your book marketing options, you should also take a step back and ask yourself how you can put your own spin on. A book launch plan for firsttime authors without an. A collection of poetry of my late mothers poetry collection of over 300 poems she composed during her lifetime and am trying to learn what really does and does not work when marketing your book. In marketing my own selfpublished books, ive found a number of helpful and some not so helpful channels to get the word out which ill share in this article. Marketing your selfpublished book involves a lot of focused work, typically as much work as it took to write the book in the first place. Follow through on publicity and marketing, and keep it going.
Nov 18, 2014 marketing your self published book involves a lot of focused work, typically as much work as it took to write the book in the first place. In my case, considering the nature of my fulltime job, i. You have to make a plan to promote your book successfully. Most published authors, especially of the first time variety, wont have access to a fullsuite of marketing. Developing a promotional strategy webinar recording youtube. Moreover, smith publicity is widely credited with pushing the credibility of selfpublished book authors to new levels. Before you publish a book or before you even start writing it.
Promoting a self published book is hard work and there are no shortcuts. If youre going to publish on your own, you have no choice but to do most of the promoting yourself or hire an experienced virtual marketing assistant. Self published book marketing for authors smith publicity. Many, if not most authors who self publish for the first time make mistakes. Most self publishing books on the market will scare a lot of new selfpublishers away. Unfortunatelyunless you are stephen king or malcolm gladwellthe publisher probably wont have the budget to market your book. Encourage existing readers and fans to share your book with their network. Boost your books success and sell more copies of your book by following 20 marketing tips and tactics for selfpublishing authors. How to selfpublish your book by jan yager is a complete road map to becoming a successfully selfpublished author. When it comes to book marketing with your own website, the skys the limit. Weve also provided the programs in the table below to help you. Market and promote to the people who know you existing readers or fans, even if there are only a couple. It is impossible for an author to judge their own work.
John kremer, author of 1001 ways to market your books and editor of the book marketing tip of the week newsletter. You control and keep all the revenue from a sale on. Ive created a stepbystep comprehensive selfpublishing guide that will walk you through the beginning steps of how to write your book all the way to how to selfpublish it. Some time ago, i published a piece telling aspiring authors ten reasons you should skip traditional publishers and selfpublish ebooks instead. Choose the right categories and keywords for your book. Make business cards with your photo and addresses to your author website and social media profile pages. Lets go through a quick list of some tips and tricks you can employ to help make marketing your book more successful. Paul jarvis selfpublished his latest book, everything i know. My first suggestion for effectively marketing your book is to start with your closest connections. One of the best ways to do this is to utilize the search inside feature that allows people to browse through your books contents and sample pages. Book marketing consultant tim grahl defines your platform as whatever plan and methods you use to connect with readers and sell books. How to market selfpublished books in the digital world. Dec 12, 2017 heres a highlevel view of the plan, which works for both traditionally published and selfpublished authors. Yet despite the clear advantages of indie over traditional publishing, the prospect of diy publishing still scares the hell out of many writers.
Self publishing, writing and marketing your own books and booklets is a complete, honest guide with valuable information on how to self publish, write, market and sell howto books and booklets through your own mail order home business. Just like learning to write well and honing your craft, marketing also takes education and preparation but iuniverse is here to help. Most importantly, have a fantastic cover, a killer book description, and get your categories and keywords. Two years ago, i selfpublished my first science fiction novel, where the hell is. Apr 25, 2014 paul jarvis selfpublished his latest book, everything i know. Many self published authors have no interest in sales, advertising, or business in general, as they tend to be altruistically artistic. Where and how to sell your poetry books empty mirror.
You can customize your site your way, publish your own content, and you are always in complete control of how it looks and what gets published. To put things into context first, here is one clear way of thinking about how to promote a selfpublished book. It is completely normal because you are trying to do something. What distinguishes jan yagers how to selfpublish your book from other books on selfpublishing are the sections on writing, editing, getting permissions, creating sell sheets, and designing your book. Publishing takes less than 5 minutes and your book appears on kindle stores worldwide within 2448 hours. She is the publisher of the hot sheet, the essential newsletter on the publishing industry for authors, and was named publishing commentator of the year by digital book world in 2019. Promoting my own book shouldnt be my responsibility. With the advent of ebooks, there is no longer something called a. For selfpublished authors, there are many book marketing strategies and tactics that can be employed, and while some may seem quite direct, or even relatively simple, its very easy to make mistakes that can derail a book promotion campaign. While writing tends to be a solitary endeavor, marketing is the process of.
