Marketing your Book: Sell your Book

Getting the book written and published comprises only about half the battle.  You still need to convince someone to buy your book and read it.  Authors don’t often think about marketing their work.  Publishers spend very little money these days on marketing a book; writers must fend for themselves.  Only celebrities and established authors sell their books with little effort.  The public won’t even know about your book unless you tell them about it.  Since most of us cannot afford a publicist, I have provided a few suggestions for getting you and your book recognized.

Some traditional methods include contacting people you know, business cards, author talks, and book signings.  Tell all of your friends, family, coworkers, classmates, and neighbors that you have published a book.  Tell them where they can buy it.  Put flyers on community bulletin boards, but make sure the flyer has all the pertinent information, your name, book title, subject, and where to buy it.   Design business cards, but leave the back blank.  Write the title of your book on the back of the card, and leave your business card around town.  Contact local book groups, friends of the library, and independent bookstores.  Let them know you are willing to do author talks and book signings.

The Internet provides even more marketing opportunities.  Create a web site for yourself and put a page on the web site for your book.  While time consuming, creating a blog to discuss your work and your book can bring name recognition and sales.  Contact book reviewers and bloggers, and ask them to review your book.  At least three thousand blogs exist that are dedicated to book reviews.  Find a couple that fit your book's subject matter, and ask them for a review.  Use social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace to get you and your book recognition.

The bottom line, if no one knows you have a book, how can they read it. Thousands of books exist on bookstore shelves with more going on the market every Tuesday. Lots of authors compete for a reader’s attention and dollars.  If you are not willing to put the effort into marketing your book, no one else will.  You are the best advocate your book can have.  Get out there and sell.