You’ve finished your book and can’t wait to show it to the world. You could share the news on your Facebook, but there are other ways to share your book with a large number of potential readers.
Understand Your Audience
To market your book you have to consider your audience. Ask yourself these questions: If readers were to buy your book, how would they know about it? Is there a newsletter with book recommendations? Is there a popular YouTuber who shares newly released books in your genre? It’s up to you to seek these out so you can tap into a marketing space that will increase your sales.
Create an Author Website
The best and easiest place to market your book is on your own website. Anyone interested in your profile will learn about your new book, your past publications, and establish your credentials as an author. Not sure how to create an author website? Check out our previous post, How to Build an Author Website.
Build Your Author Social Media
Your social media is a great way to reach potential readers. There are various literary groups that can help boost your profile or share your book with readers. Hashtags are a great way to reach out to a community of readers. For tips and examples check out our blog post, Navigating Social Media as a Writer.
Grow an Opt-In Based Email List
This is where your author website comes in handy. You can add a feature where your website visitors can sign up for emails from you. Many authors create newsletters that they will send once or twice a month that covers what they are reading and updates about their life. You can use this email list to promote your book. Authors will often provide a link for people to pre-order the book and continue promoting the book once it is released.
Ask for Book Reviews
Encourage your readers to leave a review on Goodreads or Amazon (a great place to ask would be through the newsletter!). There is a large number of readers on Goodreads and the reviews have an effect on whether someone will buy the book or not. Many people turn to Amazon as their primary bookseller so if your readers review the book, more people may buy it.
When considering reviewers within media, you’ll find that many publications cater to your audience. For example, if your book is about cats, it would be ideal to have your book highlighted in a cat magazine since you both share the same audience.
Pitch, Publish, Sell
The best way to market your book is to be your own advocate. You completed a huge task. Make sure you receive the recognition you deserve.
To gain in-depth advice, consider enrolling in Exisle Academy’s Pitch, Publish, Sell program. This fully-online course gives you instant access to written and video modules designed to help you successfully navigate the business side of publishing as a first-time author.
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