Some time ago, i published a piece telling aspiring authors ten reasons you should skip traditional publishers and selfpublish ebooks instead. I had just selfpublished a book on how to selfpublish a book and i was barely under the top 20k books on all of amazon. The book was also the 2019 evvy award winner for best selfhelp. Marketing is the one aspect authors, again and again, lament gives them the biggest headaches. May 01, 2017 how to promote a selfpublished book the 9 basics.
Jul 17, 2017 alison baverstock, author of how to market books, offers her top 10 marketing tips for selfpublished authors. May 03, 2018 7 selfpublishing marketing strategies that do work in 2018 if theres one thing constant in book marketing, its change. This post is about the more nebulous marketing and pr side of things. In this chapter, pat delivers nine of his best tips from experience with marketing his two bestselling selfpublished books. Whether you are already published and want 2020 to be the year your book breaks out, or you are a writer with a manuscript ready for publication, here are 20 fantastic tips for self publishing writers to welcome in 2020. As you might have guessed, that subscriber was this weeks guest, adam houge. Jan 27, 2016 i had just self published a book on how to self publish a book and i was barely under the top 20k books on all of amazon. Five tips for marketing your selfpublished ebook to.
While self publishing has given authors and writers all the tools necessary to publish a quality ebook or paperback, there is one element that remains a stumbling block. But if you are publishing by yourself and wish to be read by as many among your target audience as possible, you will have to learn an additional skillhow to market your books. How i sold 10,000 copies of my selfpublished book when failure isnt an option how to find your readers an interview with fauzia burke, author of online marketing for busy authors. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the book marketing bible. My wall street journal colleague adam najberg wrote a thriller set in china and tried publishing it himself. Self publishing and book marketing, a research guide by simona david provides aspiring authors with a functional roadmap of the quickly evolving publishing business in the digital age.
Last month i compiled a killer roundup post with book launch and marketing tips from 25 authors, entrepreneurs, and leaders in the selfpublishing space. Jul 31, 20 get your free ebook about self publishing here. Book marketing doesnt have to be complicated, but it also cant be taken lightly. Whereas if you are working with a traditional publishing house, almost all the work is done for you by your publishing team. Marketing your book for selfpublishers and indie authors. I will keep these suggestions relative to self publishing on the amazon kindle platform, simply because it is the biggest place to self publish your books and there are so. If you write only because you love to, you wont need to bother with marketing. While writing tends to be a solitary endeavor, marketing is the process of. As a general rule, you should think of a published book as a marketing investment than a direct revenuegenerating move. The indie authors opportunity is to tailor his or her marketing to reach librarians when. Check out these tips and discover how to promote your book successfully.
Self publishing tips on marketing your selfpublished book. How to market your selfpublished book by brian deleonard the reality of marketing a selfpublished book and finding your audience presents a challenge somewhere inbetween the faint dream of online success, and the sense of screaming unheard into the webs dark and angry void. Ive recently self published my book and have been struggling to get free marketingadvertising. Marketing selfpublished books explained in 9 basic steps. How to market your selfpublished booka plan by bill quain by joel friedlander on april 2, 2010 64 comments last month i published an article called author platform. We all hear about the bestselling authors who got lucky such as amanda hocking and e l james, but these are rarities. Does the prospect of marketing your book intimidate you. Posts about marketingtips written by outskirts press. Ten steps to marketing your selfpublished book whitefox.
Self published book marketing for authors smith publicity. Smith publicity has promoted more selfpublished books than any book publicity agency. But the most fundamental and important book marketing issues can often be overlooked. You wrote a great book, now it is time to market the hell out of it. True, publishing a book is a lot more accessible now. Most books, even good ones, will languish, invisible among millions of available titles, unless you do something to make them stand out and become visible discoverable to some target audience. So, youve written a book and youre planning to selfpublish. How to market your selfpublished booka plan by bill quain.
Boost your books success and sell more copies of your book by following 20 marketing tips and tactics for selfpublishing authors. As you get started on the book marketing tips offered here, you will come across many more. Easy book marketing tips for authors might sound a little trite. There are generally accepted methods and many nuances in book. Selfpublished authors have no choice but to face up to the onerous task of promoting themselves and their books and having a marketing plan. Creating individual book websites and an author website. This is because, you are expected to do most of the work yourself. I will begin my advice on how to promote a selfpublished book with the three key elements a book needs to stand any chance or success. For a selfpublished childrens author the numbers above, while nowhere near the sales volumes you might expect with adult fiction, really arent bad at all compared with traditionally published midlist authors. Marketing a self published book can be a hard prospect for many authors. Marketing a selfpublished book can be a hard prospect for many authors. If you think your book fails on any of the first three points, you will probably be wasting your time trying to implement the remaining book marketing tips and advice. Contact us and discover how we make indie authors newsworthy.
Dance because you can was represented at the national book fair in new york city. Here are some tips for book marketing during the covid19 pandemic. In fact, with more than 4,500 books published on a daily basis, its more true with each passing day. Smart marketing can help indie ebook authors earn a librarians attention, consideration, confidence, and purchase. Many selfpublished authors have no interest in sales, advertising, or business in general, as they tend to be altruistically artistic. Apr 02, 2010 how to market your selfpublished booka plan by bill quain by joel friedlander on april 2, 2010 64 comments last month i published an article called author platform. Well help you learn how to market a selfpublished book with these basic tips. Oct 10, 2016 book marketing is letting people know your book exists, book promotion is specific salesdriven activity. Marketing an adult book is not nearly as complicated. Placeit allows indie writers and selfpublished authors to create videos to promote. To make matters worse, someone i really admire called me out for it. Dec 16, 20 ive recently self published my book and have been struggling to get free marketing advertising. Jun 14, 2018 book marketing doesnt have to be complicated, but it also cant be taken lightly.
