Promoting your book can be tough. It’s even more difficult if you’re unsure where to start. It’s important to take the correct steps, even though there isn’t a right or wrong way to go about it. You want your book to reach the widest audience it can, and that growth and outreach starts with you. Breaking into the publishing world is difficult without a dedicated group of followers but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Just as many authors have done before, you can do it too. It will be a challenge and you won’t always find success with the things you try. But you must get back on that literary horse and ride it into the sunset of success. Remember, failure isn’t the end, it’s proof that you need a different approach.
For the sake of this post, let’s say you have written your book and found a publishing route that works for you. Whether you took the self-publishing or traditional publishing route, you are on your way to having your book in the hands of readers. Congratulations! The hardest part is done. Rather, one of the hardest items off your checklist is done. The following steps to growing your book and fostering an audience will be just as challenging. Buckle in, prepare for a bumpy ride, and don’t fear failure. If other writers can do it so can you. Don’t sell yourself short! Here’s what you can expect to learn about in this article:
- Marketing in the Publishing world
- Ways to Promote Your Book
- Maintaining an Online Presence
Marketing Yourself
Plan to Promote Yourself
The first step to marketing your book is to realize this step is all on you. As the author and writer of your book, you know it better than anyone else would. While you don’t want to blindly maneuver the world of publishing, this is something that will take some trial and error. You aren’t going to get it right on your first try, and that’s perfectly normal and acceptable. Leave yourself room to fail and forgive yourself for not hitting the nail on the head right away. Even a master carpenter has to swing their hammer more than once to drive their nail through a board.
Next, you need to define your niche. You know what genre your book is, but what kind of reader would enjoy reading it? Ask yourself what your book’s strengths and weaknesses are and follow those. If you wrote a romance book but have a sub-plot that fits into a different genre, make plans to market your book to the other genre as well. You don’t have to rope yourself into one specific area because that is your novel’s main theme. However, don’t market too broadly, cast a wide net but keep it within reason. A book for everyone is a book for no one.
Your Marketing Method
Marketing yourself is a challenge, and there will be more detail about this later, but to start, you need to prepare for what’s coming by doing some research. While you’ve written a book and most likely know about your genre, there is more to figure out. For example, let’s say your romance book has a sub-genre of fantasy, but you wrote it with the interest of adult readers. In this case, you would want to research that demographic of readers and where you might find them online and in person. Chances are, an older reading audience won’t use social media platforms like TikTok, so it would be best to avoid advertising on that site.
In addition, find out what marketing route authors who wrote novels similar to your genre took. Research where they advertised, or ask them personally for advice. They likely used marketing methods you would never imagine trying. These small preparations will help you down the road of promoting your book.
Promote your writing
New and veteran writers need to grow their audience and complacency in this area will hurt you as a writer. Even well-known writers need to keep their audience base growing. No matter how popular or successful a writer is, they must keep fostering growth to maintain their success. The world’s most famous author doesn’t sneakily publish a book; they have to promote and advertise it so it reaches a wider audience.
Paid Advertisement
There are different ways to promote your book, but one surefire way of reaching a new audience is through paid promotions. While your wallet might be a bit light, you need to put in money to see that money come back. The first, perhaps most obvious, is paying for social media marketing. This can be done through advertisements targeted to circles within your genre. You wouldn’t advertise your romance story in a gothic horror circle. Be sure to target your advertisements to people who will enjoy your book.
An example of an ad you could use would be Facebook boosting posts. A boosted post is a paid advertisement that allows an existing post to be seen by more people. Business pages primarily use it to promote their services or goods to people who don’t already follow them or don’t know about them in the first place. The benefit of this type of advertising is that it allows your posts to reach a specific audience you choose. You can select the type of audience from a drop-down list or even create the category of people you’d like to see your advertisement.
ARC Readers
Advanced Reader Copy readers are crucial to the success of your novel before it’s published. ARCs are copies of a book, typically digital but sometimes printed, sent to readers so they can review the book. This is important because ARC readers offer advice to the reading public about your novel so that you can hit the ground running. While your synopsis will give readers an idea of your book, readers look to book reviews to let them know if a book is right for them. Early reviews of books generate anticipation and excitement while letting readers know the book’s strengths and weaknesses.
Finding ARC readers is a challenging thing. You could stick with the traditional route and send it to publishing companies who will send it to influential readers, bookstore owners, professors, or anyone with influence in book-reading communities. However, with the success of social media, there are other potential ARC readers. Think of book influencers on social media platforms who might be eager to read your book and review it for their audience while also leaving a written review online for potential readers to find. ARC readers don’t have to be influential or have a following. Anyone with a passion for books, especially in your genre, will work perfectly as an ARC reader. The only thing they have to commit to is posting a review online.
