Market Your Book Before Publication
Market Your Book Before Publication
Don’t wait until your book is published to market it. Market your book before publication and start this action before you even put pen to paper.
Promoting your book before its release is crucial for building anticipation and generating interest among potential readers.
Here are 6 marketing tips for creating a groundswell of interest in your book.
1. Validate your idea
If you want to make sales the very first thing to do is validate your idea. Are you planning to write on a topic that will interest readers and more specifically interest your target audience sufficiently so that readers will want to buy?
2. Plant the seed
In the early stages of writing your book start planting the seed. Let people know about your forthcoming publication. Share your writing journey, insights, and updates about what you are doing.
Establish a strong online identity by building your author platform. An author platform is your presence as an author both in the internet space and away from the internet. It’s about your name, your reputation, your brand, and the connections that you have.
Set up an author website. Write blog posts and create promotional material about your book and yourself as the author.
Be active on social media. Promote yourself and information about your book on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tik Tok and LinkedIn. Connect with potential readers.
Consider setting up a YouTube channel and maybe even get into podcasting.
Create a mailing list. Start building an email list of interested readers who want to be notified when your book is released.
Have a lead magnet on your website. This is an incentive to attract subscribers.
3. Book cover
A stunning and compelling book cover will grab a reader’s attention. It needs to communicate the essence of what your book is about.
Part of the book cover design is the book’s back cover, which contains the author’s photograph and blurb about the book. A blurb must pique curiosity and inspire a potential reader to want more.
4. Metadata
Something that can easily be overlooked is the importance of your book’s metadata for promoting your book prior to publication.
When listing your book on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), for example, you need to do considerable research to choose the best title and sub-title for your book, select the 3 most appropriate categories, and come up with seven keywords for the keyword slots.
In addition, craft a book description that’s going to sell your book.
All of this information is metadata.
5. Networking
Make connections with other authors in the publishing industry. Join writer’s groups, attend book festivals and conferences, and participate in online author communities to share experiences and learn from others.
6. Advanced Review Copies (ARCs)
Prior to the release of your book establish a launch team. This a group of people who would be happy to read your book before it is published and when it is published they submit a review.
About two weeks before publication provide your launch team with Advanced Review Copies (ARCs). This group of people are the select few who would love to read your book, and who might want to recommend it to others.
Provide them with free digital copies of your book.
As soon as your book is published notify the launch team members so that they can then submit their customer reviews.
Another method of getting reviews is to collect Editorial Reviews. On your Amazon Author Page, you can add these reviews or use them as endorsements for promotional publicity.
Reviews from experts on a subject, reviews from librarians, or reviews from influencers can be a huge boost to your credibility.
Start to promote your book early so don’t hold back on building a marketing strategy prior to your book’s publication. It’s in this early phase that you can build a groundswell and inform people about what you are doing.
To learn more about self-publishing and marketing your book register for my free, live masterclass. Get your ticket now by clicking the green button below.
Marji Hill
Author and Coach