Writing is one thing and publishing is another and getting people to buy your book is yet another and perhaps the most hardest thing of them all. In fact, writing a book is the easiest part of the process while promoting your books is the hardest part. Many books fail not because it’s not good, it’s simply because the author has not done anything about it. As opposed to traditional publication, self publication is different where you are not only the author, you are also the marketer. Basically, you just have to do everything yourself.
So as soon your book is live, I suggest you tweet it on Twitter. Don’t forget to add a #hashtag so that it can be found easily. You can use hastags related to your category for example let’s say your book is on “fantasy” then you can use the #fantasy hashtag. Make sure that you start following people and retweet their tweets. Over a period of time, you will get many followers and even buyers (this is a long term strategy).
Next post it on your Facebook wall so that you let your friends, family and acquaintances know that your book is live for purchasing. I suggest you join various Facebook groups in your niche and post them there. Many moderators are happy for you to post links as long as it’s not too over promotional. Here's one of my Facebook groups where people post interesting stories along with their latest blog posts. Feel free to join the group and post your books.
Next thing you need to do is promote it on your LinkedIn profile; this will let your connections know about your book. Another great think about LinkedIn is that there is a “Publications” section that lets you add any of your publications, don’t miss that one out. Here's mine. Anyone landing on your LinkedIn profile will see your book. So whatever you do, add your books to the publication list on LinkedIn.
Next send the book page to your Pinterest account. Create a new board called “Books” where you can pin your books and others for that matter. Pinterest is huge so never underestimate the power of this social networking site. I suggest you spend some time following others that interest you and pin their images. Gradually, others will start following you and pin your images too.
Scoop.it is another social media website where you can scoop your favourite links. Make sure you write a few words of description and it will be picked by the search engines.
Don’t forget Google+. Google plus and its communities are getting bigger and bigger by the day. Find interesting Google+ communities and tell the members about your book. Like Twitter, you can use hashtags too.
But some authors swear by it. This is not as effective as it used to be but it does create a buzz around your book and some might even get to know you as an author and might look forward to your next publication. You will have to take a decision if you are happy to give out free books, some people are dead against it. All that hard work and give the book away for free – no way.
These are some of the ways that I use to promote my books. How do you promote your book? Feel free to share some of your methods.
Here are some ways to promote your book externally
Social media
The easiest way to promote your books is on social media like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and so on and rightly so it’s one of the most effective and the results can be instant. If done correctly, it can fetch large number of eyeballs to your book page on Amazon or wherever you have published it.So as soon your book is live, I suggest you tweet it on Twitter. Don’t forget to add a #hashtag so that it can be found easily. You can use hastags related to your category for example let’s say your book is on “fantasy” then you can use the #fantasy hashtag. Make sure that you start following people and retweet their tweets. Over a period of time, you will get many followers and even buyers (this is a long term strategy).
Next post it on your Facebook wall so that you let your friends, family and acquaintances know that your book is live for purchasing. I suggest you join various Facebook groups in your niche and post them there. Many moderators are happy for you to post links as long as it’s not too over promotional. Here's one of my Facebook groups where people post interesting stories along with their latest blog posts. Feel free to join the group and post your books.
Next thing you need to do is promote it on your LinkedIn profile; this will let your connections know about your book. Another great think about LinkedIn is that there is a “Publications” section that lets you add any of your publications, don’t miss that one out. Here's mine. Anyone landing on your LinkedIn profile will see your book. So whatever you do, add your books to the publication list on LinkedIn.
Next send the book page to your Pinterest account. Create a new board called “Books” where you can pin your books and others for that matter. Pinterest is huge so never underestimate the power of this social networking site. I suggest you spend some time following others that interest you and pin their images. Gradually, others will start following you and pin your images too.
Scoop.it is another social media website where you can scoop your favourite links. Make sure you write a few words of description and it will be picked by the search engines.
Don’t forget Google+. Google plus and its communities are getting bigger and bigger by the day. Find interesting Google+ communities and tell the members about your book. Like Twitter, you can use hashtags too.
Get interviewed
You will be amazed how many websites are doing author interviews, one such website is this one. Here are the questions if you would like to be interviewed on this site. All you need to do is just ask the moderator of the website if they would like to interview you. In this way, the webmaster will link to your books and hopefully get some traction for your book. Make sure that you promote your interview to various social networking sites as well.Get listed on book sites
There are hordes of book listing sites. The aim of these websites is to link to books of new authors, or books that are selling well and so on. Just send them an email and ask them to list your book. The more sites that link to your book the better it is for getting more eyeballs on your masterpiece.Do free giveways using promo-days on KDP
I tried it but did not work. I had over 300 downloads for this book in 2 days and after the free promotions, it did not sell one extra copy. Basically, every Tom, Dick and Harry I told downloaded it because it was free. I am guessing this is more effective for fiction books. I am never giving away ebooks again.But some authors swear by it. This is not as effective as it used to be but it does create a buzz around your book and some might even get to know you as an author and might look forward to your next publication. You will have to take a decision if you are happy to give out free books, some people are dead against it. All that hard work and give the book away for free – no way.
Start a blog
Even if it’s a free blog just start one. You can use a number of blogging platforms such as WordPress or Blogger or even Tumblr and start writing about you know best. Link your author page and your books on the sidebar. People landing on your blog will see the books and some might even buy it. I suggest you start at least 2 free different websites and write about your books. If you can start a proper blog with your own domain name, that would be the best thing to do. I have written a book about starting a blog. Let me know if you need any help on this.Do guest posts Guest post
You need to find other authors with blogs writing on similar niches and ask them if you could guest post on their blog in return for a back link to your book. Some are more than happy to let you guest post. In fact, this can be a good method to get back links to your book and eventually buyers.Write on Hubpages
You can write articles on Hubpages and link to your books. The great thing about Hubpages is that you will earn in multiple ways - not only you can link to your book but also earn via their affiliate programme. You can see my my "hub" promoting my latest book. Join Hubpages here.Send out emails
As long as you are not spamming people, why not send out emails to let everyone know about your latest publication. Email marketing can be be a very powerful way of getting word out about your book.Get your book reviewed
This is lot harder than it sounds. You will need to find people who will be willing to read your book and review it. You will have to send them a hard copy or at least a kindle version in return for reviews. Customers prefer to purchase books that have some reviews on it. All you need is one or two anyway to trigger sales.Host a party
Invite all your friends to your house and break them the news about your book. Make sure you have ordered some hard copies to give away to some of your friends. But mind you friend are friends, many of them will perhaps be jealous and will never buy your books. But it will depend on the type of friends you have. Last time I had a party at my house, I showed all invitees my books. Some where happy about it and some were jealous (that's their problem).Do press releases
Press releases can be done using numerous websites. Some of the best ones include PRweb and PRlog. PRlog is a free press release website but you do have to have a proper email address and not a free one. Here’s one of my press releases that I did to announce my latest book release.Join forums
There are many books and authors related forums which you can join. Most of them allow you to list your books in your signature box. If you are active on these forums then you will get a following and some even will turn into buyers. Just make sure you join appropriate forums mainly on your subject area.Create banners
Create a banner like the one below and link it to your book. Find websites in your niche and ask them if they would like to place your banner on their website. You could also advertise it using adwords.These are some of the ways that I use to promote my books. How do you promote your book? Feel free to share some of your methods.
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