It’s time for another guest post, featuring Hayley Zelda with some helpful book marketing tips! Welcome, Hayley!
It’s one thing to write a great book; it’s quite another to get people to read your work. This is where promotion comes in. In today’s digital age, advertising online is an efficient and inexpensive option so take advantage of it. The first step in doing so is deciding the platform where you’re going to promote your book and yourself as an author. To give you ideas, below are the best platforms you can choose from.
Blog
By sharing stories related to your book, or by teasing and connecting it to larger themes that you’re exploring, blogging can be a valuable tool to promote your upcoming or already-published work. Find or create a blog that will help you connect with readers. Starting your own blog is simple, especially if you use a platform like WordPress which is equipped with powerful customization features. Then, connect your blog to your other social media accounts and to your author website so that it’s easier for readers to get in touch with you or buy your book.
Goodreads
When it comes to promoting a book online, one of the social networking sites you should tap into is Goodreads. To find readers, search for your topic and join relevant interest groups. Keep up with the discussions, stay on topic, and slowly get to know the members.
You can also add a review. To do so, look for a book that matches the one you’ve just published and write a thoughtful response as a reader. This will create a connection, and Goodreads members are more likely to check out your work when they see your name.
Posting regularly is a good way to get readers to follow your profile on the site. You can announce book releases or talks you’re giving there. You can also encourage people to check out your works.
Tumblr
Tumblr is a free microblogging service that allows people to post texts, photos and videos. If you’ve published a book, you can sign up on the said platform and start a blog for your story. You can then post excerpts from your book or announce contests you’ll be holding for your upcoming release. You can also share photos of the locations used in your story or photos of you taken when you were writing.
Other users can follow your blog. When they do, your posts will appear on their respective dashboards.
If you prefer a similar site to Tumblr, you can try out Commaful. Unlike the former, this one is more focused on storytelling. Compared to Wattpad and other writing sites, though, the relatively new site lets you experiment beyond texts and photos in creating and sharing your stories.
Twitter is not only a great way to connect with an audience of peers, fans, and critics, but it can be an invaluable tool for discovering how best to market a book. From book reviews to writing tips and announcements of special offers, the site gives you a way to learn about—and contribute to—the conversations happening about your genre.
Keep in mind that every time you tweet something about your book, you’re expected to engage in a conversation with others. As such, you should spend time reading other people’s posts, too.
Unlike its rivals, Facebook has always put the emphasis on community. On this platform, you can always contact your writer and non-writer friends provided that you are friends on the site and that your accounts are still active or not disabled. You can inform them about your book releases among other things. Aside from that, you can make an author page where your readers and prospects may contact you or find out about your books and events. If ever a summary of your book gets posted on a site like Wired for Youth, you can also share the link to it on your Facebook account and page.
When you create an Instagram profile, choose a good username that relates to your book. Add links to your author website, your Amazon author page and your book’s sales pages. Then, follow accounts related to your book and its genre. This will help you connect with a more targeted version of your potential readership. From here, you’ll get valuable insights into what aspects of your book your target readers may find most compelling. Later on, you can use these insights when you communicate with them as part of your book promotions.
Originally designed as an image-based social media site, Pinterest has evolved into a major bookmarking destination for readers. Luckily, it’s not that hard to set up a profile. All you need is a free account to get started. Then, follow some relevant boards and pins. Next, set up a board that you can use to promote events or characters in your book. On the said board, you can pin images of the models for your characters or settings.
Forums
Something as simple as posting on discussion forums or online book clubs can be a great way to get exposure for yourself and for your book. But you have to walk a fine line between being a marketer and being an author. Being too pushy or self-promoting on forums will not help you develop solid relationships, while being too dormant and aloof will feel like missing yet another party.
Quora
Quora is kind of like the “new” version of Yahoo! Answers, and is quickly making its way as a go-to site for people who are trying to fish out the best way to do anything. Whether you want to know how to start a novel or how to promote your book, you can find helpful answers from there.
Make sure you complete your profile and participate. Provide relevant info about yourself and your book. Look for topics related to the topic or genre of your book. Scour the list of recent questions and give good answers.
You can also connect your account to Twitter, so every question you answer is shared on the latter. All in all, Quora will help you share your knowledge, build a relationship with the other community members, and grow as a writer in the process.
Each of the aforementioned platforms has its fair share of advantages so it may be hard to choose just one. Keep in mind though that you can promote your book in multiple channels.
Author Biography:
Hayley Zelda is a writer and marketer at heart. She’s written on all the major writing platforms and worked with a number of self-published authors on marketing books to the YA audience.