3 Top Tips for Marketing Your Book

So, you’ve finally published your book and are eagerly awaiting your first sales. The thing is that people aren’t going to accidentally stumble upon your book (as awesome as that would be). Even if it’s the best book in the world, they won’t buy it if they don’t know about it. 

Selling your book requires work. We know, we know: You just finished the hard work of writing it, but more and more, authors need to do their own book promotion. Even if you sign with a major publishing house, you’ll typically have to do your own marketing—publishers will rarely splurge on lesser-known writers.

It sounds intimidating, and it is a lot of work. Luckily, we’ve got you covered with some tips on what marketing tactics to focus on. You can also check out our marketing package for professional help promoting your book.

Before you get started

Before rushing into book promotion, you’ll need to do some homework, but don’t worry: We promise this will pay off big time! Effectively marketing your book has benefits beyond your current title—the bigger this book is, the easier it’ll be to drum up support for your future works.

With today’s online marketing, you need to know about SEO (search engine optimization), specifically which keywords can help drive traffic to your book. A relatively easy way to identify suitable keywords is to research other books in your genre and take note of the trends you see. Write down the words that keep appearing in Amazon descriptions, blogs, or social media posts. If those words are relevant to your book as well, use them! An abundance of the right keywords will help interested prospective readers find your book on Google, Amazon Kindle, and other online retailers.

Make sure your website is updated and incorporate those keywords where you can. Having a completed, up-to-date website is crucial before you start promoting your book as, hopefully, you will be generating some more traffic to it. The great thing about a website is that it enhances your credibility as a professional author, and the content and layout are entirely up to you.

1. Network

We recommend getting to know others in the industry, especially writers within your genre. There are local author groups and online communities where you can build a support system. Not only can befriending fellow writers offer much-needed emotional support with the most challenging aspects of authordom, but you can also boost each other’s marketing efforts.

After getting to know other authors, you can support each other’s work. The writing world is more collaborative than competitive, so you have your book promoted by other writers in exchange for promoting their work. You can offer to pen a guest post for their blog, which will help you gain exposure. This is why it’s so important to meet others in your genre or with the same target audience as you. 

Another thing you can do with a fellow author is host a joint giveaway of your books or schedule limited discounts to overlap so you can cross-promote on social media, in newsletters, or in mailing lists. You each get to expand your reach, plus it’s more fun to promote alongside an author buddy! For maximum success, team up with a writer whose book is similar enough to yours so that you can provide a logical justification as to why a reader should buy both.

2. Have a dedicated place to sell your books

Direct everyone to one site where they can buy your book. Having one dedicated link will make book promotion a lot easier. Amazon is a great option for most authors: It receives a lot of traffic, and once you get a few reviews, Amazon may include your book in its recommendations to other users. Thanks to the advanced algorithms behind mega-corporations like Amazon, this can be an extremely effective way to target your most interested demographic.

Have your website direct people to the Amazon page (or wherever you decide to sell your book) and also embed that link in your social media accounts and share it on posts and with email lists. You want the link highly visible so people interested in your book don’t have to search around to purchase it; you want it at their fingertips. Don’t spam it, but make sure it’s extremely easy to find for anyone interested.

3. Pay for advertising

If you can afford it, paid advertising helps tremendously. There are options to pay for small ad bursts (on the order of $5). Check out Google Adwords and Facebook. With a Facebook Business account, you can target advertising to specific demographics and regions so the ad reaches your audience. Advertising is also an option on book blogs or anywhere else you think your audience might be. 

You can also try reaching out to book influencers on Instagram, YouTube, and other popular social media platforms. Offer them a copy of your book in exchange for a review. Influencer marketing is one of the most effective marketing strategies because influencers cultivate trust with their followers.

The above tips are not the only ways to promote your book, but we consider them essential and highly recommend them. 

Need more help? Get marketing materials you can use to promote your book.