You’ve written a book, and now you want to market it. But how? How do you get people to notice your book in the crowded market of everything on Amazon? The answer is that it’s not enough simply to write and publish a book.

eBook devices

The first step is make sure your book is available to a wide audience by having it available on every ebook device. If you have a Kindle book, make sure that it’s also available on the Nook and Kobo devices. If you have an iBook store, make sure that it’s also available on Google Play Books and other platforms like Amazon, who allows self-published authors to sell their own ebooks via their website (if they so choose).

Be aware of which formats are supported by each platform — for instance, if you’re writing in Microsoft Word or LaTeX then there may be additional steps required to convert these files into PDFs before uploading them as ebooks. 

Traditional or digital marketing strategy?

There are two main ways of marketing a book: traditional and digital. Traditional marketing is the same as it always has been — you send out review copies, get blurbs from other authors, go on a publicity tour and talk about your book at various venues, give interviews to local papers, etc. Digital marketing is a new way of approaching the promotion of your work; in this case, you would use social media platforms (e.g., Facebook) or online forums to post information about your upcoming book release or review copies for bloggers/reviewers who may want to write about it once it’s published.

Both types of marketing can be effective, but they also require very different approaches and resources so that you’re not wasting time or money on ineffective strategies that don’t work in favor of ones that do. In terms of effectiveness alone though? Digital marketing wins hands down every single time due partly because of the sheer amount of people who use these platforms on a daily basis versus those who read newspapers regularly (and even then only occasionally).

Offer sample chapters to build interest

The first step to marketing your book is to give potential readers a taste of what you have to offer. You can do this by offering sample chapters on your website, or making it easy for them to download a free .pdf version of the first chapter from Amazon.

Include links in the sample chapter that take readers directly to where they can buy your book, either on Amazon or through another site (such as Kobo). You should also include a link back to your own website for more information about the book and other projects you may have written.

A compelling trailer for your book to post it everywhere

A book trailer is a short video that introduces your book. It can be used to market your book and is a great way to pique the interest of potential readers and encourage them to purchase it.

• Keep trailers short (2–3 minutes). You want people to stay interested, so keep the length of your trailer under four minutes or so—people are more likely to watch something shorter.
• Make trailers interesting and engaging. Your goal is to make people want to read more about your story, so don’t bore them by talking too much about yourself or telling them everything they need to know about the plot in advance. Instead, focus on making an enticing teaser that makes people want more!

Pre-orders to boost sales

The most effective way to boost pre-sales is by offering a discount or freebie for those who buy early. You can do this in many different ways, but the basic idea is to entice buyers with something that’s worth paying for, like a short ebook or free chapter of your book. Here are some other ideas:

• Offer a free gift (e.g., t-shirt, mug, bookmark) with purchase of the pre-order book
• Offer an online consultation session or package of sessions with the author(s)
• Give away access to an exclusive webinar you’re running on the topic

Summary

Book marketing is a lot of work, but it’s not impossible. If you do the research and put in the effort to create a compelling product, your book will find its audience. The key is to have patience and persistence — and remember that each person who becomes invested in your work makes it worth all the effort!