Ask every ARC reader to give their honest feedback. This will benefit your book as genuine reviews with positives and negatives will generate buzz and excitement. You want your book to connect with new readers and written reviews by readers are the best way to do that. In addition, these types of reviews will help you grow as a writer. If you surround yourself with yes-men, you will miss out on feedback you need to hear to strengthen your writing. While knowing what works in your story is great, constructive feedback is the best and most important thing a reviewer can offer a writer.
Book Promotions
Another route for paid advertisement that would benefit your book promotion can be found here at Bookstr! With its large follower count and experience with promotion, it’s a no-brainer to work alongside Bookstr to help your audience grow. Bookstr offers a three-month timeline to help promote your book to new audiences. We can help you develop a content plan that aligns with your brand and message. All assets you need will be provided and every post will be done for you, Bookstr will guide and communicate with you through the steps so you understand what is happening.
Author Events
Connecting with your audience through meet-and-greets is a great way to increase your book’s popularity. Some readers want to know you on a personal level so they can further enjoy your writing. A great way of connecting with them is through book signing and other author events. Assuming you are a new writer trying to break into the game of writing, giving your potential audience a chance to meet you is a surefire way to create lifelong fans. Here are a few ways that you can connect with readers through meet-and-greets:
You could also check out groups that help promote book events, like the one here:
However, local bookstores or businesses might be the best way to arrange a meet-and-greet event. As everyone’s definition of local is different, Bookstr can’t help direct you to these locations, but this is where your confidence as a writer needs to step up. Local artists are often excited to support each other and you should throw your lot in with them. Put on your best smile and give each person your undivided attention.
At this point in your writing career, you need to wear the hat of a salesperson and do your best to make sure they leave with a copy of your book in their hand, and you have some of their money in your pocket. Speaking of money in your pocket, there are other methods to promoting your writing that your wallet might thank you for.
Organic Promotion
Social Media Posting
While paid advertising is a viable route to promote and spread your writing, some alternatives don’t require payment and might work best for you. The first suggestion is to garner a social media following. This isn’t easy, and it will take some time to grow. But the payoff will be well worth it! Think of it like a garden except, instead of growing flowers, it’s an interest in you and your writing that will bloom. Gardens don’t grow into beautiful flowers overnight. They take a lot of maintenance and work. Cultivating an area for growing, watering the plants, and removing invasive weeds. But you need to imagine what that garden will look like when it blooms.
Like that beautiful blooming garden full of colorful flowers, your social media account needs time and care before it can become what you think and know it can. Your follower count will look small, and you will struggle to spread the word about your writing. But you have to think of those beautiful flowers. They will bloom; you can’t give up. When you finally see readers engage with your account and show their excitement for your already published or upcoming work, you will finally see how pretty those flowers are.
The first step to creating a social media following is to be diligent. Flowers don’t bloom year-long; there are times of the year when flowers close up or need to be cut back. Your social media will go through the same ups and downs, but it’s not the end of the world. Every author that has a large following started in a similar boat as you. If they can do it, so can you! Here are some examples of author social media accounts that might inspire you:
You wanted to be a writer, and this is part of that journey. It’s time to wear your social media hat and show the world why they need to read your novel. Make yourself known and put yourself out there. Your book is fantastic, and you deserve to flaunt your work because people who read it will like it and want more from you. Water those flowers, clear the weeds from the garden, and talk to your plants about your next novel idea.
Create an Author Website
This method of advertisement can vary in pricing. You can create a great author website for free or one that requires some payment. Regardless of your decision, this is the time to discuss yourself and your writing accomplishments. Let your creativity flow and create a homepage that shows the world who you are as a writer. Check out these author pages, and you might find some inspiration for your own:
Think of an author homepage as a storefront of you as a writer. You want it to display what kind of writer you are and what feats you’ve accomplished. People will be excited to stop in and see what your website says about you. Don’t stress yourself over it too much, these websites don’t have to be perfect. Make it functional and appealing to the eyes, but most importantly, make it about you and you as an author.
Importance of Online Presence
Connecting With Readers
Having an active online presence can help new readers find your work. Using the methods mentioned earlier, your audience will begin to grow. It’s up to you to maintain that growth and keep that ball rolling. New readers who discover your book and writings need a place to find and follow you to find more of your work.
An online presence such as social media, blogs, writing forums, or podcasts helps you cast a wider net to catch more readers and allows current readers to learn more about you as a writer. Maintaining an online presence is the best way to maintain and strive for this level of growth. This is the beginning of cultivating an audience that enjoys your writing and it never quite ends. Your book and other writings deserve to be seen by people; this is the first step of many toward your goal of being the successful writer you can be.
Promoting your book and finding a wider audience is difficult, but rewarding. Think back to the garden, flowers don’t bloom into their beautiful colors overnight. They need time to spread their roots, they need to be watered and cared for. But you wouldn’t give up on a garden because of its lack of progress, so you shouldn’t give up on promoting your book either. With time and care, it will grow into what it’s meant to be.
For tips on writing a story in 27 chapters, click here!
Check out Bookstr’s Promote Your Book page to see how Bookstr can help!