Social media and other online tools have made it easier than ever for authors to connect with readers, but theyve also made it more difficult for selfpublished titles to stand out. The indie authors opportunity is to tailor his or her marketing to reach librarians when, where, and how they want to be reached. Use these tips to create and design a marketing schedule, and be sure to keep. Aug 20, 2016 weve written extensively about the importance of book marketing, how to promote a book and marketing a self published book. Whether youre working with a traditional publisher or youre going the self publishing route, one things the same. When i sent my weekly newsletter out about it, one subscriber replied and said something to the effect of, thats cute, but let me show you how it really works. Particularly in the mad rush for book sales after you release your book.
Alison baverstock, author of how to market books, offers her top 10 marketing tips for selfpublished authors. Promotions for these titles have to appeal to two distinct groups. How to write a book marketing plan for publishing success. But with great flexibility comes great responsibility as im pretty sure the saying goes. How to market your selfpublished book mythic scribes. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Whether youre a seasoned author or a firsttime novelist, youre going to need to tap into your entrepreneurial. Sep 12, 2019 boost your books success and sell more copies of your book by following 20 marketing tips and tactics for selfpublishing authors. Five tips for marketing your selfpublished ebook to libraries. Ive set up a facebook page where you are welcome to also advertise your book be it self published or traditional publishing. There are many different methods you can promote your self published books. Book marketing is letting people know your book exists, book promotion is specific salesdriven activity. What are the best ways to market selfpublished books. Upgrade your marketing efforts with 3d video mockups.
Self publishing is on the rise and many people are bypassing the traditional route of seeking the affirmation of publication worthiness via commercial publishers and are. Book marketing for selfpublished authors is tough, hard work, timeconsuming and can even be dispiriting. Still, stories of booksespecially selfpublished bookssucceeding without any marketing, are rare. Whether you are already published and want 2020 to be the year your book breaks out, or you are a writer with a manuscript ready for publication, here are 20 fantastic tips for selfpublishing writers to welcome in 2020. Mar 26, 2017 a 2015 survey by library journal found that 94% of public libraries offer ebook checkouts and 39% of libraries either purchased or planned to purchase selfpublished ebooks. Get 20 effective book marketing tips and tactics that will help you sell more books and make more money as a selfpublishing author. However, traditional publishers are now cutting back on their book marketing budgets, so more and more of their contracted authors are having to use social media to promote their books as well.
How to list and sell your selfpublished book on amazon. Its understandable why most authors fail at marketing their books though, in the end, they are. Posts about marketing tips written by outskirts press. Sep 29, 2016 last month i compiled a killer roundup post with book launch and marketing tips from 25 authors, entrepreneurs, and leaders in the self publishing space. How to selfpublish a bestseller the startup medium. Marketing your selfpublished book indie author tips. If you are just starting your selfpublishing journey you might as well get our 2018s best selfpublishing resources article. Marketing your selfpublished book involves a lot of focused work, typically as much work as it took to write the book in the first place. This article first appeared in our selfpublishing themed issue of publishing talk magazine. Your marketing efforts will be focused on the most promising leads, and your customers are more likely to spread the word about your brand yes if you are a selfpublishing author, you are a brand too. What can you do to give your book a chance of selling.
For anyone who wants to go indie, know that these are the first things your readers are going to see when they go to the kindle store or the nook book store, or the itunes ibook store. Marketing your self published book involves a lot of focused work, typically as much work as it took to write the book in the first place. Leave off the marketing for a while and produce something worth sharing. Marketing your selfpublished book is a time consuming and difficult job. Jul 27, 2015 authors of selfpublished childrens books, in particular, have their marketing work cut out for them. We are now offering complete book marketing services based on our 101 book marketing ideas. In this guide, we reveal exactly how to strategize online marketing efforts for a selfpublished book.
Please message me or look me up at caroline j williams author page on. Marketing your self published book is tough, hard work, competitive and cut throat. Marketing your selfpublished book is tough, hard work, competitive and cut throat. If you would like to sell your selfpublished book on amazon, youll need to know how to get it listed for sale on the website. Sometimes it helps to look at book marketing as what it really is a business.
Self publishing is on the rise and many people are bypassing the traditional route of seeking the affirmation of publication worthiness via commercial publishers and are striking out on their own, with. This is a fullservice where we work within your budget to get the most out of your promotional dollar. I will keep these suggestions relative to selfpublishing on the amazon kindle platform, simply because it is the biggest place to selfpublish your books and there are so. There are hundreds of ways to promote a selfpublished book. There are two main methods for getting your book listed for sale on amazon, as well as a couple of ways to make your book more attractive to readers. For selfpublished authors, there are many book marketing strategies and tactics that can be employed, and while some may seem quite direct, or even relatively simple, its very easy to make mistakes that can derail a book promotion campaign. Alternative marketing methods, book marketing, holiday marketing alchemy, holidays, in your corner, marketing your selfpublished book, uncategorized the alchemy of holiday marketing part iii several weeks back, we began this series by introducing the idea that marketingspecifically marketing as regards selfpublished booksis a kind of. Theres a big difference between making your own book and marketing it. The book marketing services at outskirts press help authors promote highquality books with exceptional book marketing services. A 2015 survey by library journal found that 94% of public libraries offer ebook checkouts and 39% of libraries either purchased or planned to purchase selfpublished ebooks.
Help your book sales with these 5 easy author book marketing tips. It doesnt mean marketing a selfpublished book is easy. When authors have just published, having finished first the writing, then the production of a book each a long creative journey in itself which has drawn on various. While selfpublishing has given authors and writers all the tools necessary to publish a quality ebook or paperback, there is one element that remains a stumbling block.