Tips for marketing your self published books

Self published book marketing for authors smith publicity. Your launch is just the beginning, and you absolutely must continue marketing your book to build your brand. But however youre coming around to being an author, understanding the traditional functions of book marketing will help you navigate the publication of. Editors are necessary in the selfpublishing process. 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. Nov 18, 2015 nina amir, the inspiration to creation coach, inspires writers and bloggers to create published products and careers as authors. 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.

Find out who your book appeals to, get to know those people well, and be where they are, both online and off. Apr 11, 2018 if youre ready to market and promote your selfpublished poetry collection, selfpublishing relief has the expert tips you need to know to boost your book sales. If you have your own platform, like a podcast or blog, interview them and give them exposure. Many, if not most authors who selfpublish for the first time make. Sep 12, 2019 boost your books success and sell more copies of your book by following 20 marketing tips and tactics for selfpublishing authors. Moreover, smith publicity is widely credited with pushing the credibility of selfpublished book authors to new levels. There are successful self publishers in every niche, but authors of childrens books face more challenges than most both on the publishing and marketing side. So remember to write an intelligent and informative bio or description for these sites. Five tips for marketing your selfpublished ebook to libraries.

If you are just starting your selfpublishing journey you might as well get our 2018s best selfpublishing resources article. The wonderful thing about marketing yourself as an author is that there a virtually limitless ways to do it. The reward of holding a copy of your published work is indescribable. Create monthly newsletters and ask fans to sign up for them. Do whatever it takes to establish your book in the market, even if it means giving it away for a while, first. Here are great marketing tips to promote your selfpublished book of poetry. Help your book sales with these 5 easy author book marketing tips.

But the good news is that marketing is also about fostering connections and relationships, which can be rewarding to you and your fan base. A book blurb is a short promotional piece of about 100150 words. With the advent of ebooks, there is no longer something called a backlist. The most important aspect of marketing a self published book is that you should have a strategy that will make your marketing campaign as effective and efficient as possible. The title of this post should be credited because i have been asked how to market a selfpublished book or how to promote a book, so many times. But if its your goal to reach readers other than friends and family, then selfpromotion is a must. How to sell more books on amazon self publishing school. While writing will get your book published, promotion and marketing is what will get you sales and more readers. Upload your picture in author central, add your biography, view and edit your listed books, and create a blog to speak directly to readers.

Marketing is the one aspect authors, again and again, lament gives them the biggest headaches. Over the years weve worked with many small publishers and self publishers and have developed a list of book marketing tips. Beyond professional media outreach, there are so many tips, ideas and even tricks and insider tactics. When i heard that karen inglis was releasing how to self publish and market a childrens book i invited her along to talk about the particular problems that self publishers of. Aug 01, 20 promote and market your book like a master. Here are 6 tips for effectively marketing your self published books. It appears on the back cover of print books and on online sales pages. Social media is a must to promote your book or short stories. Self published authors often create video trailers to advertise their books online, and amazons author pages give you a place to feature them. Book marketing for selfpublished authors is tough, hard work, timeconsuming and can even be dispiriting. When marketing your first book, you need to check your pride at the door and be just a. Identify yo ur target reader, find out where he is, and think like that reader in every aspect of your marketing.

The ultimate guide to amazon self publishing everything you ever wanted to know about how to selfpublish a book on amazon, plus tips for actually selling your book. Boost your book s success and sell more copies of your book by following 20 marketing tips and tactics for selfpublishing authors. There are also a lot of publishers that offer turnkey services. Self publishing is not a new phenomenon anymore as it has now become an integral part of the publishing industry. But its just one of the many exciting milestones in your journey to self publishing success. This is a vital step in the promotion and marketing of your book, andif done rightwill make the rest of the process infinitely easier. Weve also provided the programs in the table below to help you. Particularly in the mad rush for book sales after you release your book. Contact a local bookstore or other venues about hosting a book release party.

The first thing you need to have clear in your mind is who your audience is. Shes sharing 11 powerful ways to market childrens books. One key objective in your publishing journey is selling your book. Book marketing consultant tim grahl defines your platform as whatever plan and methods you use to connect with readers and sell books.

This article first appeared in our selfpublishing themed issue of publishing talk magazine. Book promotion is designed to get people to find your book, and not, to find people to get your book. Check out these tips on how to promote a selfpublished book. Book publishing has undergone a revolution in the last ten years, and both the power and profit are in your hands. Metadata is the piece of information that will differentiate your ebook from the rest and definitely should be. These book marketing tips will help you raise awareness, build your audience and have a successful book launch. As a self published author, you should know as much about marketing your book as you do about writing it. Book marketing for selfpublished authors strategies and tips. Smart marketing can help indie e book authors earn a librarians attention, consideration, confidence, and purchase. 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. The key to using social media for promoting books is to do a lot of communicating. Again, advertising that is done on behalf of the book but tied to a specific account has likely been paid for out of coop.

