I am delighted that bestselling author Wendy H. Jones has taken time out of her incredibly busy schedule to advise us about book marketing and promotion today. There are some incredibly useful tips in her article. I'm sure all authors reading this will find something of use here. Thank you for your visit and your advice, Wendy.
In my role as a book marketing coach I am often asked, “When should I start marketing my book?”
There are always gasps and looks of sheer panic when I say, “The minute you start writing the first word.”
You’re probably thinking, you’re not much of a marketing coach if you fill people with panic. Never fear, I always follow up with, “The best time to start marketing your book is now.”
I don’t know what stage in your journey you are currently, but I do know there will be something within this post which will help you. Of course, book marketing is a vast subject, and it would be extremely difficult for me to distil it into 500 words in a blog. So, I thought I would give you my top ten book marketing tips.
1. Write a marketing plan and block out time for marketing in your diary. Whilst writing and editing is, and always should be, the most important part of your writing business, marketing and promotion should follow closely behind. No one will buy your book if they don’t know it’s available.
2. Use social media wisely. Choose which social media sites you feel suit you best and use them regularly. By use them regularly I mean interact with others and do not spam them with buy my book. It’s called social media and not marketing media for a reason. The golden rule is 80% social 20% promotion.
3. If you are not on TikTok, consider joining. TikTok is the fastest growing social media platform and #BookTok has billions of views each day. Ignoring it is no longer an option.
4. Use social media schedulers to schedule posts in advance. However, do not think this means you can ignore any posts after that. It is important to interact with those who take the time and effort to like, comment and share your content.
5. Consider physical book signings, all of which do not need to be in bookshops. I have done book signings in the following places – cafes, vineyards, banks, churches, craft fairs, book fairs, sea festivals, Highland Games and many more places. Be as innovative as you would like. To put the banks into context, I was invited to do that by a bank manager and, subsequently, a district manager.
6. Offer yourself for talks at Rotary Clubs and Women’s Institutes. They are always looking for speakers. Sometimes I am invited when I am doing book signings, but I have phones dome of them after seeing a notice board in my local doctor’s surgery. Take copies of your books to sign and sell at the end.
7. Paid newsletter advertising in newsletters such as Fussy Librarian, E-Reader News Today, Book doggy and many more
8. There is no getting away from the fact that you may have to pay for advertising on Amazon and/or Facebook. TikTok are also encouraging people to advertise and are giving users vouchers to help with this.
9. Speaking at book and writing festivals. Mostly authors are invited to speak at such events but there is no harm in writing and asking if you can be included.
10. My final tip is to be proactive and look for opportunities. They are all around and often it is a matter of making the move to harness the opportunity.
Whatever you do, remember to have fun. It should be enjoyable and book marketing is a lot of fun.
The Author
Wendy H. Jones is an award-winning, international best-selling author who writes adult crime books, young adult mysteries, children's picture books and non-fiction books for writers. She is also a writing and marketing coach, runs the Writing Matters Online School and is the CEO of Authorpreneur Accelerator Academy, The president of the Scottish Association of Writers and hosts The Writing and Marketing Show podcast. She is currently writing a series of historical fiction novels based around the life of a 19th Century Surgeon in the Royal Navy. She is represented by Amy Collins of Talcott Notch Literary Services.
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Great tips, Wendy. Thank you, both.
Thank you Wendy H Jones for an interesting and very helpful post on marketing our books. Another great Blog post Val on your amazing Blog. Thank you.