Self-Published authors do not have the luxury of resources and connections that traditional publishing has. While the ideal marketing strategy is to cover all aspects of book promotion from direct marketing to various digital platforms, self-published authors are often faced with limited time and resources. With this dilemma, authors tend to settle with whatever venue that is readily available and conveniently accessible to them.
However, ReadersMagnet believes that no matter how limited one’s resources are, their marketing strategy should be comprehensive and should be maximized. We listed 5 book promotion services that if put together can create a cohesive, effective marketing machinery for every self-published author.
Press Release
The press release is one of the oldest and fundamental forms of promotion. A press release is a simple typewritten or printed document that contains the essential of 5 Ws (what, who, when, where, why) about your book. A press release is easy to produce and can be mailed to both local and national media. Press releases can cover a lot of areas especially if you have a long list in your media directory. Not only these simple documents serve as an invitation or promotional material but it also serves as a ticket to establishing connections with media people, which is essential as your book promotion campaign progresses.
Marketing Materials
Perhaps the most important element in your marketing strategy is your marketing materials, specifically your marketing kit. Your press release, your publicity kit (which is a pre-requisite in booking a radio interview), are all part of your marketing materials. However, your marketing kit is specifically designed to serve as freebies to be given away during seminars, book launch, book fairs, and other public engagements related to promoting your book. A comprehensive marketing kit includes business cards, bookmarks, postcards, posters, and digital sell sheets. A publicity kit consists of author and book information which includes a brief book synopsis, author profile and contact information. These documents are essential in your book promotion or any promotional efforts for that matter. You cannot start your campaign without them.
Author Radio Interview
Another under-rated marketing tool is the use of radio broadcast. A live interview can help a self-published author reach thousands of target readers in just a matter of minutes. A 15-minute interview allows authors to further talk about his book and go into details by answering questions from the host and listeners as well. Aside from the direct marketing, radio interviews give you the opportunity to advertise your other marketing tools such as websites, social media and other platforms where your book is present. Book radio interview is a great complement to your press release campaign as far as traditional media marketing is concerned.
Online Brand Publicity and Social Media Advertising
Online publishing produced quite a number of best-sellers throughout these past decades and has inspired many writers to self-publish online. But E.L. James, Andy Weir, Amanda Hocking, and Hugh Howey did not sell millions by simply uploading chapters of their masterpieces online. Their success is largely due to online publicity provided by their distributors such as Amazon and Kindle Direct Publishing. Social media visibility provided by Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other frequently-visited websites is also essential in online marketing.
Your Own Updated Website and SEO through Blogging
A very important component of an effective marketing strategy is dynamism, especially in engaging your target audience. That is why a self-published author does not rely solely on the publicity afforded by online distributors and social media sites. Authors must actively communicate with the target audience by providing them with updates, stories, and timely responses related to his or her brand. An updated website that contains news, events and other information would help promote you and your brand to the online public. Then, you can optimize your site by providing relevant articles that not only promote your stories but also builds your reputation as a credible author.
ReadersMagnet believes that the services mentioned above are crucial elements in making sure that each book gets the recognition it truly deserves. Talk to us and we’ll discuss with you our quality and top of the line book marketing services. Call us at 1-800-805-0762.
I’ve tried these promotions myself when I was marketing my book. I’d say my favorite is social media advertising – best strategy ever!