“Marketing is a big one! I’d love to know more about that. My book will be free for all, so I’m trying to figure out how best to handle that. But that’s a very specific situation.”

-Thesarahdoughty

Excellent question.

So you mentioned that your book is going to be free… personally I always say that if you’re good at something, don’t do it for free, but that’s up to you. If your goal is simply to get your name out there and your first work is the sacrificial lamb to accomplish this goal, all power to you. Just remember that once it’s out there, it’s out there permanently and if you change your mind, it could hurt your sales.

But that’s not the advice you came here for, is it?

So marketing… well since your book is free, I’d suggest going the free route. As any good economist would tell you ‘an investment with no return is a poor investment.’ (Which is probably why people hate paying taxes so much these days!)

In the book industry, there are 5 words that sum up marketing; Word of Mouth is Everything.

So how do you spread the word? Well the good news is that you’re already halfway home. You’ve got your blog going. Refer back to My Interesting Blog on how to help spread that around. Other than that, if you’ve noticed, on the left hand side of my blog page, there is a link to my books’ Facebook page, The Creative Works of James Harrington.  On that page are links to where to buy my books as well as links to this page and my twitter account. You’ll want to link any page you create so that what appears on one will appear on them all. Personally, I use this blog as my flagship page because it’s easiest to create posts here and have them flow to places like Facebook and Twitter. In addition, you want to link every page you create to where your book is available.

A site that has helped me gain a following is known as Copromote . There, I use my twitter account to spread word about other people’s work and they do the same with mine. It is a way to get your book a much wider exposure. Also, ask that your readers leave reviews about your book. The more positive reviews, the more appealing your book will be.

BookCrossing.com is another site to help advertise your book. I have tried it, though with not a ton of success, but I have heard that others make it work.

Make sure to create yourself a profile either here, amazon, or somewhere else. You’ll notice that my books’ Facebook page, in a way is my profile. It has info about me up there as well.

What to avoid:

Well… really I’d be careful about any paid advertising, there are many out there that are reputable, but also many that aren’t. I’d also recommend avoiding using the paid promotion Facebook offers. Many people have said this before, and I feel the same way; using that tool will get your page a lot of likes, but few sales.

Finally, start early, like before you’ve published your book tell people about it, what to expect from it, but keep your audience as bay. Some people say 1-3 years, but I’d say 6-8 months would suffice. People don’t have very long attention spans these days.

I hope that this was helpful, Sarah! If you have any further questions on marketing or would like me to elaborate on anything a little more, don’t hesitate to send me an email.

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!