What are YOU doing to get the word out for your book? If you’re a self-publishing author—and especially if you’re serious about your writing career, and want to publish more books, build up a following, and make money on book sales—marketing should be a serious concern for you.
Not all marketing has to cost money. Being active on your social media page, for example, can bring you a lot of readers and awareness. You can host a giveaway on your Facebook page to encourage people to like and share your page. Make sure you post frequently to social media—most tools suggest at least once per day, depending on which platform you use. If you have an author website (which should be one of four things you absolutely need to do!), make sure that your links to your Facebook, Twitter, and other social media accounts are working.
For the first-time self-publishing author, realizing that marketing goes hand-in-hand with a successful author career might be frustrating. Really, though, actively pursuing multiple marketing methods is the only way to sell your books. They won’t sell on their own—at least not at first—not until you have set up a loyal reader following and fan base. This is why it’s critical to work in marketing as part of your daily routine to boost your book sales.
If You’re Not on Social MediA . . .
The best and easiest ways to connect with your reader base is using the power of the Internet. But perhaps social media isn’t your thing. Have you spoken with local bookstore owners to sell your books? Have you entered your books in book fairs or contests? How about a book launch, where you sign and sell copies of your book at local or regional events? How about giving away copies of your book, with the stipulation that people read and write a review—soon, like within a month? (This is the method my client Jason Taylor Morgan used with his novel The Red Field, and secured him several reviews immediately after the book was published.)
Getting your self-publishing career going takes a lot of time and effort as far as marketing your work and building up your fan base, especially at the beginning. But trust me when I say: It’s all worth it in the end.
In the end, it’s up to you: Will you sit back and let your book languish . . . or will you stand up and fight for people to read your story?
Book editor Kristen Hamilton is the owner and sole employee of Kristen Corrects, Inc., where she provides manuscript editing services for traditionally and self-publishing authors. Several authors whose books she has edited have won awards and have topped Amazon’s best sellers lists.
Reading is Kristen’s passion, so when the workday is over, she can usually be found curled up with a good book alongside her four cats. She loves watching cat videos and scary movies, eating pizza, teaching herself French, and traveling, and she is likely planning her next vacation. She lives outside of Boise, ID.