Best Book Promotion tips for Self-Published Authors

Often there is a problem with new Self Published authors that how to promote their book or how to reach the readers. Many times new authors do not have any kind of information about book promotion, due to which authors are not able to promote their book. In this post, Buuks2Read team has included some important and best book promotion tips for authors. All new and old authors can take advantage of the best book promotion tips mentioned in the post.

1. Ask readers to review

A high number of reviews makes a book more enticing to potential readers. We found that when a book has at least 150 five-star reviews on Amazon or Goodreads, including the number of five-star reviews in the copy increased clicks an average of 14.1%.

2. Donate Copies of Your Book

By donating your book, you are essentially advertising. Consider your book as one big ad for your book! Readers talk about what they are reading and can be good word-of-mouth marketers for you. Some places you might want to consider donating your book: Doctor’s offices, Hair salons, or any places that have waiting rooms, Homeless shelters, Retirement homes, Local libraries, Senior centers, Rehab centers.

3. Ask Your Friends and Close Contacts to Review Your Book

This is another idea that I am personally not too comfortable with, but can be extremely effective (if you have supportive friends and close contacts). Make sure they actually have your book don’t ask for bogus reviews. Also, double check with the review policies on the sites where you are asking reviewers to post. For example, Amazon has strict rules about family members reviewing your book.

4. Submit a book for relevant editorial reviews

Many genres have publications like Buuks2Read where authors can submit their books for editorial reviews. Some of these publications require submitting your book months before publication, so plan early!

5. Consider Thanking Reviewers

You should always be reading your reviews. Not only do they provide free market research, they’re also a great networking tool. As reviews are posted, thank readers for their feedback by posting a comment on the review. This personalized approach to connecting with readers leaves a lasting impression and helps build your return buyer potential. You can also click on the “Was this review helpful?” button below a review to give it a virtual pat on the back!

6. Create an author fan club

Fan clubs are groups where readers can congregate without the expectation of helping with promotional activities. Fans can interact with the author, discuss books, and have other fun conversations with like-minded readers.

7. Publish a multi-author anthology

Partner with other authors to create an anthology of novellas or short stories. If you promote the collection to your audiences, you can each increase your exposure by reaching the other authors’ audiences.

8. Lower-priced books

In a sea of options, it’s a good idea to give new readers inexpensive choices so they can get to know you. This is also a great strategy for the first book in the series – consider making it free now, before the holidays, to push people to buying more books in the series before the end of the year.

9. Search for local radio and TV opportunities

Local radio and TV shows are always on the lookout for interesting interviews. Some folks have managed to get themselves on local television just by pretending to be experts. so if you actually have something interesting to share, write up a press release and start contacting producers.

10. Use Wattpad

Wattpad is a social network for authors and readers with tens of millions of users. Writers can share their stories for free, and readers can vote on them and leave feedback. Bestselling authors sometimes share excerpts of their books on Wattpad and link to the retailer pages where readers can purchase the full book to find out what happens next.

11. Create an author page on Amazon

Upload a professional-looking author photo and put your author bio to good use! Your author page will look a little empty until you have a few books under your belt, so consider recording an introduction video where you talk about your first book.

12. Create discount to drive sales

Choose as low a price as possible to drive the highest volume of sales. 95% of bargain readers have purchased a book from an author unknown to them because of an ebook price promotion.

13. Contact to local bookstores

Local bookstores are often interested in supporting local authors. Get in touch and talk about hosting a reading (if you’re a novelist or poet) or giving a talk (if you’re a non-fiction writer). If you know other local authors, get them involved too and don’t forget to bring copies to sell and sign!

14. Sell your book to libraries

Despite what you might think, libraries do sometimes buy books from independent authors. Just make sure it’s available through a wholesaler, contact your local library, and make a compelling case for why they should stock your title. The best thing about it is its dynamo effect: once one library has your book, it becomes easier to get it into more branches.

15. Create a YouTube Channel

Like podcasting, video is increasingly popular, and covers every topic you can think of. Create a YouTube channel where you can talk about your work, read samples, interview other authors, answer reader/viewer questions, and anything else you come up with. You could, for example, create a video slideshow to accompany a reading of your work. In the notes for the video, write a paragraph or two about yourself and your work, and then link to where people can find you online.

