4 Powerful Tips For Successfully Marketing Your Self-Published Book

Posted on: 15 September 2014

Have you written a book you want to self-publish? With the advent of electronic and physical self-publishing platforms, the self-published author is getting a lot more respect. There is even room for authors to find an audience and make good money without the benefit of a traditional publisher. Just like online music downloads are allowing musicians to get around the need for a record label, self-publishing is quickly rendering traditional publishers obsolete.

According to the NaNoWriMo Blog (supporting National Novel Writing Month each year), approximately 211,269 self-published books were released in 2011, leading self-published books to gain a respect they never had in the past. You genuinely have a chance of becoming a strong-selling author on your own today.

However, before you can realize your best-seller dreams, you have to know how to market your book to find your audience. Here's how to do it successfully.

1. Come Up With a Killer Cover

The cover of your book is the first thing people will see, and first impressions count. You may have the most amazing work of literature since Shakespeare wrote "Romeo and Juliet," but most potential customers won't give it a chance if the cover is lame.

You want a cover that is enticing, and practically begs readers to peek inside of the book. If you don't know how to mock up a cover on your own, using graphics programs on your computer, that's okay. Invest a little money in hiring a professional to design your cover for you. It will make all the difference in the world in your book sales.

2. Price Your Book Right

If you are a known author, you can get away with charging a double-digit price for your book. However, people are taking a chance on you if you are an unknown author. You need to price your first book accordingly. Low introductory prices work very well for first-time authors. On most online platforms, 99 cents seems to be the sweet spot for attracting buyers to a new author's book. You'll make up what you lose in individual book sale royalties in an increased number of sales.

Some new authors even do a one day giveaway of their book. This is a great social media strategy to get people to share the news of your free book with others. Even if people get the message late and miss out on the freebie, they are still likely to give your book a go for 99 cents. Plus, you'll get the benefit of strangers hearing about your book through word of mouth.

3. Put Your Book on as Many Platforms as Possible

Get your book on as many electronic selling sites as you can. Just make sure you don't give any one site exclusive rights to your book when you are uploading it (even if the site offers higher royalties for exclusivity). You will also want to have some physical copies of your book to send to people who want to read it, but don't have electronic readers.

Physical copies are good to have on hand if you can convince local bookstores to carry your title (usually based on showing them your online sales). Look online for affordable book printing companies to get your physical copies. Start out with only 100, then go up from there depending on demand.

4. Pay for a Professional Review

There are respected online book review companies that will review self-published books for a fee. Using blurbs from these review sites on the back of your book cover or in the description section on electronic book sale sites will give your book added credibility. Most traditional book reviewers won't look at self-published books, so this is a perfect way to show potential readers that your book has some credibility behind it. Credibility drives sales. You will notice the difference.

Conclusion

You don't need a big New York publisher to become a best-selling author anymore. In fact, it often happens the opposite way these days, especially with affordable book printing companies. An author will become a self-published success first, and then be offered a publishing contract by a traditional publisher. There's no reason that can't happen to you, too. Self-publish and start an out of this world marketing campaign today, and realize your dreams of writing renown.

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