As a top book publisher in Nigeria, it gives us great joy to be able to help authors figure out ways they can sell their books in a very competitive market. We’ve talked before about the many ways you can go about marketing your book, but today we’re going to point out the three most important parts of book marketing. At its core, marketing a book is about communicating why people should want to buy your book and giving them an easy way to do so. These three parts are what you need to successfully grow an audience, sell more books, and build a lasting self-publishing career.
But before we start talking about the three important parts of book marketing, you need to understand your market. Of course, your writing is your passion project, but by listing your book for sale, you’re also turning it into a product. And while the writing can be as artistic as you like, you’re going to need to focus on the business side as well if you want to reach your audience.
To that end, before you even start writing your book, you should make sure you concretely know what kind of book you want to write, and more importantly: who will want to read it? The answers to this question will inform everything about your marketing strategies.
1. Build your author website and social media
There’s no getting around it: the world is digital. To have any kind of visibility, you’re going to need a solid internet presence — and there really is no such thing as “too early” to start building it.
To set yourself up for success, the first thing you should do is establish your own author website. This will act as the central source for all things ‘you’, allowing you to easily direct people to all your books, your social media accounts, your mailing list, and more. Author websites are designed to be clean and easy to navigate — the point is to make it easy for people to find exactly what they’re looking for, namely: your books. And keep it up to date! Too often, writers neglect their site when they release new titles, resulting in out-dated book lists, and thus, frustrated fans.
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2. Book Reviews
By this point, you’ve got a book that matches the market, and you’ve set up avenues (author website) where people can buy your book and connect with you. Now it’s time to get out there and really make a name for yourself.
Let’s face it: a book with few or no reviews will never be a bestseller, no matter how good it is. Getting customer reviews early is crucial to the success of your book. To that end, you’ll want to focus on getting people to write short reviews of the book, even before it’s released. Through your social media and author website, you can announce that anyone willing to receive the ‘Advanced Reader Copy’ should contact you. Once they do, you can send them free copies and ask for reviews in return.
3. Advertise / Book Promotion
The first thing you’re going to want to know is how to advertise. These include social media ads, blog or newspaper interviews and articles (very good for Google ranking), flyers, etc.
These are powerful ways to reach people who are already looking to spend money on books, and using them correctly can really boost your sales.
In conclusion, effective marketing strategies not only help books reach a wider readership but also create awareness and anticipation, ultimately driving sales and success.