Remember that you are marketing yourself as an author, not direct selling books. Book marketing and selfpromotion resources iuniverse. If you are just starting your self publishing journey you might as well get our 2018s best self publishing resources article. This article primarily addresses self publishing a print book. How to market your selfpublished book why selfpublishing is a longtail business the most important 15 seconds in the life of your book your biggest book marketing or platform building roadblocks and how to overcome them 10 ways to test market your nonfiction book idea before you publish 9 steps to getting your selfpublished books into. Marketing selfpublished books explained in 9 basic steps. From many years agowhen we became the very first book marketing company to secure a fullpage feature story about a self published novel in the new york times, to the everevolving book publicity strategies we continually develop for self published.

Here are three quick tips for promoting your book using video. Both traditional and self published, donna fasanos books have sold 4 million copies worldwide. These platforms enable librarians to manage purchasing, cataloguing, rights, and timelimited checkouts. Personally speaking, ive self published 6 bestselling nonfiction books on amazon, sold tens of thousands of copies, and continue to collect thousands per month in royalty checks the success of my books has been directly responsible for the strong performance of my business, which has grown to over 7 figures in less than 2 years self publishing a book is. Get under the radar of influencers by supporting them. Five tips on how to promote your selfpublished book. If you are an author, show people how well you can write when they first read your bio. Book marketing for self published authors marketing takes planning, organization, and consistent action. Publish individual poems in literary magazines and journals.

Book marketing for authors self publishing through amazon and other retailers is a businessfinance selfhelp book written by alinka rutkowska. When youve just spent time finishing a project, that can be hard to remember. Market and promote your book locally, then gradually expand your efforts. Be sure you do your research and utilize recommendations from trusted industry publications, selfpublishing associations, and your fellow authors. Please refer to our disclosure policy for further information. Jun 25, 2019 for self published books, some or all of the traditional book marketing functions may be made available from a self publishing service or from other book publishing consultants at a cost. Apr 02, 2020 book marketing for selfpublished authors marketing takes planning, organization, and consistent action. Additionally, she helps her clients and readers achieve their potential, fulfill their purpose and make a positive and meaningful difference with their words. It may sound obvious, but its only worth marketing content that is worth reading. Five tips for marketing your selfpublished ebook to. Public libraries represent a promising sales opportunity for self published ebook authors.

I worked with joanne on editing her novel, the secrets they kept, and feel she is a prime example of how self published authors must think like entrepreneurs to ensure their book truly stands out on the marketplace. Chances are, youre working with a smaller publisher that has an even smaller marketing. You can promote your book yourself with email, websites, and other outreach. Below you will find many such things, but we urge to push the limits, push yourself outside your comfort zone as it relates to. And good news if you dont write childrens books, you can take these principles and strategies and apply them to your own genre and make them work for you. However, as a general rule, promoting your book locally is your best bet. By alex palmer jul 24, 2015 social media and other. After publishing your book, youll want to promote it to prospective readers. 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. The marketing department and a books marketing budget determine if, where and when a book will be advertised. Which is why as a self published author, you should find alternative ways to market your work. For many selfpublished authors, book marketing can be intimidating. Before you can sell your book, you need to market it. With great print quality and a good cover design, no one will be able to tell your selfpublished book from one thats published by a major traditional publisher.

Marketing your selfpublished book indie author tips. But the most fundamental and important book marketing issues can often be overlooked. The internet is everywhere and affects everything, but there is life outside of the web. Here are great marketing tips to promote your self published book of poetry. For many self published authors, book marketing can be intimidating. The author writes childrens books and has been an independent publisher as well as a coach for authors seeking to do the same. Five tips to improve your bookselling efforts iuniverse. But if its your goal to reach readers other than friends and family, then self promotion is a must. To put things into context first, here is one clear way of thinking about how to promote a selfpublished book. If youre ready to market and promote your self published poetry collection, selfpublishing relief has the expert tips you need to know to boost your book sales. Getting your book to sell might seem daunting, but its not impossible.

