Today’s post is by book marketing industry expert, Kelly Schuknecht.
There is a lot of advice out there about how to promote your book. Of course you should read everything you can get your hands on, try new things and challenge yourself. However, as the author of your book, ONLY you know best what your book is about, who your target audience is and how to reach them. Take all of the tips and advice you read from the marketing experts and tailor them for your own book marketing plan.
Marketing experts will often provide general marketing ideas – these are not meant to be “one size fits all.” Don’t waste time on one marketing effort just because a marketing expert said it is effective. Take it as a general suggestion and think about whether or not it is a good fit for your book and your target audience. If you aren’t sure, try it and then evaluate whether it worked or not. If not, move on to another tactic. If it did produce results, do more of it. Take what works and make it work MORE.
Book marketing is an ongoing effort. If you want to increase your books sales, you should constantly be evaluating what you are doing, what is working and what is not.
What is your best marketing tip? Share it with us in the comment section below and include the title and genre of your book.
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.
Today’s post is by book marketing industry expert, Kelly Schuknecht.
A Tag on Amazon is a keyword or category label that customers can add. Tags can help customers find similar items on Amazon. For example, adding Tags to the listing for your book on Amazon can help customers find your book when they are searching the Tags for similar books.
You can find the Tag section within a listing on Amazon towards the bottom of the page. Here’s an example of the Tags associated with the book 33 Million People in the Room:
As a customer, you can click the existing Tags and add your own Tags, up to 15 per item. As you can see, customers have Tagged this book as “facebook,” “internet marketing,” “social media marketing,” “twitter,” and several other things. The first Tag, “facebook,” shows that this book has been Tagged “facebook” by 46 customers on Amazon.
After reading this book, a customer might be interested in reading more books about Facebook. Clicking on the “facebook” Tag will open up a new page of all products that have been Tagged “facebook” (currently 585 products).
On the left side the customer can narrow the search results by other popular Tags. For example, if the customer wanted to read more about marketing on Facebook, they could select “internet marketing” and narrow the results to 101 products. The results might give the customer a few ideas of books they might want to read, such as:
As an author, make sure your book is Tagged on Amazon with a number of keywords that will help potential readers locate your book. Look at the Tags for similar books to be sure you are using the same Tags, when appropriate.
Post a comment below and tell me about the Tags you’ve added for your book.
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.
Imagine being looked to as an expert in your field. Everyone will want a copy of your book when it’s published, right? If only it were that easy…well, now it can be! As a blogger, you can potentially gain an unbelievable online following of folks in your target market who will likely be interested in buying your book. Blogging is a no-brainer when it comes to marketing your self-published book. But way more than a handful of authors are missing the boat on this highly successful tactic.
Why? Many self-publishing authors are afraid of blogging. As a matter of fact, many don’t know what a blog is. However, if you intend to be successful at the whole “book publishing thing”, you have to learn this trick to gaining exposure — especially since blogging has been called “the most important thing an author should do to promote a book“.
Think of a blog as an online journal. In it, you can share your own thoughts while getting only as personal as you feel comfortable. As an author, though, you are able to write about topics related to your book. If you are a fiction author, a blog related to fiction books is a great idea. If you have written your own self-help book, share your expertise in mini-digests on your blog. Either way, be sure to post something interesting to get readers involved.
But, won’t I feel like I’m talking to myself? That is precisely how you will feel in the beginning. Many times it can takes months (or maybe even years) for your blog to be found and gain a steady readership. This won’t last forever. The best way to approach it is to think of when you’re planning on self-publishing a book. Are you 100% sure that people will read it? Of course not, but you keep writing because you have faith in your own success. Why should your blog be any different?
Wait a minute…so how do I even sign up for a blog? That’s a great question, and it’s one that someone else answers much more easily and efficiently than I do. So, here’s a video to help you learn more:
The above video walks you through the steps of signing up for a Blogger blog. There are several other platforms, but this is the least expensive and you can even completely personalize it by purchasing your own domain for it, which I highly recommend.
Once a self-publishing author gets started blogging, there are a few rules of thumb that must be following in order to be successful (skipping either of these is NOT recommended). I’ve listed the basics out for you below, but you may learn even more on a site like Blogging Tips:
Define your niche early on and stick to it. The key here is to define yourself as an expert. That cannot be done if you’re talking about everything in your life all at once. Stay focused, and you will be surprised at the results.
Come up with a posting schedule early on and stick to it. Post consistently, even if you’re only posting once per week. Try to schedule all of your posts around the same time.
Use the “schedule post” feature that is available in your blogging software. You may not always be available at 8:15 am, but you want to remain consistent. So, instead of publishing your post right away, schedule it for sometime it for 8:15 am the next day so that you can be sure to have content up when your reader is looking for it.
Purchase your own domain for the blog. This is SUPER important (I’m having a feeling of déjà vu here — didn’t I already say this?) You have to craft your own identity online if you want to be seen as an expert. The #1 ingredient for that identity is branding (aka – your own domain name).
Participate in discussions on your blog. Make sure you post follow up comments to users who comment on your blog posts. This is crucial to networking and building strong relationships with your readers.
The above advice is just the tip of the iceberg. There is quite a bit to learn about successful blogging. However, you shouldn’t feel overwhelmed because you can learn as you go. There are so many resources out there to help you, so get to blogging!
DISCUSSION: Are you an author with a blog? How has this help you build your brand and sell more books?
Successful book promotion involves both online and offline sales. There are a number of progressive online book marketing tools available for the self-publishing author today, but the tried and true book signing or media event remains quite viable and a lot of fun. Here we’ll take a look at a 3 part approach to promote your book through media events.
Media events and public appearances can fall into any number of categories and include any number of venues (bookstores, radio interviews, television interviews, writing group speeches, presentations, chat room interviews, public forums, and more).
First things first: identify possible venues. You may begin searching media events through your local bookstore. Local bookstores will often collect event calendars and maintain a list of contact people who provide those opportunities.
Media contacts often send announcements of upcoming events. Keep tabs on those listings and note if any relate in any way to your book content. It’s generally easy to develop correlations and tailor your approach to make your presentation applicable. When contact information is available take the first step and approach the organizer.
The art of selling—be prepared to promote yourself and your work. The true art of selling is bringing helpful and enriching information to people’s lives. In that light, sales takes on nobility. Be proud of promoting. You may not close the deal every time, but be sure to follow-up with every prospective media venue to confirm dates. Selling yourself and your book is a numbers game, and as any salesperson will tell you, the amount of contact is directly proportionate to the amount of sales. Be persistent without being annoying. If, after three or four unsuccessful attempts with a particular venue, move on to another prospect.
Finally, your self-publishing firm may offer assistance. Be sure to check with your representative.
Digital technology provides a virtually unlimited number of ‘Ezines’ straight to our computer screens, each focusing on a unique niche topic or category. Ezines are a great way to generate content AND promote your book, either before it is published by building a “name” for yourself, or after your arsenal of unlimited POD self-published books are ready for distribution. With so many free and competing factions most Ezine providers are hungry for content.
Rather than seeking them out individually, you can place your articles into databases that Ezine editors frequent for content. They use your article free of charge, and in exchange, include your biographical byline, which includes information about you and your book.
Don’t send them the same article you published last week. Instead, write another chapter of your book first (since finishing your book IS the main goal, after all.)
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