16. Advertise Your Previous Books in Each Book You Publish

It is not uncommon for authors to reserve a page in the back of their books to promote their other books. This usually just one page, which includes the title of the book, a description, cover image, and instructions on how to purchase. If you include too many pages, your book may get rejected by the major retailers for over-promoting.

17. Promoted Posts on Facebook

If you can manage any sort of budget, even Rs. 300/- per day, you can get some traction with a promoted post. Write the post as if it were an ad for your book, including a nice, attention getting photo. Use that to complement the short bit of text you’ll write for your post. Post this on your Author page on Facebook. From there, you can share it anywhere you like, including groups you belong to, if rules allow. More importantly, you can also do a paid promotion from your author page, at which point the post becomes an ad. You can do these pretty cheap, and they’re worth it to nab a few new readers.

18. Facebook Group Promotions

Get involved in group promotions. Again, you’ll usually come across these in Facebook author groups. The idea is to join forces with other authors of your genre, and agree to share each other’s work with your mutual mailing lists and social networks.

19. Run a Google Ads campaign

Target keywords that your audience would likely search for to find books similar to yours. Create several versions of ad copy within each ad group and let Google automatically run each variation and determine a winner.

20. Participate in relevant interviews

Agree to participate in interviews that would effectively reach your target audience. Interviews can be a great way to share your perspectives without needing to write much original content. Take advantage of these opportunities to increase awareness of your author brand and your books.

21. Consider Sales Expectations

If it’s your first book, this is especially true. Books take time and most book promotion companies will tell you the same thing. I have a friend in publishing who once called it the long runway of promotion and this statement is really true. Most books don’t take off right away, books take a lot of care and feeding. So it’s important to plan your book promotion budget and your book marketing accordingly. Don’t blow your entire marketing budget right out of the gate, and if you do make sure you spend it in the right way, doing the right things.

22. Consider What You Really Need

This is a big one, and I think applies to a lot of different facets of book marketing. Most book promotion companies (the good ones) are very clear about what their deliverable are. And if you’re hiring a book promotion company to help you out, make sure that you aren’t left to guess what they’ll be doing for you, because that’s bad, too. Get it in writing and then, when you do, don’t assume that they’ll be doing more than what they’ve outlined. Unless it says that specifically and even then, if I was signing up with a book promotion company, I’d still want to get a detailed list of what they’ll do for me.

23. Run targeted social media ads

Sites like Facebook and Twitter let you target ads to a fine-tuned audience based on preferences users have expressed on those social platforms. This lets you advertise the book to people interested in similar books or genres.

24. Write and syndicate a press release

Create an informational press release announcing a new book. Link to both the new release product page and your own website for SEO purposes. Use a free press release distribution service to syndicate the press release to news websites and blogs.

25. Reach out to the local media

Email relevant media sites a pitch for a book and offer a free copy. Be sure to use a catchy subject line and opening sentence. Follow up by sending a press release and personalized letter with the book. Depending on your local market, local media is usually hungry for anything even remotely newsworthy. If they have the opportunity to do a puff piece on a local author, they will probably take it. Do a little research and find your local media outlets. Think paper, radio, and television. Send them an introductory email making sure you stress the fact that you are local. Include a press release or press kit if you have one.

26. Make each social media post visual

Tweets with images get 150% more retweets, and Facebook posts with images account for 87% of total interactions. Instead of text-only updates, include an image of the book’s cover or a teaser quote. This can encourage fans to click, share, or like. Tools and image libraries like Canva, Shutterstock, and iStock can help.

27. Run a participation contest

Have fans share your post, comment on a post, or like a post for a chance to win a free signed copy of a book or another fun prize, and cross-promote the contest on your other social media channels.

28. Host a Question & Answer session on Twitter

Create a hashtag for the Q&A session it can be a one-time occasion, or a monthly event. Promote the Q&A ahead of time so your fans know to either block the time in their calendar or schedule their tweets to post during the Q&A.

29. Build an author street team

A street team is a group of fans that volunteer to promote an author. The goal of a street team is to incite word-of-mouth buzz for a book, and they’re motivated by their love of the author’s work. Some authors use Facebook groups to organize their street teams and recruit new members.