Design merchandise for your books like these harry potter tshirts and consider a targeted advertisement. The more i spent on my books, the more money i earned. A book launch plan for firsttime authors without an online. Your article and upfront honesty has given me a lot to think about. May 25, 2015 i just published my first and probably last book, seasons of the heart. Heres a highlevel view of the plan, which works for both traditionally published and selfpublished authors. Aug 16, 2018 well help you learn how to market a selfpublished book with these basic tips. After publishing your book, youll want to promote it to prospective readers. This is a vital step in the promotion and marketing of your book, andif done rightwill make the rest of the process infinitely easier. Check out these tips and discover how to promote your book successfully. Book marketing for authors book advertising smith publicity. One of the best ways to do this is to utilize the search inside feature that allows people to browse through your book s contents and sample pages. Aug 01, 20 promote and market your book like a master. Marketing plays a huge role in any books success, but this is especially true for selfpublished books.
Attract readers with a great book sales description. Book promotion is designed to get people to find your book, and not, to find people to get your book. Apr 01, 2020 a good book cover sells, a great book cover sells better, and a smart author knows thats a big step in how to market a selfpublished book the right way. Actively share useful, positive, quality content and engage your audience through unique encounters. Each time i selfpublished a book, i hired more expensive editors, designers and so on to improve the quality of the books. Five years ago, in order to achieve this level of publishing success, you would have needed to be extremely lucky to even land an agent who would. So make sure you have a fantastic book first and foremost. How to selfpublish your book through amazon forbes. But without marketing your book, no one beyond your friends and family will read it. Apr 02, 2020 you can customize your site your way, publish your own content, and you are always in complete control of how it looks and what gets published.
Speak at book clubs about writing in your genre this can be a surprisingly effective addition to your promotional campaign. Ten steps to marketing your selfpublished book whitefox. With that said, lets look at ways of promoting your book and getting people to find you as an author, and your books, of course. For authors, marketing essentially involves drawing and engaging your target.
Nov 05, 20 even the most fabulous self published book will not sell itself. I also spent money on marketing my books via facebook and amazon ads. Use these 6 tactics to market your selfpublished book on social media for the exposure your story deserves. I just published my first and probably last book, seasons of the heart. Aug 18, 2014 self publishing was becoming popular and stories like amanda hocking and john locke convinced me a self published book would be a great first product. How to use bookmarks to market self published books heres an easy way to market your books and a refreshingly lowtech one.
With the advent of ebooks, there is no longer something called a backlist. The book was written to have a portion donated to animal rescue and welfare groups, as it was written about an actual dog she adopted. A good book cover sells, a great book cover sells better, and a smart author knows thats a big step in how to market a selfpublished book the right way. Most of all though, i strongly recommend that you purchase how to selfpublish and market a childrens book if you are a childrens author or considering writing something in that category it has great information for new and experienced writers alike. However, if you dont get the following nine marketing strategy basics right first, you could be wasting a lot of your time, energy and money. There are generally accepted methods and many nuances in book. Even the most fabulous self published book will not sell itself. Whether youre working with a traditional publisher or youre going the self publishing route, one things the same. Here are some articles on marketing and ads for selfpublished authors. How to land an agent for a selfpublished book jane friedman. Here are 9 uncommon tips that ive used to turn my books into bestsellers, including my self published wall. Self publishing, writing and marketing your own books and.
Still, stories of books especially self published books succeeding without any marketing, are rare. If theres one question that is eternal and ongoing in our author community, then its how to sell more books sales are always on our mind and wherever we are in the bestseller chart, we look a little enviously at those above us in this article, we have ideas and solutions for you 50 of them in fact which should be more than enough ways to promote your book. The average print selfpublished book sells about 100150 copies or twothirds to threequarters of your friends and family combined and dont count on all your facebook acquaintances buying. May, 2019 get your book edited, a cover designed, and it formatted. Book marketing consultant tim grahl defines your platform as. Marketing your self published book involves a lot of focused work, typically as much work as it took to write the book in the first place. But if you are publishing by yourself and wish to be read by as many among your target audience as possible, you will have to learn an additional skillhow to market your books.
Theres a big difference between making your own book and marketing it. How to list and sell your selfpublished book on amazon. Invest in proper editing im not going to spend a lot of time on this one except to say that everything is your resume. Getting your book to sell might seem daunting, but its not impossible. Childrens authors have been crying out for a resource like this and please share this post, those book links, and karens helpful. With a few key steps, an author can build a loyal following, get the word out about his or her work, and get. Well help you learn how to market a selfpublished book with these basic tips. Marketing is the one aspect authors, again and again, lament gives them the biggest headaches.
Sep 19, 2017 book marketing consultant tim grahl defines your platform as whatever plan and methods you use to connect with readers and sell books. Promoting a selfpublished book is hard work and there are no shortcuts. Two big reasons that you may not have thought about. What does it take to promote your selfpublished book. Marketing selfpublished books explained in 9 basic steps. But with that freedom comes lots of responsibility. Chances are, youre working with a smaller publisher that has an even smaller marketing. Author julie broad explains the 5 best ways she used to sell her books including the combination that helped her get her book to. Then do your very best to implement the basics of book promotion that i have outlined above. Once your book is listed on amazon, you will want to spruce up the book details page to help sell your selfpublished book.