3 Effective Ways to Market Your Books Online bookbooster.net/3-effective-ways-market-your-books-online April 22, 2021
So you’ve just written and published your own book. If you are like many writers today – especially new ones – then you’ve gone and self-published your own book.
Now, you’re kind of sitting back and waiting for the magic to happen. The thing is that the magic has to come from you. And it’s time to get the ball rolling – the key is to get it moving faster and faster until all the momentum turns your book project into a phenomenal success.
Wearing the new glove of book marketing For most writers, the notion of marketing and promoting your book is a foreign entity. You don’t know which foot to put forward.
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Suddenly, you’re called upon to learn new skills and immediately put them to work. While you may not be so comfortable wearing that new glove of marketing, the good news is that marketing and sales are by far the highest-paid professions in the world.
Three great online book marketing methods Even if you do not think that you’re a promotor and salesperson, you do have the ability to influence and persuade – all of us do – that’s a fact. Now is a great time to put those natural skills to work. The thing is that some of them may not feel like selling, and that’s a good thing. A perfect place for the new book marketer to get started is on the Internet. There are just too many online avenues today that are just bursting at the seams with active people. This is why online book marketing methods are a wonderful place to begin your book promotions. Create your own blog or website I assume that you’re looking at writing books as a long-term activity. If this is the case, then you must have your own author website. The entire foundation of your book publishing operation should rest on your this website. Your website should feature you and your work. Every one of your books needs to have its own webpage which is devoted entirely to that book. The book cover needs to be prominently displayed, and several links to where the book can be purchased should be scattered throughout. Finally, your website needs to have a powerful bio section. Post a pleasant endearing picture of yourself along with a brief history of your work and life. Above all, make your bio interesting and fun to read. Establish social media channels You will also need to create a presence on some of the major social media sites. Use your author name on those sites along with a link to your author website. You must use the same picture of yourself that is posted on your website. The idea here is to create yourself as a brand. You begin doing this by having consistent graphics, bios, and pictures of yourself on all of your online channels. I would use 2-3 of only the major social sites because the daily volume and activity are insane. As to which ones to use is a personal choice. I prefer using Twitter and Pinterest myself, but I know people who love Instagram and Facebook. The important thing is not to bury yourself in too many accounts because social media can gobble up vast amounts of your personal time very quickly.
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You begin building your presence by sharing great information on those channels that would entice your future readers. If you write science fiction, then you start following other people who like sci-fi and sharing sci-fi articles, videos, and images with them. Over time, you will slowly build an audience that will love the books you write. Don’t spam them – be fair – share the books written by other people too. Promote your books no more than one of every six or seven posts. And these should not be a hard sell, just let them know what it’s about and nothing more – let them decide. It will take some time to build these channels – so be patient. Craft a riveting blurb about your book Take some time to write an enticing blurb about your book of around 200-250 words. In this blurb, you want to let readers know what it’s about and why they should read it. Don’t worry about selling the story; just describe its most exciting aspects and let that draw them in. After working on this blurb for a while, set it aside for a few days. Now come back, read the words and gauge their effect on you. Make any necessary edits and set it aside again for a few days. Keep doing this until you are happy with the result. Now you have a compelling message to use in all of your marketing material about your book. You can post this message out to your social media followers, along with an image of the book cover. And you could “pin” this post in those accounts like Twitter that allow pinning – so that it’s the first thing people see in your profile.
Final thoughts If you take the time to set up your own author website, your social media accounts and craft a riveting blurb about your book, then you can slowly begin to build your book writing empire. Understand that these are not overnight methods. They are long-term online book marketing methods, and they require persistence. Maintain a blueprint in your mind about your book marketing operation, and see all traffic flowing toward your author website. And then that website drives all traffic toward your book sales pages – like Amazon, Kobo, etc. After this system is in place, you can eventually use some of your profits to build other marketing campaigns that are more aggressive.
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