14 Ways to Promote Your Book (Part II)

You can find part one of this article: http://bayouwritersgroup.blogspot.com/2012/03/14-ways-to-promote-your-book-part-1.html

1.      Create a mailing list/newsletter - Start collecting email addresses. Your email list will be the best and fastest way to get word out about your new book. To get addresses offer a free chapter, a unique bonus chapter, discounts, extracts, input, etc. Whenever you go to an event, seminar or workshop collect business cards and email addresses. Remember to ask if you can add them to your email newsletter list. Premium Content is limited-distribution, high-octane information that you send readers in exchange for providing their e-mail address and permission to contact them again in the future. Examples of premium content include articles that focus on particular problems that have been brought to your attention since your book appeared or in-depth treatment of topics too specialized to be included in your book. Premium content can also consist of your reflections on your book in the light of current economic and social trends. You can do your readers a favor, as well as maintain your awareness and pre-sell your next book, by publishing an e-mail newsletter. Make your e-mail newsletter as genuinely helpful as possible. Instead of a long, infrequently published newsletter, offer short nuggets of information that appear on a regular basis. Readers are busy and will respond favorably to concise, easily digested information. When soliciting reader e-mail addresses, always include your privacy statement, which should state that you will never rent, sell or share your readers' e-mail addresses. And make sure you live up to your promise!

2.      Create a Blog or Virtual Book Tour - Blogs, on the other hand, can easily be found through the search engines and often have a loyal base of readers. And more importantly, they’re viral. Great posts are often picked up by other bloggers and linked to through articles and websites. You can take advantage of the power of blogs by going on a virtual book tour: http://www.writinginwonderland.blogspot.com/2012/03/setting-up-your-blog-tour.html

3.      Offer products and services based on your book – e-mail and your web site permit you to offer readers personalized assistance and opportunities for on-going relationships. These relationships represent win-win situations for both of you. Readers get access to your knowledge and expertise, while you get to develop additional sources of profit. Opportunities include telecoaching -- where you offer personal assistance based on weekly one-on-one telephone calls. You could also develop four, eight or 12-week training programs based on your book delivered via e-mail and weekly telephone calls. Each week, participants call a single number, called a "bridge," and discuss the reading and assignments which you sent out as e-mail attachments. A listserve permits participants in a telecourse to send e-mail to all other participants, exchanging ideas and promoting a sense of community. You can also use the web to serve your readers by developing e-books -- short electronic books that you sell directly from your web site. These can consist of in-depth treatment of specialized topics that are not appropriate for book-length treatment.

4.      Create your own advertising – There are many ways to advertise inexpensively or even for free. http://www.writinginwonderland.blogspot.com/2012/10/7-free-or-inexpensive-ways-to-advertise.html

5.      Study other authors – Most writers are more than happy to share their experiences. Read what works for them and adapt to your own needs. Ex: http://www.davidlouisedelman.com/book-promotion/book-promotion/ and http://www.subhub.com/articles/50-ways-to-promote-your-book

6.      Book launch and Publicity Party – http://blog.bookbaby.com/2012/03/how-to-throw-a-book-launch-party-that-isnt-a-waste-of-time/ 

7.      Speaking Engagements – You can read from your work, teach lessons on your theme, talk about your inspiration or just share what you learned on your journey to publication. If you can engage and hook a reader with your speaking then you are likely to make a sale. Places to speak include at book stores, libraries, places mentioned in your writing, conferences, book clubs, writing groups, schools or businesses if the topic is appropriate. Finally, you could consider using the book as a platform for launching your speaking career. You will need a different set of skills to succeed here but the book can make an excellent starting point and every talk will help sell more books.

For more ideas try some of these: http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/get-published-sell-my-work/10-simple-steps-to-handselling-your-book

What promotions worked for you? Which ones failed?