Developing a promotional strategy webinar recording youtube. Marketing your book with video quickly builds your know, like and trust factor and increases your visibility and credibility. Still, stories of booksespecially selfpublished bookssucceeding without any marketing, are rare. Ensure your writing is as well crafted as it can be before you make it available. To write an effective blurb, begin with a clever opening line that piques the readers curiosity and has them reading for more. Leave off the marketing for a while and produce something worth sharing. Libraries cannot acquire your e book unless its available for purchase through one of the library e book platforms. Most books, even good ones, will languish, invisible among millions of available titles, unless you do something to make them stand out and become visible discoverable to some target audience. Easy book marketing tips for authors might sound a little trite. Still, stories of booksespecially self published bookssucceeding without any marketing, are rare. Your book or author website andor blog should be a. Write the best book you canthen, write your next one.

Jul 17, 2017 alison baverstock, author of how to market books, offers her top 10 marketing tips for selfpublished authors. Write to sell your book authorclient joanne tombrakos was kind enough to share some of her secrets to self publishing success. All you need to know about amazon algorithms free course learn to pick the right keywords and metadata, and get amazon to do most of your marketing for you. However, there is one component that remains a stumbling block getting your books to sell. Marketing your book for selfpublishers and indie authors. Your book cover design is an important tool for marketing your book to readers. Connect with potential readers for free over social networks. While self publishing has given authors and writers all the tools necessary to publish a quality ebook or paperback, there is one element that remains a stumbling block.

Here are five tips on how to promote your selfpublished book. Follow through on publicity and marketing, and keep it going. Here are 9 uncommon tips that ive used to turn my books into bestsellers, including my self published wall. Mar 26, 2017 smashwords founder mark coker gives indie authors five marketing tips to help get self published e books into library collections. Just like learning to write well and honing your craft, marketing also takes education and preparation but iuniverse is here to help.

In this post, you will learn book marketing for self published authors and as a self published author myself, i can teach you the exact methods of promoting and marketing your self published books. Aug 16, 2018 marketing your selfpublished book is a time consuming and difficult job. Have an online book tour and plan a costeffective online campaign. How i sold over half a million books selfpublishing youtube. Most published authors, especially of the first time variety, wont have access to a fullsuite of marketing. Five simple ways to promote your selfpublished book. Moreover, smith publicity is widely credited with pushing the credibility of self published book authors to new levels. All your marketing needs to be geared toward the right people, or else it will be in vain. Well help you learn how to market a selfpublished book with these basic tips. Tips for marketing selfpublished childrens books marketing selfpublished childrens books requires appealing to both kids and adults. The book promotion professionals at iuniverse have established a few key marketing tactics and tips to help you develop a great strategy for promoting your book.

Mar 12, 2018 how i sold over half a million books my self publishing story and my top tips for success i am so excited to be talking about this today, because i know a lot of you have been asking about. January 7, 2015 this post may contain paid andor affiliate links. Create a quick tips series on youtube related to the content of your book. Make time for yourself and resist all the tempting opportunities your wily brain can come up. Do your marketing right and youll start to see those sales soar. I originally published the article back in 2008 and have updated it a few times, most recently on june, 2012. So i apologize to all those who have asked me these two. Apr 24, 2017 both traditional and self published, donna fasanos books have sold 4 million copies worldwide. Create advertisements, such as business cards, posters and fliers, that will catch your target audiences eye and that can be used on all levels. To distribute your paperback through bookstores, online retailers, libraries, and academic institutions, you can also enable expanded distribution. In my case, considering the nature of my fulltime job, i. If youre just getting started and dont have any readers yet, you can call in a favor with friends or family. Your video tips can be short and simple even just 60 seconds is fine.

There are a lot of selfpublishing scams out there that will publish your book and never do a thing with it. You want to inform, but go easy on the blatant book buy links, such as your book cover image with a link to amazon. May 01, 2017 however, if you dont get the following nine basics right first, you could be wasting a lot of your time, energy and money. Over the years weve worked with many small publishers and self publishers and have developed a list of book marketing tips that will get you results. Marketing your selfpublished book is tough, hard work, competitive and cut throat. You have to make a plan to promote your book successfully.

Whether youre working with a traditional publisher or youre going the self publishing route, one things the same. Write a press release and distribute to online outlets. Design merchandise for your books like these harry potter tshirts and consider a targeted. Consider all of the resources and options available to make the absolute most of your marketing efforts. Libraries cannot acquire your ebook unless its available for purchase through one of the library ebook platforms. Selfpublishing is not a new phenomenon anymore as it has now become an integral part of the publishing industry. I wont, however, because it would end up being a very long list of credits. Mar 14, 2018 we have to do things right and set our efforts up for long term sales.