Do You Have A Plan For Marketing Your Book?

 

Do you have a marketing plan for your book? I have a heck of a time with marketing and do not have a plan. I am very hit and miss, promoting through my newsletter (which has a very low readership), Facebook (through posts, not through paid advertising), Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. So I am semi-organized, but yet to see results. My goal is to support myself through my writing, so something has to give here. There has to be some kind of "Aha!" moment that allows me to move to the other side with promoting my work, to make it part of my overall plan for my books, and to have my promotions be supportive of me, So what should I be looking at?

The first thing that you need (aside from a book or books to promote!) is a website. I use free templates, you may choose to have someone do your website for you. It all depends on what your budget is. What do you want to include on your website? 

• A signup link for your newsletter. (Yes, you need a newsletter! I use Mail Chimp.)
• An updated author's bio. (I hate writing my own bio!)
• A page where you list your books, with a short synopsis, and a link for purchasing.
• Your social media links.

Make sure that your social media on all platforms is branded - that it all works together, that you are using the same headshot and bio. Include a link to your newsletter, and to your blog. (My blog is separate from my website, many people include a blog on their website.) 

When working with your newsletter you may want to send a sequence of automated e-mails that act as autoresponders to new subscribers. Provide some kind of sign-up incentives, such as a PDF or other form of downloadable content. 

You can also promote through podcasting, although this is an area that I am not currently making use of. You can also do live broadcasts on Facebook and Instagram. 

Make sure that you have an Amazon author's page, and that it contains all of the information on your work, including links. You can also include your blog and Twitter feeds, and videos.

Get sneaky! On the last page of your book (whether e-book or hard copy) include a link to your website and promotions for your other books. 

This is just a start, but I think that it is a fairly good start. Make a list of what you want to do, and organize that list by priority. You are a writer, and writing is a business. Make your business flourish!

(c) June 2021 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission of the author.