Book marketing ideas for authors
Book marketing ideas for self-publishers.
New book marketing ideas for self-publishers to act on. Here is the background for this post: We follow some of the publishing related forums on LinkedIn. Recently we saw the question, “Has anyone used Facebook ads to promote their book? How did they work for you?” The consensus seemed to be that they didn’t work at all! It is clear that authors are in search of new book marketing ideas. We can tell you what book marketing ideas have succeeded for the self-publishers we work with.
Book marketing ideas for increased sales
The self-publisher’s primary channel marketing will be as follows:
- Established Network: Selling to an established following or network. People and groups that you already know.
- Sphere of Influence: Selling actively and directly to local bookstores, new contacts or groups, or those who may be interested the subject matter of your book.
- Website, Social Media and Amazon: Print high-quality books with Star Print Brokers. Establish a website before you print and sell your book. Sell books where the traffic is; on Amazon. It takes months for a website or blog to rank reasonably well, and get traffic. Start laying the website and social media groundwork when you are still writing your book. In fact, writing blogs will likely provide material for your book.
Think of Social Media as an invitation to buy your book, not as a point of sale. Link to your landing page, or directly to the book on Amazon.
Social Media is just part of the mix for book marketing ideas.
It is doubtful that you will have any majors sales form any one social media outlet. Each interaction is another impression in a marketplace. When social media grows to the point where others are re-tweeting your tweets, or friends of followers are following you, then you have a growing social media presence. The authors that we work with don’t use Facebook ads. It only worked well for one author several years ago who did have a recognizable title to promote.
What does work for some, is starting a website with a blog. Write a blog once or twice a week. Building a strong website prior to the book launch really helps. Keywords is the key to the success of these authors, but only it they have a book with trendy keywords that are searched. For instance, cookbook, or mystery are too broad. But, “paleo” diet is hot right now.
Print high-quality books with SPB and sell them on Amazon.
Some authors who print their books with us and sign-up for an author page on Amazon, have had success in selling. They make sure their search words are strong and similar to what is used on their website. They also start an email newsletter, and when it is time to sell the book on Amazon, they ask their subscribers to write reviews of the book.
Add Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature to add more interest to your book’s listing. Fulfill the books yourself, if you are printing from 1,000 to 3,000 books.
Some authors have sold ebooks first, just to get a feel for how many sales they will have. Then, they print the book. They print with us, as we provide very high-quality books at a reasonable cost. We stand behind the books we print.
Social Media.
Star Print Brokers is always looking for ways to expand and grow our social media, as well as finding new book marketing ideas. We have a presence on a number of sites, but is is small. We seem to get more response from Twitter at our account, @StarPB, where we have tens of thousands of followers. Also @StarPrintBroker. Please follow us!
An important message about distribution.
If you use an on-demand service, do you actually get your book into brick-and-mortar bookstores, or just have access to those bookstores? We have a secret for you. If you have your own ISBN and barcode, you already have access to brick-and-mortar bookstores. You are in the database already.
Call (844) 603-1777 toll-free, or (425) 603-1777 in the Seattle area. Request a Quote Today! Let us know about your book marketing ideas.
