advice on promoting your book even with a publisher

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Permalink Reply by Kay Elizabeth on August 7, 2010 at 5:57am

Anywhere you can build a following and raise both you and your book's profile is worth a shot. It's good to see you're not making the mistake of thinking the publishers will do all your marketing for you. Authors are expected to pull their own weight. Even the most famous ones are open to getting out there and talking about their books.

For book signings, contact bookstores nearby or within whatever traveling distance you're willing to go and ask if they'd be interested in having one. Arrange to talk to the manager as he or she is the person with the authority to say yes or no. Don't just ask the first staff member you come across if you can. You need to arrange it so there's time for plenty of your books to be available on the day itself for signing. You're going to have to sell yourself here to the manager, so think about what you want to say and why it's a good thing from his perspective to have you there.

Let the local press know you'll be there and when. If you can arrange an interview in the paper a few days before it, even better.

Create a press kit that you can hand out to bookstores or direct interested parties to online. You can read how to make a physical one on my site here, and an online version here. Have both ready before approaching anyone and you'll look very professional.

You can also contact local branches of groups like the Women's Institute or libraries and ask if they would be interested in having you as a speaker some evening. Many libraries have book clubs attached to them that would enjoy that. Ask politely if you could bring along some copies on the day to sell at the end of your presentation. Approach it from the angle of offering your services as a free speaker first, and book seller second. Always hand out something at the end, bookmarks/business cards/flyers etc, to let people know how to get hold of your book. Alternatively you can leave them on the chairs for when they come in.

Book signings often start with a small presentation by the author too. You can learn a great deal on how to present yourself to an audience from this article about a big time author event.

For social media marketing like Twitter and Facebook, it's a great idea to network with other writers and join like-minded groups. You can also build a fan page on Facebook. The more members you show an interest in and follow/like, the more will be interested in what you're up to. Don't spam the followers or the people you follow. Make good comments on their postings, give them interesting material and help where you can.

I assume you already have a blog or website. Put links to all the means of following you on that whether it be Facebook, Twitter or wherever. Make it easy for fans to keep up with you and your book.

If you're comfortable about a radio interview there are several that will do one over the phone. Look for talk radio stations and find out from their websites how to contact the producers or call and ask them. Target local ones first.

Hope that helps. :)

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Permalink Reply by stacie williams on August 7, 2010 at 6:14pm

yes it is helpful do you have any advice for someone like me who is shy and im not much of a public speaker i can talk to anyone but when im in front of a lot of people they all focus on me it makes me nervous and i fumble with words or dont speak loud enough.

Kay Elizabeth said:

Anywhere you can build a following and raise both you and your book's profile is worth a shot. It's good to see you're not making the mistake of thinking the publishers will do all your marketing for you. Authors are expected to pull their own weight. Even the most famous ones are open to getting out there and talking about their books.

For book signings, contact bookstores nearby or within whatever traveling distance you're willing to go and ask if they'd be interested in having one. Arrange to talk to the manager as he or she is the person with the authority to say yes or no. Don't just ask the first staff member you come across if you can. You need to arrange it so there's time for plenty of your books to be available on the day itself for signing. You're going to have to sell yourself here to the manager, so think about what you want to say and why it's a good thing from his perspective to have you there.

Let the local press know you'll be there and when. If you can arrange an interview in the paper a few days before it, even better.

Create a press kit that you can hand out to bookstores or direct interested parties to online. You can read how to make a physical one on my site here, and an online version here. Have both ready before approaching anyone and you'll look very professional.

You can also contact local branches of groups like the Women's Institute or libraries and ask if they would be interested in having you as a speaker some evening. Many libraries have book clubs attached to them that would enjoy that. Ask politely if you could bring along some copies on the day to sell at the end of your presentation. Approach it from the angle of offering your services as a free speaker first, and book seller second. Always hand out something at the end, bookmarks/business cards/flyers etc, to let people know how to get hold of your book. Alternatively you can leave them on the chairs for when they come in.

Book signings often start with a small presentation by the author too. You can learn a great deal on how to present yourself to an audience from this article about a big time author event.

For social media marketing like Twitter and Facebook, it's a great idea to network with other writers and join like-minded groups. You can also build a fan page on Facebook. The more members you show an interest in and follow/like, the more will be interested in what you're up to. Don't spam the followers or the people you follow. Make good comments on their postings, give them interesting material and help where you can.

I assume you already have a blog or website. Put links to all the means of following you on that whether it be Facebook, Twitter or wherever. Make it easy for fans to keep up with you and your book.

If you're comfortable about a radio interview there are several that will do one over the phone. Look for talk radio stations and find out from their websites how to contact the producers or call and ask them. Target local ones first.

Hope that helps. :)

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