(Note: This blog posting is an abbreviated written transcript form of the audio podcast)

MARKETING AND PROMOTING YOUR BOOK

Market your book like a Publicist

I think this is the most exciting part about publishing a book…..brain storming and coming up with ways to promote and sale your book. The best part about running any type of business for me is the part where I get to market….promote….and advertise. I don’t know where the desire for this came from but as far back as I can remember I have always loved this area of business. And the most exciting part is that I love to promote other peoples goods and services. I love to create platforms for people in order to give them exposure. My first podcast was geared around featuring not for profits and interviewing people who were doing outreach to help others in need. I really believe that one of the main duties and callings that I have in life is to assist others…..help them achieve their goals and dreams. I would like to consider myself to be a sort of unofficial publicist and/or promoter. The definition of a publicist is:

someone making person, organization, or product noticed. someone whose job is to use newspapers, television, etc. in order to make people notice a person, organization, or product. Wikipedia

I’m really not too crazy about being in the spot light and if you are a publicist and/or promoter of some sort you really don’t have to be in the spot light. It’s the job of the publicist/promoter to bring recognition to their client. If you have the budget then by all means hire a publicist; literary agent, manager and anyone that you think can help to promote your books. Alas…..most of us don’t have deep pockets and can’t afford the hire a publicist; promoter; literary agent or public relations person so that leaves you with you. The good news is you can promote and market the book yourself. Merriam-Webster gives a very general definition of the word marketing that states:

Marketing is the activities that are involved in making people aware of a company’s products, making sure that the products are available to be bought, etc

I love how Tim Grahl redefines the definition of marketing in n his book entitled “Your first 1000 copies the step by step guide to marketing your book” . Tim takes a look at the definition of marketing given by dictionary.com that says marketing is “The total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing and selling” and he breaks it down to simply say that “Marketing is the act of building long-lasting connections with people.” Tim says that this is the complete definition for how today’s authors successfully market their books and is the underlying principle of his entire book. He says that the more long lasting connections you make with readers, the more books you will sell in a natural manner that reflects genuine connection rather than shady salesmanship. When you get to the part of your book publishing business where you need to market your book then Tim’s book is a must read. Actually this is a book that you should probably read first before you do anything because he talks in detail about how important it is to establish trusted relationships and building trusted relationships with people don’t happen overnight…..it takes time. Tim talks about the “marketing toolbox” he says that The Internet offers great marketing tools that you should consider using as you build your online author platform. Social networking platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn. Blogs. Email marketing. Guest blogging. Interviews. Speaking events. Blog commenting. Online forums. Podcasting. Tim covers these social media platforms in more dept in his book you can get it at amazon.com or audible and download the audio version.

How Social Media will help to sale your book

I think that here is a pretty good place to say that if you don’t like the various Social Media Channels then you had better get to like them…..and real soon. At the very least you may need to partner with someone that likes to surf the web and who wouldn’t mind setting up and maintaining your social media accounts. You will need some (not all) but some of them to help you connect with your potential readers. You won’t need to sign up for all of the social media platforms and only you will know which ones to sign up for. For example if your book uses illustrations; maybe you are a photographer then you might then you should consider signing up for an Instagram and Pinterest account. Don’t wait until your book is finished, start being active in these places now and engage with as many people as you can. If you’re a cook and you want to demonstrate making some of your recipes then you will want to sign up for a YouTube account. I’m not the best cook in town but I’m a visual learner so when I want to learn how to make a particular dish then I search the recipe out on YouTube then and try my hand at it. If you know that one day you would like to publish a cook book then you need to be demonstrating some of your recipes NOW on YouTube. If your book is business oriented then you should sign up for a LinkedIn account; twitter and FaceBook and everyone and I mean everyone should be blogging.

Having a website and blog to drive your book sales

I think that everyone should have a HUB a central place to call home….a place that every potential customer can go should they want to know more about your book and or publishing business and this my friend is the home page of your website. Social media platforms are great but as we all know if the proprietors of these sites decide for whatever reason to shut your account with them off…what do you do then. I’ve read horror stories about individuals who built up a good following on sites like FaceBook and YouTube only to have their accounts closed for no apparent reason…or at least for unwarranted reasons. When you are on your social media sites distributing content then you should always refer the readers back to your website and then take it one step further by inviting you to join your email list. If you don’t already have a website then at the very least start a blog. Merriam-Webster says that a blog is

“a Web site on which someone writes about personal opinions, activities, and experiences”

I’d say that it’s much more then that……because blogs contain more then what someone writes about they also contain videos, pictures and audio files. Sure you will definitely be writing about the blog topics but I’m finding that some of the most successful blogs today also have element of video, pictures and audio files As I states in previous sessions; writing is not one of my strongest points…….primarily because my grammar and punctuation is not the best but really just for the most part I would rather talk and discuss the topics on my mind; hence this “audio blog”. I can verbally say what I want to say on this podcast and then transform the spoken words into a semi-completed transcript that I post in the show notes on my website. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who would rather talk then write…..if that’s you then you should also check out the platform of podcasting. But back to Blogs again if you really think that now is not the time to build a website then you MUST be on a blog. Blogs are easy to sign up for and start and….at least some of them….are free. Can you imagine maintaining a blog where you are writing periodically about the subject you are passionate about. I am imagining, of course that you are passionate about your goods and services, you better be. So can you imagine blogging for weeks, months, maybe even years and then it hits you to write a book about the subject. If in fact you have some faithful blog readers, then when you go to introduce your book to the public some of the first ones to sign up to purchase your it should be your blog followers. I’ve only skimmed the surface of some of the ways you can market and promote your book I will be discussing other ways of promoting, advertising and distributing your book in future sessions.

Various ways to market and promote your book:

Introduce your book to friends and family
Giving speeches
Asking for and knowing where to solicit for reviews
publishing an Ebook version of your book
producing/publishing an Audio version of your book
Host a seminar
Teach a class
Host a webinar
Run a contest
Start a blog
Produce an info-graphic
write articles for online magazines and blogs
Pitch to bloggers for reviews
produce and offer a free audio CD and/or video DVD
start a podcast
pitch to be interviewed on a podcast or radio show

QUIZ TIME

QUESTION

What best describes the role of a Publicist? A) Someone who makes a person notable B) Someone who makes an organization notable C) They use the newspaper and television to ahieve their goals D) They use social media to achieve their goals E) All of the above

If you answered…….

E

You are correct!!!!

BONUS QUESTION

QUESTION

Which of the ways listed below is NOT a good choice for marketing and promoting your book: A) Introduce your book to friends and family B) Giving speeches C) publishing an Ebook version of your book D) producing/publishing an Audio version of your book E) Host a webinar F) write articles for online magazines and blogs G)They are all good ways to promote your book