If you want to be a success as a writer of books, you need to become a bit of an expert in marketing. Even if you are published in the traditional way, many book publishers still expect their authors to promote their own works. As a self-published author, you actually have no choice. If you don’t promote your book, no-one else is going to do it for you and, if you don’t do it, no-one is going to find your book.
Given the simplicity in self-publishing books, these days, the market, even within niches, is completely swamped so you need to make sure that your book stands a head and shoulders above the rest in the searching stakes. That is easier said than done. Unless you get some serious national PR, there is no quick fix. You will have to dedicate some serious time to making this happen on a regular basis. Many authors set out with great intention but this fizzles out after a few weeks and, as a result, any initial spurt in sales dries up. As an author, you need to have a visible presence on the internet, so think about creating yourself a website. Use your author name as your domain name, for example, mine is: josiekingbooks.com. This is your window for the world to find you.
So, get yourself a plan, write/type it out. Your plan should include daily, weekly and monthly activities. Here’s a sample of activities that might be in a regular marketing plan for a book published on Amazon KDP:
Daily:
Social media posts of topics related to your book
Tell everyone you meet about your book
Weekly:
Blog post on your own website
Share your blog post on your social media
Investigate opportunities to promote your book, eg. search out forums where you can post links
If you have printed copies, leave them around in public places, like cafes
Monthly:
Review & update keywords based on sales figures
Guest blog on a website associated with the topic of your book
Run a simple competition on your social media site(s)
Run a promotion on Amazon for free giveaways
Encourage readers to leave you reviews
Once you have your plan, it’s important to stick to it – for more than a month! Set yourself time out each day. Some people work better with a fixed routine others have to deal with each day as it comes but, whichever works for you, make sure you include your marketing activities because, with them, your book really could be a big success.
For a more detailed discussion on ways to market your book, please check out my book, Be a Self-Publishing Success, available on Amazon.