How Much Money Should You Spend Marketing Your Book?

This is a great sort of topic, mostly because it allows people who have self-published a book or have a traditional publisher to have a say- the money topic.  My question is: how much money will you spend on marketing your book?

You might have a budget or an idea, but you have to get the word out, and you need to do it right.  It’s not just about making money, but getting your book out to the right people who will

I can understand that we all want a best selling book, but we also need to be realistic at least when it comes to writing; which means spending a lot of time and energy to make a book a success, and that is why having a well edited and well written published book is important.  A poor quality book will show the potential reader that you don’t care as much for your book.

I have to admit that at first I didn’t like to have to have an editor go and look and really critique my  ultimate book, but I am happy I did.  There have been some very positive reviews, and I still hope for more reviews.

I have to create some sort of “buzz” for my book, and that usually means spending some money to make it successful.  Often, this means networking and not spending money.

I have given out many books for free, and I hope that my writing partners will be able to see the same success I’ve found.  People see me as a writer and not just a person who talks about writing.  It’s not easy to get reviews, but in my mind, it’s well worth the money if it results in a successful book.

Another way to draw attention to your work is by getting people to see you; either online or offline, and perhaps that is as simple as creating a blog about the book itself, or some other writing that you do online such as a writing workshop or an online writing website.  Some of these options are free, but some cost money to do.

As people “get to know you”, you might indeed find that there is a snowball effect, but that still doesn’t make answering the my first question any easier, How much money is it going to cost you to have your book be successful?  How much would you spend marketing your book?

I would be the first to say that you should stay within your comfort zone when it comes to money; if you spend a lot  of money, for example, $1000 for a small book signing but you don’t break even, this is not wise spending compared with spending $100 some other way and making a profit, even if it is just a dollar.  It is all about promotion, but proper promotion.

How much money should you spend?  The best answer is within your means.  If you have a dollar to spend to market your book, find ways to do this for free.  If you have one hundred use the free means first before spending money.  It’s better to market and build your brand than create debt.