Finding the Best Book Marketing Strategy for You

Congratulations on finishing your book! This is a huge accomplishment, and you should be very proud. But what’s next? How do you market your work and ring up those book sales? You need a great book marketing strategy! Here are eight ideas to consider as you get started:

• Create a website or blog.
• Meet your target audience.
• Go to conventions.
• Solicit book reviews.
• Hold a preorder campaign.
• Hold a reorder campaign.
• Speak on a podcast.
• Use publishing platforms.

Even if you only master a few of these tools, you are setting yourself up for success.

Create a website or blog

The world is becoming digital. People search for everything online—including their next favorite book! To be a successful author, you need a strong online presence. Your target audience is out there searching the web. And if it can’t find you, you’re missing out on book sales.

Whether you’re concentrating on selling e-books, print books, or both, creating an author website or a blog will help you succeed.

Using a website or blog to drive your book marketing

One of the biggest tools that writers use to promote themselves and their work is their author website. Your website is a crucial part of your book marketing strategy.

This is your opportunity to create a custom platform that explains who you are, what your work means, and why your target audience should purchase and enjoy your work.

The blog section of your author website is also very important. Every blog post is a portal to communicate with your potential readers. You can explain why your work is important to you and how your audience can access your book.

Promoting your book on your website or blog

Your author website should promote your book and let your target audience know how to purchase it. Include articles relevant to your book topic to give readers an educated view of what you’ve written about. You can even add a book review or two about your work!

Developing an online presence as an author

The best way to develop a strong online presence as an author is to cover as many platforms as possible. Set up your author website. Write at least one blog per month—even request a guest post authored by a colleague or a related source so that they appear on your site and you can appear on theirs.

And don’t forget about social media! Link your Facebook and Twitter accounts to your author website so that your target readers have easy access to you. They’re out there looking—you just need to draw them in!

Meet your audience

Every successful author needs to understand their target audience. Who will read your book? Why are they interested in your topic? Where will they access your work—via print or through an online source like Amazon? Once you identify your target readers, you can get out there and meet them.

Marketing your book to your target audience

Your book marketing strategy must include ways to interact with your target audience. Determine who will read your book, and then figure out how to market to them. Ask yourself a few questions:

• Is your audience active on social media?
• Do your potential readers prefer personal or digital communication?
• Will you have better success reaching your target audience online or in person—such as at a book launch?

The answers to these questions will lay the groundwork for you to create a successful book marketing strategy. And successful marketing means book sales!

Meeting your audience in person

In-person communication with your target audience is fun and exciting. You can contact venues like your local bookstores to hold book signing and book launch events.

Also look for venues related to your topic. For instance, if you’ve written a novel that takes place in your hometown, ask a representative of your local history museum if you can hold a book signing or launch at their facility.

Book fairs and conventions are also great places to meet your audience in person. These tend to be large events that give authors and readers access to each other. Face-to-face marketing is always important, and it helps your audience get to know you.

Meeting your audience online

Fortunately, the internet is a great resource for reaching your target audience. Here are a few ways to introduce yourself to potential new readers online:

• Set up your author website, and get blogging! This gives your readers a glimpse into who you are.
• Use social media to your advantage. Post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and any other platforms you have access to. And don’t forget to link your posts to your author website!
• Hold webinars and question/answer sessions where you can interact with your audience in real time. Let your readers get to know you as an author so that they can follow your entire career.

Go to conventions

Conventions, tradeshows, and book fairs are great ways to put yourself in front of your audience. These events, which generally last three or four days, give you and your readers access to each other. Although sometimes financially costly, these events can play a key role in your book marketing plan.

Promoting your book at conventions, tradeshows, and book fairs

As an author, you can register to exhibit at a convention, tradeshow, or book fair. This is a great way to promote your book because you’ll have instant access to all the attendees. And in larger book events, that number can reach the thousands!

These events will also offer marketing ideas and opportunities—such as advertising your book throughout the venue and in publications created by the event organizer. Added publicity helps drive book sales. So if you have the budget, try to include this in your book marketing plan.

Making the most of conventions for your book marketing

Conventions get your name out there. They also get you out there! In the months and weeks leading up to the event, be sure to consistently post the event information on all your social media platforms.

And if you have a well-designed book cover and book trailer, post those too! People love visuals. The more eye-catching your book is, the more attention you’ll draw—to your convention exhibit, your website, your book, and yourself!

Solicit book reviews

Every online book review can be a gold mine of information. Readers explain what they loved about your work—or sometimes what they didn’t love.

But even negative reviews have a positive effect on your book sales. And just because one person didn’t thoroughly enjoy your story doesn’t mean that it won’t enamor many others!

Whether you’re an established writer or starting out as an indie author, book reviews are vital to your book promotion.

Soliciting reviews for your book

It can be awkward to ask for a book review. So start small! Ask your family and friends to review your work online and across social media. Contact local bookstores that are selling your book, and request that they write reviews.

Don’t forget to ask your reviewers to include an image of your book cover or a link to your book trailer—anything you might have in your book marketing package. Reviews with visual representation of your work will grab more attention!

Using book reviews for effective book marketing

People love to read reviews. And they trust the reviews! Think about it: a reader is willing to take time out of their day to craft a review and post their thoughts about your work. This is excellent marketing at no cost to you. Each and every book review is added publicity for your work.

In addition to promoting your book, online reviews help promote you as an author. Every time someone posts a book review about your book, your name is posted on the internet for countless people to see.

