Read on to find out!
By Sophia Young
If you have a book, a common problem that you will quickly stumble upon is marketing. It’s much worse if you self-publish, as you need to handle all the logistics yourself. Do you want a bestseller status or a celebrity book club recommendation? Then you need to start marketing the heck out of your book! Here are the best ways and channels to market your book and build your empire with your own hands.
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1. Build Your Own Book and Author Website
If you’re looking to make the best out of your book, you need to start with your website, especially a blog. Depending on the type of book you’re marketing, you would need a website so you can start a blog, as well as a way to funnel your would-be readers.
Utilize content marketing to widen your reach and build an audience little by little. One solid strategy to maximize your website is to create a “members only” page where you post additional content in exchange for their contact details.
The “members only” page should be locked in behind a wall that your audience can unlock with their contact details. These will help you build your mailing list and send valuable content as a newsletter to the reader. Change up what you offer and mix and match what’s on the members-only list. Keeping a variety of content like blogs and videos can make readers feel it’s worth it.
2. Leverage Guest Posts and Industry Recommendations
If you’re trying to identify the best distribution channel for your book, one of the most underrated marketing channels you can use is the guest post. Guest posting is powerful, especially for books that rely on recommendations and building around other audiences.
Most authors, especially self-published authors, should not aim for being in book clubs. Rather, it’s best to go for a more targeted approach and that’s where guest posts come in. By guest posting on related websites or getting featured recommendations via guest posts, you get a wider range of exposure.
Leverage the power of guest posting. Look for people within your network and ask for recommendations if you can. Prepare advanced review copies to distribute to reviewers and sites that are not within your network. You would also want to stay with websites that are relevant to your content.
If you have a book committed to reducing carbon footprint, for example, you would want a guest post on eco-friendly and sustainability websites. It not only helps with your relevancy, it also caters to the same target audience that you want to read your book.
3. Utilize Social Media To Build Your Online Presence
Social media is a powerful marketing channel that builds your online presence and improves your following. The sad truth about book publishing is that the books will never sell themselves. There is a great market of talent that gets lost on the sea of the internet simply because they don’t have a strong online presence.
With that said, it’s always been a big question which social media works best for authors and book marketing in general. Depending on the type of book you’re trying to market, you would want to be present, at the very least, in 3 or 4 social media channels. These include major channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.
Leverage the unique value of each social media channel when promoting your book. Facebook, for example, has pages and groups where you can build yourself a following and show off your work. Twitter, on the other hand, is great for direct interactions, quotes, and building your online presence as an author.
4. Start A Goodreads Author Profile
Whether you’re an author or simply someone who loves books, you likely would have heard of Goodreads. Goodreads is book lovers central, working as a catalog of published fiction and non-fiction titles, as well as a wealth of bookworms who love reading and reviewing titles.
Create a Goodreads author page and upload your book title on the site. It’s not a necessary marketing channel for every published author but it’s a great page to have. It works as a Yelp review site for books, so there’s no way to control the reviews that come in for your title.
Another superb feature of Goodreads is the ability to add a widget to embed reviews on your website. Most of the readers on the site also encourage each other to read a variety of books, so you will likely get an audience who really knows what they want in the books they read.
5. Use Paid Social Media Ads
Paid social media advertising is a great way to get your book in the News Feed of your target audience without waiting for your online presence to grow. If you’re willing to spend a little extra money to get more eyes on your book, paid ads can target a specific demographic you want that is more likely to be fans of your work’s genre.
There are several paid advertising choices to choose from, the two most powerful of which are FB ads and Instagram ads. With FB ads, you can laser target the right people, as well as create direct would-be buyers straight to your book or author website. If you have an e-Commerce listing, this could directly boost your sales.
Instagram Ads, on the other hand, are almost similar to FB ads but rely on visuals more than the copy. If you have a more intricate cover to show off, Instagram should be a great place to find the right audience. For non-fiction and industry books, you would get solid coverage from sites like LinkedIn and even Google Ads.
Find Your Book On The Bestseller List Soon
There are more marketing channels available to authors now more than ever. The book-reading public is bigger and knowing where your target audience stays can help you market your book even better. Take a cue from digital marketers and maximize both free and paid channels to improve your online presence.
Follow the tips above and see your name on the bestseller list. It takes time and effort to market a book, but all this means is that the success of your book relies squarely on your motivation to market it.
Struggling to manage time between writing and your day-to-day duties effortlessly? Read here for easy tips!
