So, congratulations on publishing your first book, all the time and effort you invested in writing and publishing your book has finally paid off.
It’s now time to get your book into the hands of potential readers. It is time to promote your book.
The one question you need to ask yourself even before publishing your first book is, ‘How do I promote my book?’
It doesn’t matter if you’re a self-published author or your book was published by a traditional publisher, one thing is certain: You need to promote your book. Since this is your first book, chances are, your publisher might not be a big name in the industry and may not have the marketing budget to promote your book the way you would have desired.
Plus, most times, all publishers do is to publish and distribute your book, or send out a press release. They hardly promote. If you leave the task of promoting your book to your publisher, you might have to wait for a very long time.
If you want your book to be a bestseller, you have to roll up your sleeves and put in the work. You have to start thinking like a SMART MARKETER.
Fortunately for you, in this post, we are going to let you in on top of the line strategies you can use to promote your first book. And they are not just cooked up strategies; they have been used by bestselling authors to promote their books.
Before we dive in, let us take a brief look at THREE THINGS you need to get right to ensure that your book sells well when you start promoting it. They are:
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- Is your book good enough? Did you use the services of a beta reader to get appropriate feedback on the readability and saleability of your book?
- Does your book cover have the quality to attract potential readers? Was it designed by a professional or you did it yourself? A dull and boring book cover can kill your marketing and sales potential.
- Do you have a captivating book description? You need to put all your efforts into writing a book description that will serve as a hook for your potential readers.
Now that you’re certain that your book has these three essential attributes, without further delay, let’s begin!
Here Are Some Fail-Proof Ways To Promote Your New Book And Get Desired Results.
1. Use Listing Tools On Amazon
If you want to maximize sales for your first book, then you need to leverage the sales opportunity provided by Amazon. To do this, ensure that you select an ideal category backed up with the right keywords to increase the discoverability of your book by potential readers.
Most importantly, make sure you publish your book in Kindle and paperback ebook format and make sure you insert different keywords for each category. This will improve the search results your book gets when potential readers search for it.
If you choose to subscribe to Amazon Kindle Publishing Direct Review (KDP), ensure that you take advantage of all the promotional tools that come with the program. You can set up a countdown for your book, you can set up a free book day, and if you have the funds, you can run Amazon ads.
2. Use Goodreads
The primary focus of Goodreads is to link authors and readers. Passionate readers search for books on Goodreads; they also have the privilege to follow the author of the book and ask questions on the go. Goodreads also provides a free author program that you can use to target and reach your ideal audience. Here are some benefits you’ll get from the Goodreads author program.
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- Create awareness for your upcoming events, like, speaking engagements, book signings, etc.
- You get a free blog to share content and promote your book
- You can show off your reviews from Goodreads on your website by adding the Goodreads author widget on your website.
- You get the chance to promote your book to a community of over 50 million users on Goodreads. And you can target more localized audiences with the help of translation and localization services from The Word Point.
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As a new author, and for promoting your first book, Goodreads is an invaluable tool. Even established authors still benefit a lot from the amazing opportunities provided by Goodreads.
3. Don’t Neglect Twitter
No doubt, Twitter can be a lifesaver when it comes to promoting your new book. You can promote your book by sharing tweets of your book and book cover together with links to your account on Amazon. You can join groups that comprise of authors and readers alike; they can help retweet your post and create more awareness for your new book.
You can also run Twitter Ads to target your ideal audience and get your book in front of them. You can always set your budget limit for your Ads, so it’s not necessarily expensive, it all depends on the budget limit you set. You only pay when your posts are re-tweeted, liked, replied, etc.
4. Build A Free Author’s Website
You can use free content management tools like WordPress or Wix to build your blog or website and use it to promote your book and share your story. You can also use your website to create a mailing list and engage them at intervals. You can also link to all your other profiles and platforms from your website. Here is an example of an author’s website from Romance author, Sherri Haye.
To know more about how you can easily create your author website, check here
5. Guest blog posts
A lot of people think that guest posts are no longer effective, but guess what, they are still very effective. Be sure to target blogs that are in your niche; they are more likely to have readers that would suit your ideal audience profile.
6. Facebook
Another fantastic social media platform you can use to promote your new book is Facebook. You need to be creative when using Facebook. Ensure to share your reviews from Amazon, Goodreads, and other platforms. To get maximum benefits from your book promotion on Facebook, create a separate ‘like page’ and use that page for promoting your book and running Facebook Ads. Make sure the like page is linked to your website or blog, as well.
You can also join author and reader groups on Facebook, but be careful not to spam the reader groups with your “buy my book’ posts. It has to be a gradual process of being an active member, and engaging yourself in group discussions, contributing to the community. Eventually, they get to like you and trust you, and they’ll be happy to support you. Author groups give you the opportunity to join heads with other authors.
7. Publish Free Sample Chapters
To give some readers reasons to buy your book, you can publish sample chapters for free. One good way to do this is to have sample chapters in PDF format and share them online. This way, readers who were reluctant to buy can see the value that they would get from buying your book.
In Closing
Promoting your first book doesn’t need to be difficult. First, make sure your book is very good to read, then write a killer book description. You can even have up to two or three variants of your book description for different platforms.
Make sure that you maximize the opportunities provided by Amazon. That would be a great place to start.
Most importantly, identify your ideal audience and use your creative noodles to gradually build the right community of people who are most likely to be interested in your book.
About the Author
Dominic Beaulieu is a gaming enthusiast turned tech writer who covers an impressive variety of topics like design, development process, game marketing, and helps developers with spreading the word about their creations. He is a fluent French speaker, who also has mastered Dutch, Norwegian, and Swedish. He has an experience in software translation, tech counseling, project management and digital marketing tailored for startups.
