Today’s post is by book marketing industry expert, Kelly Schuknecht.
Book marketing is an ongoing effort. Here are five ways to promote your book in April:
- April is National Poetry Month. If you have published a book of poetry, this is an excellent opportunity to take advantage of National Poetry Month events. Visit Poetry.org to find a full list of Poetry Month events.
- April 2nd is International Children’s Book Day. If you are a Children’s book author, call your local library and elementary school(s). Volunteer to read your book during storytime.
- Speaking of libraries, National Library Week is April 10-16. Contact your local library, offer to donate a free copy of your book.
- The London Book Fair takes place April 11-13. If you have not already made arrangements for your book to be represented this year, consider this opportunity for next year.
- April 22nd is Earth Day. If your book is about environment issues (or even if it’s not), contact your local schools and environmental agencies and ask about Earth Day events you can get involved with. Even if you are not directly promoting your book, you will be doing something to help the environment and networking with individuals who have similar interests.
DISCUSSION: How are you planning to promote YOUR book this month?
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ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht works as the Director of Author Support for Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog at http://kellyschuknecht.com. |
Self Publishing Advisor 
I read your article with interest. I thought I would share a plan with you and your readers. We are going to promote our novels by first publishing several books of short stories so readers can check out our writing style. These will be offered at very reasonable prices. We will follow that by publishing our novels at regular price. Hopefully our readers will enjoy the short story collections so much, they will come back for the novels.
Hi, Wodke:
That’s a great tip to share. Introducing your audience to your writing is a good route to take. If you don’t mind sharing, how do you plan to “market” these inexpensive copies to reach the widest audience?