Introduction to Marketing Books
Once you've written your book, you faces two challenges: finding a publisher and marketing the book. Self-publication sometimes takes care of the first hurdle, but even the best-written and most beautifully produced book will not be successful if it sits in boxes a publisher's stockroom or your basement. The success or failure of any publishing venture depends in large part upon effective marketing techniques.
Other People Are Reading
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Relationships
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According to John Kremer, author of "1001 Ways to Market Your Books," every aspect of marketing involves establishing relationships. Kremer suggests that you should choose 25 to 100 media contacts and stay in constant (at least monthly) contact with each one. Kremer also emphasizes the importance of word-of-mouth advertising, claiming that 80 percent of all books are sold by word-of-mouth.
Publicists
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You or your publishing company may hire a publicist or publicity firm to help market your book. In the course of promoting the book, you also receive publicity. Arranging for television and radio talk show appearances and purchasing advertising in print and on-line media are some strategies that publicists use to call attention to you and your book.
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Bookstores
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Bookstores are a popular location for booksigning and speaking events. Bookstores are popular and effective venues for promoting your new work. Book distributors contact buyers for major chains and smaller-scale local book sellers. You can contact bookstores for book signing events and speaking engagements.
On-line Marketing
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Computer technology brings the book market into homes and offices. On-line marketing is another avenue for book promotion and sales. Sites such as Amazon.com provide a sales outlet that you can use to reach large numbers of consumers. You can also make use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter to establish and maintain ongoing contact with a fan base.
Author Website
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Morris Rosenthal of Foner Books advises authors to create a website before a book is published rather than waiting until after publication. This allows you to build a "platform" in advance of the book's appearance on the market. Rosenthal refutes claims that an author's website needs to be interactive, constantly changing or expensively designed. He maintains that a website that is "well-written and remains the same" is the most effect type of website for an author, and that such sites can help with sales of future publications as well.
Promotional Videos
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Taking a cue from the film industry, some authors promote their books with videos similar to movie trailers. An author can post a very short (2 1/2 minutes or less) video on a website such as YouTube or Google Video, in hopes that viewers will visit her website to learn more. An author may also post a link to his promotional video on popular Internet forums. The ultimate goal, as with every book marketing strategy, is to inform the reading public about the book and spark enough interest to increase book sales.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit book image by Bartlomiej Nowak from Fotolia.com Bookstore image by TekinT from Fotolia.com business woman holding laptop image by Ken Hurst from Fotolia.com
