Ok, so you have written a book. Now you are wondering, what comes next? Well, in order to get your book into the hands of your target audience, you need to market it. Odds are, you don’t have access to a full suite of marketing, especially if this is your first book. That’s perfectly ok, you can still market your book yourself.
1. Craft your brand
As a writer, it is essential that you establish a brand. Whether you have written the book or not, this will be crucial for when it comes time to market your book. Your target audience will want to know more about you. Who are you? Why did you write this book? Have you written others? There will be no shortage of questions, so the more you can establish your presence the better. The most important thing here is to form a connection with your audience. When crafting your brand, think about your target audience, what their interests may be, and how you can connect with them. The great thing about creating your own brand is that you have a lot of control over what people see and know about you.
2. Create your website
Now that you have your brand determined, you can take the next step and join the online world. You can start by creating a website. Here, you can house all the information you could possibly want to house about yourself and your book. The great thing about a website is you can have pages for anything you want. One thing to keep in mind here is you don’t want to go overboard. It can be easy to include every single piece of information you can think of, but you want to keep your website easy to navigate and not overwhelming to your visitors.
Here are a few key pages you should include on your website for marketing your book:
Home page
Your home page is the first page people will see when they visit your website, so make sure you make a good first impression. Keep links to important pages such as your about me and contact page handy so people can easily navigate.
About the author page
Another very important page is the about the author page. Here is where you can tell your story and give your audience more details about who you are and why you wrote your book. Don’t be shy, let your personality shine here. You should consider including a photo of yourself as well for your audience to have a face to attach to your name.
Contact page
A contact page is imperative for both your fans and potential partnerships to be able to get in touch with you easily! You don’t have to go crazy with the design of this page, you can keep it very simple with a form someone can fill out, as well as include your email and links to your social media pages. Cross-linking to your profiles on Instagram, Twitter, etc. will make it seamless for people to connect with you across platforms, helping you grow your presence.
About the book page
You should certainly include a page that provides fun and interesting details about your book. After all, you are using your website to market your book. You can even use this page to post excerpts from the book to give your readers a little taste.
3. Establish a social media presence
The next step is to set up your social media profiles and establish a posting strategy. The thing to keep in mind here is that you do not need to be on every single platform and you do not need to post hundreds of times per day. Keep your target audience in mind when deciding which platforms are right for you. Odds are you don’t need to worry about Snapchat, but Tik Tok, Twitter, and Instagram are all highly effective platforms for marketing your book. The fantastic thing about Tik Tok and Instagram is that you can recycle your video content. Instead of having to create double the content, you can create one video that you can post on both platforms. You may have people following you on both, but you are also going to be reaching different people on different platforms, who will ideally follow you on all of them.
When it comes to how often you should post, find a schedule that works for you. Some people post every single day, some multiple times a day, and some a few times per week. Figure out how often you can create content and stick to a schedule that will not cause burnout.
4. Reach out to book reviewers
Book reviews are the bread and butter of not only marketing your book but selling it. Especially on platforms like Amazon. The more reviews you have, the more visibility your book will have on the platform.
Take to social media and look for book reviewers and book bloggers that read the same genre as your book. Reach out to them and offer them your book in exchange for an honest review. Draft up a template that you can personalize for each reviewer you reach out to make it easier for yourself because you are likely going to be reaching out to a lot of people!
5. Design a killer book cover
Believe it or not, your book cover will play a big role in how successful your book marketing is. You can certainly design your own cover if you feel you can capture the essence of your book in a successful way. Or, you could opt to have a professional designer help you if you are not a professional yourself. Considering the cover is very important, you will want to put a good amount of time and effort into this step.
Ready to print your book?
Alright, you have written your book and you know how to market your book. Now you need to print it! Printivity is here to help with all of your book printing needs from start to finish. Have questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out to one of our experts at 1-877-649-5463.