30. Participate in Online Discussions

Do a little research to find online forums and discussion groups where you can participate and do subtle (non-Spam) promotion of your book. For example, as a social psychologist, I contribute to several online forums where my perspective adds to the conversation. In several of my posts, I might reference an article that I wrote on the topic being discussed. Those who click through will find many mentions of my books. This is a way to build your reputation as an expert in your chosen field.

31. Link to your newest release

Find a high-visibility place to link to your book. Many authors choose to include links in their personal email signature, Twitter bio, Facebook page bio, About.me page, and LinkedIn bio. Update these assets whenever you release a new book.
Create a list of target keywords – Compile a list of of search queries that your target audience is using to search for books. Use tools like Google Trends and Google AdWords’ Keyword tool to see which relevant queries are frequently used.

32. Write reader personas

Write a short paragraph that describes each core group of readers you’re targeting. Refer back to it whenever you’re creating an ad, designing a cover, writing a tweet, or want a refresh on your audience’s motives.

33. Survey your target audience

Ask questions about demographics, psycho-graphics, and online behavior so you can better understand where to market to readers and what messaging they’ll respond to. Survey your existing audience and fans of comparable authors and books.

34. Conduct reader interviews

Learn how your readers find new books to read and make their purchasing decisions. This will add qualitative color that can help you understand the quantitative survey data you analyze in spreadsheets.

35. Create an author website

Your site should be a marketing tool that serves as the hub of all your online activity, from blogging to selling books to emailing a newsletter to participating in social media.

36. Link to your published books

Create a site page linking to your books to make it easy for readers to discover all the titles you’ve written. Include cover images, brief elevator pitches, and links to multiple retailers so readers can purchase your books wherever they shop.

37. Claim your social media profiles

Grab your username on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and About.me. Even if you don’t have active profiles on each site, at least claim your name and direct people who visit to your most active social media profile instead.

38. Tie different versions of a book together

Different authors and platforms use different systems, but find a way to connect a print edition with the ebook, audiobook, and international editions. This ensures that visitors to the product page can easily purchase the format they prefer.

39. Make books available globally

With growing book sales and millions of readers, international markets can be attractive targets for authors and publishers looking to expand their potential readership. Optimize the cover design for each region and reach out to relevant local bloggers who can help spread the word.

40. Create a Goodreads profile

Goodreads is a massive social network of readers. It’s a place people go to share what they’re reading and it has been known for making certain authors’ careers.

41. Make books available for pre-order

Driving pre-order sales can help a book hit various bestseller lists, since many retailers count all pre-orders as launch day sales. They also help build buzz and momentum for a new book, which can help lead to word-of-mouth sales later.

42. Send a digital gift pack to readers who pre-order

Sending swag packs via mail can get expensive, so digital gift packs can be a great alternative. This could include exclusive content like short stories, author commentary, deleted scenes, or high-resolution posters.

43. Offer free copies to Amazon top reviewers

One of the quickest ways to get reviews for your new book is to approach reviewers of any of your previous books with a free copy and a polite request. If you are a first-time author, you could look up Amazon’s top reviewers and shortlist the ones who have reviewed books from your genre. While Amazon does not support reviews for pre-order books, if you have released a paperback version of your book and linked it to your unreleased ebook, any reviews posted for the paperback will copy over to your ebook. This way, your book will be ready with social proof right from the day it is launched. You can also promote your pre-release book among Goodread’s network of over 65 million members through a featured giveaway. Goodreads allows reviews to be posted for pre-release books. Take note that even though Amazon owns Goodreads, reviews posted on one site cannot be migrated to the other. As a rule of thumb, contact four times as many reviewers as the number of reviews you are aiming for. Follow up at least once, preferably a week or two after your first email.

44. Continue publishing new books

Nothing sells backlist like frontlist! Continually publishing new books will help you garner a wider audience that will be interested in your other books.

45. Be Proud to Promote Your Book

The best way to start building awareness about your book is to start telling people about it yourself! After all, if you are not going to plug your own book, how do you expect anyone else to help promote it and spread the word for you? It is a massive accomplishment to publish a book and it’s something you should be proud enough about to shout from the rooftops. I started by telling my friends, family, and people I work with and exercise with at the gym. You’ll be surprised how much momentum this can get you if you do it well. Word of mouth is the all time best form of marketing. People tell their friends who tell their friends, and that’s how it all starts!

Content Source and Special Thanks to Bookbub.com and eBookit.com and other sources.

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