The more you can get your name out there, the more successful you’ll be—both with book sales and overall author brand recognition.

Getting your book reviewed

You only need two main things before you can solicit a book review:

1. A completed book
2. Family and friends willing to post a review

Once the first few reviews are online, you should be off to the races! Post excerpts from the reviews on your author website and social media. Use every book review as a tool to promote your book. Before you know it, your name will be everywhere!

Hold a preorder campaign

Do you want to create early buzz about your book before it’s even published and printed? A preorder campaign might be the answer!

This marketing strategy builds publicity and excitement about your book prior to the actual book launch date. The buzz and mystery of a new author or new release can attract many people, so a preorder campaign can really boost your book sales.

Getting a jumpstart with a preorder campaign

A preorder campaign is pretty self-explanatory. It’s an aspect of your book marketing plan that allows the members of your target audience to purchase your book before it’s actually available. They are reserving a copy of your work so that they can be the first to read it.

Publishing companies love preorder campaigns because these help give them a reasonable understanding of the book sales. If you have a lot of books ordered during your preorder period, you’ll likely sell a lot of copies over time.

And these campaigns work for all types of books: whether fiction or nonfiction, digital or printed. They are also effective for all authors, whether you’re a career writer or a first-time indie author. Regardless of your topic or level of experience, a preorder campaign helps boost your book marketing strategy.

Using preorder campaigns to find book marketing success as a new author

New authors usually have to do more grunt work than established writers. And that’s OK—it’s worth it! Preorder campaigns create early buzz about your work. You can write about them in blog posts on your author website. You can post about them on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Blast your email list with information about your launch date and preorder period. This is a fun and exciting way to promote your book, so take advantage of it!

Hold a reorder campaign

Just like a preorder campaign, a reorder campaign can do wonders for your book promotion. You can coordinate the reorder campaign several years after your initial book launch to rejuvenate interest and excitement about your book.

Sparking new interest through a reorder campaign

A reorder campaign can refresh your target audience and boost your book sales. It can also be an opportunity to launch your book on a platform such as Amazon if you relied on traditional publishing for the original launch.

Using the right tools to promote your reorder campaign

Your author website and social media platforms are easy and accessible tools to promote your reorder campaign. You can write blogs and even launch a Facebook ad campaign. But did you know that email marketing is also important?

You’ve worked extremely hard writing your book and creating a marketing strategy to generate book sales. Over time, you’ve updated your email list to include new readers. So to promote your reorder campaign, make sure to contact everyone on that list to garner and regain interest.

Attracting new readers through a reorder campaign

Reorder campaigns regenerate interest and excitement in your book. They also put your work in front of new members of your target audience who might not have been aware of your original book launch.

Put your reorder campaign information out on Facebook and Twitter. Ask your friends, family, and existing fans to help. Before you know it, you’ll be ringing up those book sales!

Speak on a podcast

Podcasts are a great communication tool. Many people use them as sources for news, information, and entertainment. Speaking on a podcast is also a wonderful way for all writers—established and new authors alike—to promote their careers and work.

Featuring as a podcast guest to promote your book

Speaking on a podcast helps establish you as a serious author. Podcasts generally feature thought leaders and exciting newcomers. That means that the listeners can trust the person they’re listening to.

Podcasts are also great ways to show your personality and speak directly to your target audience—almost a verbal author bio. This can be a wonderful tool to help with your book promotion.

Choosing podcasts on which to promote your book

All podcasts can help promote authors and their books. But there are countless podcasts and topics available to the public. So which ones should you focus on? Start small at first, and then go big.

Look for podcasts that are relevant to your book, to your overall presence as a member of the writing community, or to your target audience’s interests. If your target audience will find you in a podcast, then go for it!

Begin with podcasts directly related to the topics you’ve written about in your book. From there, branch out to more general subjects. Once you’re a well-known and established author, you can promote your book on just about any podcast out there!

Publish on book publishing platforms

The internet is a huge resource for authors and readers. Publishing your book online is just another way to build your online presence. Book publishing platforms are available for you to put your work in front of people—and to help market your book.

Understanding publishing platforms

Book publishing platforms help launch your book to the public and to retailers. Publishing platforms are online resources that provide your target audience with easy access to your book. Some of the larger publishers are household names. These include Amazon, Apple, and Kobo.

Keep in mind that different publishing platforms have different formatting requirements. For instance, Amazon and Apple might have unique templates that you must follow. This may seem like a frustrating step, but it will be worth it when you see how many copies of your book can sell on these platforms.

Publishing your book on a publishing platform can be a huge boost to your brand recognition as an author. And it can really help ring up your book sales! Your target audience has likely purchased books through these platforms before. So what are you waiting for? Get on these platforms!

Using beneficial features on publishing platforms

Many publishing platforms include built-in book promotion tools, such as social media posts and book review software. Some platforms will let you advertise their services on your own author website, which helps lend credibility to your site and your reputation as an author.

Book publishing platforms have multiple resources to help market your book. But they can also benefit your wallet! Many of these platforms will pay you royalties for every copy of your work that they sell on their websites. This means that you can just sit back and wait for the money to roll in!

Get marketing—and get noticed!

You now have a handful of good ideas for marketing your book. And even if they’re not all in your wheelhouse, that’s OK! Choose a few that you’re comfortable with, and branch out once you’ve mastered them.

Your path to success will be much easier with a trusted partner to help you along the way. Find out how Elite Authors can help solidify your place in the world of professional writing!