So you got your book published. Congratulations. Having a book in print helps you build your credibility as an expert in your field.
But if youre relying on your publisher to promote your book, youre in for a real shock. Unless youre a celebrity or well know writer like Stephen King or Mark Victor Hansen, youll be lucky if they include you in a press release with other authors.
A large part of promoting your book is promoting yourself and making sure your name is recognizable to your target audience. While you may not reach John Grisham status, you can go a long way to establishing yourself as the expert on your subject matter by becoming heavily involved in the community for which you write.
If you want your book to become more than a blip on Amazon.com, youre going to have to do some of your own publicity.
1) Write some more: To promote your book you need to make sure everyone knows that you wrote it and you need to peak their interest enough to make them want to buy it. To do that you should write press releases and articles about your books topic and submit them anywhere that holds your book topic's audience.
2) Network: Attend meetings and special events everywhere you can to meet people who would be interested in your book, then talk about it. Make sure you have a short 'commercial' all ready to say to anyone that shows the least bit of interest in your book. Convince them that if they only buy one book in a year, yours is the one they should buy!
And remember, networking doesnt mean offline events. You need to network online as well. If you are active on list servs and bulletin boards that relate to your books topic. Mention the book in your email signature.
3) Arrange public appearances: Call up bookstores to arrange for a reading and book signing. Also, approach those who organize events that are related to your book's topic and ask them if they'd like you to speak. Experts with free time are very hard to come by. They'll probably jump at the chance to have you contribute.
4) Use an email campaign: Ask colleagues with strong email lists to help with this for the most impact. Write an email that drives people to Amazon.com to buy your book on one particular day. (Just make sure that day isnt when the next Harry Potter or anticipated next best seller is scheduled for release.) You and your colleagues email it out. Depending on how big the email lists are, you could see your book become an Amazon best seller. |
