When a writer thinks about marketing their book, it can often lead to nervous knots because they simply don’t know where to start. There are several options such as blogging, writing articles, book reviews, author interviews, and book lists. and not to mention the participation of social networks.
There are seven main components to promoting your book online:
blog – Showcasing your experiences as a writer and sharing about your book’s topic as you write allows your readers to join the journey with you.
Website – for an author, as with any business, corporate or micro, you must have a well-equipped website so that your potential readers can refer to it and obtain information about you and your book.
guest blogging– Join different discussions on other blogs aligned to your book’s message, and then email the blog host offering to write a guest blog post for your readers.
merchandising articles – Submitting multiple articles on the topic of your book to article submission sites like EzineArticles.com lets more people find out about you and your book. You can drive more traffic to your author website by sharing a site link or special offer to a certain page on your site.
interview – Requesting interviews from internet radio show hosts whose listeners would be interested in your topic is another great way to gain more potential readers and great publicity for you and your book.
book listings – Online there are several places, such as Shelfari and Book Hitch, where an author can list their books and build a community of readers. These sites are attractive places for authors to connect directly with their readers.
social media – Last on this list, but certainly not least, are the networks of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube to create an author platform. Start with one and you may join the others over time, but being on social media is a great way to gain readership and connect with other writers and industry leaders.
During the time that you are writing your book, you can begin to coordinate ways to increase online promotion of your book. By starting the process while you are writing the book, you give your potential readers time to get to know you and your book. You know, you don’t normally buy from people you don’t know, right? Well, neither are your potential readers. And being online allows you multiple ways to connect with your potential readers during the writing process, so when your book comes out, they’ll be eager to buy it.
