by Angelica Hartgers

 

When it comes to marketing your book as an author, it can be a scary thought to think about, especially if sales and marketing is not part of your skill set. 

As uncomfortable as it might seem, book marketing is a crucial piece of the self-publishing puzzle, and one that often goes missing.

You can increase the success of your book’s sales even after your launch with these three book marketing ideas. 

 

1. Drive traffic to your author website.

Your author website is the number one platform that you should be driving traffic to as an author. Why? Because it’s the platform you actually own, have rights to, and can attract readers to without competing for space.

Think about it. Self-publishing platforms like Amazon’s KDP are super powerful and have massive audiences. But at the end of the day, your book is competing for space with thousands of other books on the market. When potential readers go to your book’s Amazon page, they are shown other books similar to yours written by other authors (in other words, your competition). 

Amazon could also switch up their platform overnight, and there wouldn’t be anything you could do it.

When you can, always try to market your book on your author website, because you have full control over that. 

 

2. Engage with target readers on social media.

Social media is an extremely powerful marketing channel that allows you to reach a global target audience. And the best part is, it’s free! 

It takes more time and effort than other marketing channels, but it can be worth it when done right.  

As an author, you can be visible, approachable, and add a personal appeal on a social media platform. Readers absolutely love that! 

By using social media as part of your book marketing, you are inserting yourself where your readers hang out. 

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest are popular social media platforms, but if you’re feeling overwhelmed, start by focusing on one channel first.

 

 

3. Join a podcast show to reach new listeners. 

If you haven’t noticed, voice and audio technology is a growing trend for every industry: book marketing included. 

Many indie authors have turned their focus to podcasts, and for good reason. A podcast allows you to reach new audiences and creatively market your book. 

Think of it like an author interview for a radio station! There are established book-specific podcasts with a dedicated following, which are typically listeners who are actively searching for new books recommendations. 

You can even get creative and join podcasts related to your book’s topic, like business, health, psychology, history, relationships, and more.

Landing an interview might be easier than you think, and podcast hosts are always looking for guests to interviews. 

 

 

Don’t make book marketing an afterthought

Marketing is important, so even if it’s uncharted territory within your realm, there are simple practices you should be implementing for your book’s success.

Help your book reach greater success and drive book sales by making it visible; you can do that by devising a simple marketing plan. As you get more advanced, you’ll be able to discover what’s more effective for you. 

 

 

 

Guest post contributed by Angelica Hartgers. Angelica is the Content Creation Specialist at SelfPublishing.com. With a background in writing and education, she is passionate about empowering other writers to improve their craft. When she’s not creating content that helps writers tell better stories and publish their books, she’s reading, writing, and traveling the world. Read more on her blog.