Get The Facts Before Marketing Your Self Published Books

This article will provide you with book marketing, promotion and publicity tips to get you headed in the right direction. Ensuring the success of any book is something even the biggest publishers have never been able to guarantee, but with a good acim, a little or a lot of money, and just plain hard work the odds are in your favor; many have done it. You can have the best book in the world, but if no one knows about it, no one will buy it; publicity, promotion, marketing and a focus on selling more books should now be a big part of your daily life.

When picked up by wire services, a press release can easily end up generating hundreds of mentions for your book. Press releases can generate thousands of dollars in sales when picked up by national trade or print media. Make sure your press release spells out the ‘who, what, where, when, and why.’

Your book press release should not be written as you would a sales letter or flier, it should be written for the editor and tell about your book in a factual way, no opinion or glowing remarks. Invest in press release submitting software and set aside time every week to send out a press release online to the press directories. Using press releases for marketing or promoting your book or book’s website has become increasingly popular as publishers discover the powerful benefits of using press releases.

Mail a press release to at least 1000 print and broadcast contacts just prior to publishing your title and again and again after you publish; you can never send too many. Using press releases can be a very effective marketing tool if used properly.

If your book fits a specialty market, find a store that fits the genre and offer to leave books on consignment; many publishers have sold thousands of books this way. When you get a nice write up or feature about you and/or your book, have it laminated and set it up on an easel at trade shows. Get as many testimonials about your book, as possible, from experts in the field relating to your title, not customers; use on your fliers and back of books.

Make five telephone calls a day that relate to marketing your book. Offer to trade writing a monthly column in a trade publication in your books’ genre, in trade for display ads on the same page. Contact any companies, corporations or organizations that might use your book for promotions; offer significant discounts for volume orders or for thousands of copies offer a specified amount above book production costs.

Arrange to speak at local, regional and national events that relate to your book topic; bring books along and have an associate sell them at the back of the room. Build a web site that provides another avenue for ordering, a virtual online press kit and link exchanges with sites that relate to your topic. It’s important to publish a website that focuses on your title; you’ll be able to refer editors and customers and all interested parties to your book information with the click of a mouse.

Market your book to your number one market first, and then go after the secondary markets. Submit articles to online article directories that focus on your book’s topic to drive customers to your website. I’ve seen publishers lose a lot of money paying for expensive display ads, so beware if you do this; I don’t advise it in the beginning — get your feet wet first so you know what you’re doing.