11 Powerful Marketing Strategies To Promote Your Book 

11 Powerful Marketing Strategies To Promote Your Book 

Marketing strategies

Authors in 2021 need to be responsible for their own marketing so I am giving you 11 powerful marketing strategies to promote your book.

Gone are the days when authors could leave all the marketing of their books to their publishers. Even if you have a mainstream publisher it’s now expected that the author do a lot of their own marketing.

No matter whether you are with a mainstream publisher or you are a self-publisher you have to get the word out about your books.

Unfortunately, marketing is one of those things that will stress many authors and it is something that a lot of authors prefer to avoid.

How to market your book

Here is a brief overview of how to market your book. I’m breaking this large topic down into 11 powerful marketing strategies that you can implement – the end goal being to sell more books.

Marketing your book is about communicating your message to your target audience and letting that audience know that your book is available for purchase. You give that audience a reason why they should buy your book. 

In essence marketing is very simple – it’s about getting the word out.

Publishing your book on Amazon doesn’t end there with just a click of the Publish button. Clicking the Publish button is really just the start   of the action. 

Your job is to get the word out there that you have a book, and that your target market should buy it.

There are many marketing tactics you can use to do this so I have selected just 11 fundamental strategies to help you along your way.

1. Marketing starts even before you start writing

Marketing your book starts even before you start writing it. You have to do your market research to validate your idea to ensure that your chosen niche is one which could be profitable.

 2. Create an attractive looking book

Readers do tend to judge a book by its cover and so your cover is one of the most important elements of your marketing package.  

As well as the cover the interior needs to look appealing and be professionally designed, edited and formatted.

3. Build a sales page

The cornerstone of your Amazon sales strategy is to have a strong listing page – in other words a compelling sales page with a description of your book.

Once readers visit your book’s listing page this is when and where they make a decision to buy or not to buy.

 4. Learn the secrets of the Amazon ecosystem

Amazon offers a suite of marketing tools ranging from paid advertising to free promotional options.

If you enrol your eBook in KDP Select  you can access a range of promotional tools such as Kindle Unlimited, Kindle Countdown Deals and Free Book Promotions to help you get the word out to more readers and make more money.  Not only that you can set up an Author Page on Amazon Author Central. 

 5. Get Book Reviews

Customer Reviews, together with Editorial Reviews, help add to a book’s credibility and provide social proof helping customers learn more about your book. You need to get as many reviews as possible because they carry a lot of weight on Amazon.

 6. Build your author website

Your own author website should be a central element of your book marketing strategy. It is your hub from where you’ll communicate with your audience and it is where your readers will learn about you the author, your books, the way you think, links to your social media platforms, and all things pertaining to you and your books.

On this website you will have a lead magnet to attract new people to your readership and it will be from here that you will build your email list and data base.

 7.  Email list

An email list, together with an author’s website, would have to be one of the most valuable assets any author could have.  

The idea is to have an email list of followers with whom you can communicate. Communicating with these people on your list helps you to build your audience and you can establish  relationships of mutual respect and trust.

When the fans in your data base get to like and trust you they become your raving fans. These are the people who will buy your book.

8.  Create valuable content

An author may want to blog to create valuable content in the form of blog posts and articles to gain and maintain readers and followers. 

But blogging is not for everyone – it is not a must for authors – but if you are inclined or wired that way it can be an effective addition to your marketing strategy and aid in the building of an author platform.

9.  Social media

In the current world we live, a social media presence is essential for all authors whether they be fiction writers, poets, non-fiction writers, children’s book authors, or any other kind of writer.

Social media puts you on the map and helps to boost your audience.  

Start building social media profiles immediately on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Goodreads and YouTube.

10.  Podcasts

Podcasts are trending as a marketing tool because while radio is less popular these days, people are still interested in audio content. Podcasts have taken over from radio and they help you build credibility, drive brand awareness, and grow your audience. 

Podcasts help you position yourself as an expert so think in terms of cementing your authority by hosting a podcast.

 11. Value of offline promotion

While online marketing is the primary focus for your marketing activities there is still marketing power in doing promotions offline particularly if you have published a paperback.

There are mary activities you can do to promote your book, activities such as:

• having a book launch to promote and sell  
• participating in a trade show, book fair, festival or market
• offering your book as a prize at a charity or community event
• doing promotions in bookshops and libraries
• do a press release
• get interviews on community radio, local newspaper, or television
• and, build your personal network.

Marketing strategies to promote your book

There you have it. 11 powerful marketing strategies to promote your book. 

To learn more you may like to ACCESS HERE the “How to become a self-published author” program consisting of 52 weeks of online lessons that educate, motivate and inspire.

Marji Hill

Author and coach

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