So you’ve been working on your book for months or even years. The moment you’ve been waiting for is here. You’ll hit that self-publish button to free your book into the world. You might be asking yourself, what if no one buys it? The only way to make sure your self-published book gets to the reader is by effective marketing. Writing the book is half the battle. You’ve to put in place a great book marketing plan for your book to be successful. Not sure where to start? We’ll give you the top 9 self-publishing marketing tips you need to know to launch your book all the way to success.
Ready to learn more?
Self-Publishing Marketing: How to Do It Right?
You can market your book in a million ways, but the key is to use the right book marketing plan. Here are 9 tips to market your self-published book and, take it all the way to the top of the bestseller list:
1. Write a Great Book
Yes, you read that right. To be successful when self-publishing your book, you must be able to deliver great content. Today, publishing a book is at the fingertips of anyone who puts their mind to it.
This means that your book has to be good to catch the reader. You aren’t getting into this to only publish one book. You want to make this your day to day gig.
If you write a great book, it will be easy to market because you’re providing value to your reader. At the end of the day, that’s what they want when they sit down to read your book.
2. Use Social Media or the Highway
Like it or not, we’re in the era of social media. Using it the right way is essential to marketing your book. Also, it doesn’t hurt that it’s an easy, cheap and fast way to get noticed by readers.
Yes, it may be challenging to understand or to learn how to be effective using it to market your book. But, it’s a constant in self-publishing marketing today. It’s a great way to reach and, get to know your readers in a more personal way.
3. Define Your Audience and Market
Who did you write your book for? Was it the mother of 4 who wants to launch their own business? Maybe you wrote it thinking about the millennial that’s changing the way we see the world one social media post at a time.
Have you ever heard about niche marketing? If this is the first time you’ve heard it, then we recommend you get familiarized with it. This type of marketing might be the key to get your book to the top of the bestseller list.
When you use this type of marketing, your content and branding are geared toward that niche audience. You might be thinking but, won’t that stop me from reeling in a diverse readership? Well, you might be surprised to hear that sometimes niche marketing brings in better results that marketing to any reader.
4. Develop Brand Awareness, Don’t Do Sales Pitching
Yes, you want to sell your book. But, don’t sell it to your audience. You might think this is far off from the reality.
Everyone has to make a living but, you want to create a sense of community. You want to bring together readers from different backgrounds. The best way to do this is by marketing your brand.
Ask yourself what makes you different, and tell your readers all about it. Once they fall in love with your branding and content, you’ll get the sale, and everything will take off.
5. Don’t Limit Yourself to Only One Platform
Many authors stick to only one platform. Yet, if you do this, you’re limiting your audience. You can’t be 100% certain that your reader uses Facebook.
Hence, you should use all the platforms you can. If you’re marketing to a teenage audience try musical.ly and, you might be surprised by how much you can achieve. The possibilities are endless if you put your mind to it and, use all the tools available. This is one of the keys in self-publishing marketing.
6. Write a Blog
If you don’t have a blog yet, get on it pronto. Besides it being a way to bring in some passive income, a blog is a great tool to provide value to your readers.
Use your posts to start developing your readership before the release of your book. On top of it, you can also use it to create buzz around it.
7. Set a Budget for Paid Promotion
Like in any business, you’ve to spend so you can earn. You’ve to set a budget for paid promotion. Be it giving away free eBooks, paid social media advertisement, search engine ads, or any type of paid advertisement.
Also, you should consider making a book trailer before releasing your book. It might do wonders for your social media campaigns. If you can’t do it yourself, hire someone to do it for you.
8. Set Realistic Book Marketing Goals
We all want to publish that million dollar book but, we’ve to stay grounded. However, don’t set yourself up for failure by setting your marketing goal too high.
You know that selling a million copies on the first day of releasing your book would be a miracle. We aren’t saying it’s impossible. But, it’s better to aim lower and receive a pleasant surprise.
9. Take the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Social media and the web is a great tool to communicate and get closer to your reader. However, we know that this opens the door to get comments or reviews we wish we hadn’t seen. Many people get riled up about them, after all, we’re only human.
Yet, we must not fall into the trap of firing back. We’ve to take the good, the bad, and the ugly in stride. Therefore, you have to remember that your interactions with your community are part of your brand and self-publishing marketing.
Can You Create the Right Book Marketing Plan for Your Self Published Book?
Yes, you can create the right self-publishing marketing plan for your self-published book. However, you’ve to remember the basics. Focus on your brand, use social media, and keep your feet on the ground.
We all want to nail that million dollar book but, you’ve to work toward it. Above all, Rome wasn’t built in a day and, your book empire won’t be an exemption to the rule.
Are you thinking about publishing an ebook? Then going digital is a great way to expand your reach.
Check out our blog post to learn more.
