Rhemalogy

I believe it was Billy Wilder who said, “Hindsight is twenty-twenty.” And I take that to mean the lessons you learn from your past will give a clearer vision of the future. With that in mind, I would like to say that I now realize how important marketing is in book publishing. You could have a bestseller, but people wouldn’t know it if your marketing strategy is flawed or you have none at all. After all, you’re not just selling a book, you are selling yourself as a very specific brand.

That was my first biggest mistake. But now I am in the process of trying to rectify it. Why is marketing important? With all of the hundreds of thousands of books being self-published each year. Your book has to stand out. How does this happen? By starting your marketing and promotion before your book is ever released., This is why establishing a fan base and branding is so significant. Having a strategic marketing and promotional plan will build excitement and momentum for a book and also help to distinguish it in the market. Just because you have a book listed on Amazon is no guarantee of success. Amazon is thinking of profits—not people. Therefore with millions of books being sold there—the numbers just might not be in your favor.

The reality of this business of book publishing whether you self-publish or get a publishing deal you can globally market your book with just a little time and your computer.

The two most important first steps any self-publishing author should take are Branding and pre-publication marketing. These are the most important steps in publishing your book—which is your main objective. Get your book marketing template here.

“I don’t have the money to do all of this marketing and stuff.”

And someone is scratching their heads right now saying, “I don’t have the money to do all of this marketing and stuff.” Most up-and-coming authors do not have large budgets to pay for phenomenal book marketing campaigns. But there are many effective and affordable ways to get the word out, that will aid in building your platform as an author; thus selling more books. Below are a couple of traditional and digital book marketing strategies for you self-publishing authorpreneurs.

AUTHOR WEBSITE
Your website should be the hub of all your social networking activities as they ascribe to your work. Here your readers are introduced to you, news about your book(s), tour schedules, and book reviews links. Here you can also collect pre-orders, which are another way of driving your readers to learn more about and purchase your book. Many online distributors offer this platform.

ARCS AND TIP SHEETS
As a book reviewer, I have had the pleasure of reading ARCs. Known as an advanced readers copy, it is a copy of a book prior to release intended for marketing and review purposes. These you send to booksellers, book reviewers, to people you desire to endorse your book. Bring them with you to readings or other events you plan for the purpose of promoting your book pre-publication. ARCs really help build buzz for your upcoming release and also help you get blurbs to put on the cover of your finished book and in your book metadata. When distributing ARCs make sure you always include a tip sheet. Your tip sheet should be just one page with all relevant sales information concerning your book. Such as publisher/distributor, ISBN, book-length, publication date, and book description. Creating an extensive and legible tip sheet lends credibility to your work and simultaneously sells your book at a higher level.

Just remember. If your marketing succeeds so does the branding of your book expand to regions you never imagined. Thus quantifying not only a curiosity of your book but also readership. This is one tool no author should disqualify because it might just tip you over the top by qualifying you as a legitimate author and increasing your book sales exponentially. Something you’ve been desiring for a long time.

Hopefully, this will get you started on the right key…No pun intended.

Other posts that might interest you:
7 Things All New Writers Need To Know
3 Top Tips That Will Enhance Your Email Marketing
7 Tips To Building Your Blog site’s Readership

Thank you so much for your continued readership and support. Until next week…Blessings and Peace!