Ideas for Marketing Your Book: Part 1

Ideas for Marketing Your Book: Part 1

Ok...so you’ve written what you are sure is the next NY Times Bestseller...you have a publisher (either traditional or self) now...you need to market it.  Let’s face it, all the thousands of hours you spent writing it and getting it published was EASY!!!  The work is in the promotion!!   Over the course of the last two years I’ve collected ideas from hence and yon, as well as come up with several of my own, that I think would be an excellent help to any author from any genre. 

There are a LOT of ideas, so I won’t drown you with them all at once.  If you are like me, too many ideas means feeling overwhelmed.   Feeling overwhelmed means friends will finally come and check on you after days of you not returning phone calls only to find you staring at your computer screen and mumbling incoherent jibberish under your breath while rocking slightly back and forth in a mindless state. 

I don’t want to be responsible for that. 

So...without further adieu....(feel free to imagine a drumroll here)....

List # 1 – Oh the places you’ll go....

1.      Donate a copy of your book to your local library...and maybe any local library within a short driving distance.  (Word of mouth is still the best advertising method).

2.      If your book is geared toward children or teens...donate a copy to school libraries in your area.  (Again...word of mouth & we KNOW how teens like to talk.)

3.      BONUS:  If the local school in #2 happens to be a school you attended...set up a “Meet the Author” night with the PTA or one day with the librarian...have a Book Signing while you’re at it. 

4.      Send a copy to your local newspaper OR the regional paper in your area along with a press release.  (Better yet...send it to BOTH).  Be sure to send it to the Attention of the Arts and Variety editor or Local Interest section.  If you aren’t sure who that is...call the paper, they will point you in the right direction.

5.      Speaking of newspapers... Send a copy to at least one national newspaper (I’d send it to as many as you can afford to send books to) along with a press release.  Again, to the attention of the Review Editor.

6.      Bookmarks!!!  I know...it sounds s little odd, but have bookmarks made with your book cover, title, website info & so on to leave at libraries (local & school), bookstores (they might put them in the bags of purchases for you for free if you ask nicely or at least let you leave them on the counter), any place that might relate to your genre or topic (like churches for religious books) or keep some to hand out like business cards when people ask about your book.  They are inexpensive and if you have a problem, just shoot me a message.  I’ll answer any questions about them.

7.      Waiting rooms.  If you find books in your doctor’s office, dentist’s office, at the hospital, or any other waiting room you’ve frequented (or choose to stalk for this sole purpose), why not “conveniently” leave one of your own books there in the mix? You never know who will pick it up. (Remember...word of mouth)  This is an excellent opportunity for anyone who wrote a book specific to a field too, such as: nursing biographies, doctor advice, dental, self-help, etc.  (Though trust me...I’ve been in waiting rooms and I would have LOVED to find something to read besides things related to the office I was in...don’t let that stop you from leaving a fiction book in a doctor’s office).  Heck...leave some bookmarks in these places too!

OK....those should keep you busy for the next week (or so).  I’ll bring List #2 out when you’ve had time to let this one sink in good.  Until then....

Happy Marketing!!!