How do you promote a book?
Putting your product in the hands (or ears, in the case of audiobooks) of potential clients is the most fundamental form of book marketing. According to Merriam-Webster, marketing may also be "an aggregate...of operations involved in transferring goods from producer to consumer." The word "aggregate" should serve as a warning because marketing a book will include much more than merely printing and selling. Fortunately, several of the steps we've outlined for booking promotions can be combined to cut down on time.
Here are some suggestions for promoting your book while you're writing it.
Get an experienced editor on board. You should have your book professionally edited once you've finished writing it and have done a self-edit. To get feedback on the material, you could want to send it to numerous beta readers. It could seem like editing is an afterthought, something your cousin's neighbor's dog walker is happy to do for you because he once got an A on an essay. Writers, pay attention! Just ask any author who has had to delete their book from Kindle or Kobo because of a flurry of unfavorable reviews that focused on the language and punctuation rather than the story.
The decision to hire a professional editor is not one to be taken lightly. Nevertheless, it plays a significant role in your book's entire marketing strategy. It serves no purpose to attempt to advertise something that no one will find appealing. Even worse, it can harm the standing of your author. You might have your professional editor edit a few chapters each pay month to spread out the cost more evenly if you don't have the entire sum available for editing. The worst-case scenario is when they decline, in which case you must decide whether you truly want to collaborate with that kind of editor.
You can go on to the formatting stage when your text has undergone a thorough editing process.
Plan out the layout of your book. JoEllen Nordstrom, the founder of FirstEditing.com, writes in her blog post "Marketing Your Manuscript" that if you want to portray a professional image when you try to market your manuscript, it needs to be correctly formatted and presented. The best method to format a manuscript is to think about where it will be sent next, whether it will be to a self-publishing platform, a top publishing house, or a marketing firm looking for representation.
The Chicago Manual of Style advises utilizing neutral formatting when sending your work to US-based publishing houses or marketers. Print the first page on letter-sized (8.5" x 11") paper. Next, choose one-inch margins all around. For chapter titles, headers, and subheadings throughout the document, the font size, capitalization, and whether or not the content is written in italics or roman are all constant (see CMOS for details). The fonts Garamond and Times New Roman are excellent examples of having "feet." Line spacing is double. There will be no white space and a half-inch indent between each paragraph. The right edge will appear "ragged" since the text is left-aligned rather than center-aligned.
For international publication, check with the book publishing services; they may prefer A4 paper and.33-inch paragraph indentations. The remainder is largely unchanged.
There are different formats for ePublisher uploads. It should be size 12 and still easier to read with feet than, say, Calibri. Line spacing can be closer, perhaps 1.5 or 1.15, because most writers prefer to center justify their works rather than alter them to the left. Some authors choose to leave a space between paragraphs these days rather than employ paragraph indentation (but not a blank line; use the Paragraph spacing option in MS Word for consistent spacing).
After you've organized your content, read it again to make sure you haven't missed anything that should be in italics, bold, or all caps. Highlighting and bolding tell publishers what should be in italics. Formatting mistakes are more likely to annoy a publisher or reader than to catch their attention.
creating a marketing plan
Spend some time creating a marketing strategy before, during, or after editing and formatting. If you don't have a plan, you'll be wasting time and money. You'll be working nonstop with little organization and probably little to no success.
Make a landing page so that people can learn more about you, your book, any contests or giveaways, and other things by visiting it. Include your author bio, book synopsis, schedule for publication, invites to live or recorded book launch events, and, of course, all of your social media links. Don't forget to provide a link to the book's ordering page as well!
Social media activity: Include links to your social media pages and, after your book is published, a buy page link. Cross-reference all of your social media profiles; for instance, link your LinkedIn profile and Twitter account, your YouTube channel and Instagram page, and so forth.
Inform your personal network: Simply ask them to help you promote the book by letting your friends, family, coworkers, and following know it is coming out in advance. Hosting in-person or online Zoom parties (after the outbreak has passed) could make it more fun (where people come into the call and say nice things about you and share happy memories about how you know each other).
Make the following preparations in advance of book reviews: There are several deadlines for magazines, trade journals, podcasters, radio stations, and media reviewers to receive an advance copy of your book to read and assess. In order for their review to publish at the same time as yours, you should plan it accordingly.
Create an editorial calendar: Put your matchmaker hat on and relate the theme or protagonist of your book to current affairs. For instance, you might promote a book about parents for Mother's Day, a romance novel for Valentine's Day, or if your protagonist is a pirate, you might sell your book on September 19, International Talk Like a Pirate Day! You get the idea.
There is a wealth of information in the Mermaid Publishers blog post "How To Promote Your Book - Marketing Tips For Self-published Authors," which may be condensed into a few essential categories.
Establish your target audience so you can communicate with the right people. The need of targeted marketing may seem obvious in the modern world, yet it still needs to be emphasised. Promote your book to those who aren't likely to buy it instead of wasting your time, money, or energy.
Write a succinct book description to convince your intended audience to buy your book. Take a look at the back cover blurb. In the past, reading a book involved first looking at the cover and then turning it over to read the back. Bring them in so you can seal the deal there. If the cover image says pick me up, the book's description says to buy me.
Online marketing to the entire world; in-person marketing to a local audience. Work with the owner to learn from their expertise what makes a good in-person book launch when it's safe to perform debuts at neighborhood bookstores once more. Never be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone (some writers prefer pen and paper to people). rely on their understanding.
developing a marketing plan for nonfiction
In an interview with KindlePreneur Dave Chesson, JoEllen Nordstrom discusses the three main phases of selling an eBook.
- Phase 1: Plan, outline, and write your book after conducting research on the market, your rivals, and effective writing techniques.
- Choosing a title, subtitle, book cover design, description, editor, keywords, categories, author page data, bio description, and how to sell on Amazon, Kobo, and other platforms are all part of Phase 2: Putting Your Book Together.
- Phase 3: Launching Your Book covers how to track book sales, contact followers, use book marketing sites, make advertisements, gather reviews, produce a press release, and network with other authors.
goes even further by giving a printable checklist and five stages for marketing your nonfiction book.
Step 1: Write the main idea of your nonfiction book
Step 2: Double-check that your book description is flawless.
Step 3: Create a platform
Step 4: Promote and advertise your book.
Step 5: Ensure that your subscribers are well after (and monetize them)
Conclusion
Even while writing, editing, and formatting your book are crucial, you won't likely reach many readers or listeners if you don't promote it. Before writing your book, during its editing or formatting, or even as you're writing or revising it, you can begin preparing your marketing strategy. Write your query letter, author profile, and summary in advance. Make a social media presence for the book as well as a website. Understand your target audience and the best ways to contact them. Make a list of your best supporters, both personally and professionally, and solicit their assistance in spreading the word about your book. Create a launch event that people will want to attend. Do not forget to have fun!
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