Promotion Commotion
November 6, 2012
Some tips on how to promote your book
When
it comes to promoting these days, we can’t all be marketing and advertising
gurus, and when you’re just starting up you can’t afford those kinds of
contractual services either; so here are some easy tips to help you promote
your book and get people interested in hearing what you have to say!
it comes to promoting these days, we can’t all be marketing and advertising
gurus, and when you’re just starting up you can’t afford those kinds of
contractual services either; so here are some easy tips to help you promote
your book and get people interested in hearing what you have to say!
1.
Create
a commotion – Despite what the title of Stephen Chbosky’s popular novel might
suggest; there are little “Perks of Being a Wallflower” in the publishing
world. Bold is gold when it comes to being heard amidst the 19 000 Canadian
books published each year and over 2 million published worldwide. Once you have
finished writing your book and it is in publication, your work is, sadly, far
from over. No matter what the topic or subject matter of your book may be,
creating a “buzz” should be your number one priority! Get your book out into
the community, offer to talk at a local library or bookstore, contact a radio
station for an interview, and encourage reviews of your book so people can get
interested and comment on what you have to say.
Create
a commotion – Despite what the title of Stephen Chbosky’s popular novel might
suggest; there are little “Perks of Being a Wallflower” in the publishing
world. Bold is gold when it comes to being heard amidst the 19 000 Canadian
books published each year and over 2 million published worldwide. Once you have
finished writing your book and it is in publication, your work is, sadly, far
from over. No matter what the topic or subject matter of your book may be,
creating a “buzz” should be your number one priority! Get your book out into
the community, offer to talk at a local library or bookstore, contact a radio
station for an interview, and encourage reviews of your book so people can get
interested and comment on what you have to say.
2.
Get
Social – As obvious as it may be to point out, we are living in the 21st
century, and it just so happens that the World Wide Web (or “Internets” as an
old friend once referred to it) is becoming a widely used promotional forum.
Outlets like Facebook and Twitter have become an industry standard for creating
that “buzz” about your book. Creating a Facebook page for people to “Like” or
posting constant updates or polls on Twitter are great ways to get people
talking about your book and interacting with you. The worst thing that an
author can do to their book is assume that once it is published it will do the
rest of the work for them. Get out there, get social, and get talking so people
know that you still care about your book… and they will too!
Get
Social – As obvious as it may be to point out, we are living in the 21st
century, and it just so happens that the World Wide Web (or “Internets” as an
old friend once referred to it) is becoming a widely used promotional forum.
Outlets like Facebook and Twitter have become an industry standard for creating
that “buzz” about your book. Creating a Facebook page for people to “Like” or
posting constant updates or polls on Twitter are great ways to get people
talking about your book and interacting with you. The worst thing that an
author can do to their book is assume that once it is published it will do the
rest of the work for them. Get out there, get social, and get talking so people
know that you still care about your book… and they will too!
3.
Establish
Permanence – It’s easy for the “buzz” about your book to fizzle out if you let
it. Creating a website or blog on topics surrounding your book keeps people
interested and perhaps draws people to your site that do not yet own your book
for a related but non-specific reason. In that case you have not only
potentially sold another book, but shown that you are evolving and that your
voice hasn’t stopped with the final ink drop from the presses.
Establish
Permanence – It’s easy for the “buzz” about your book to fizzle out if you let
it. Creating a website or blog on topics surrounding your book keeps people
interested and perhaps draws people to your site that do not yet own your book
for a related but non-specific reason. In that case you have not only
potentially sold another book, but shown that you are evolving and that your
voice hasn’t stopped with the final ink drop from the presses.
Really, the take home message of these few tips is
that you need to get vocal. You have to create that commotion that keeps
reinventing itself so that people don’t get bored. If you treat your book as a
one hit wonder, that is what it will be, but if you demonstrate a versatility
and willingness to change and evolve through those initial ideas, then people will see that you have an idea worth spreading!
that you need to get vocal. You have to create that commotion that keeps
reinventing itself so that people don’t get bored. If you treat your book as a
one hit wonder, that is what it will be, but if you demonstrate a versatility
and willingness to change and evolve through those initial ideas, then people will see that you have an idea worth spreading!
Photo courtesy of http://www.campuslabs.com/
