Notes on Book Promotion

I was typing out a list of notes for book promotion to use for future articles, when I decided to go ahead and publish the notes. Perhaps they will give you some ideas.

1. Establish yourself as an expert in writing forums, but make sure you give “expert” advice. Too many people are giving writing tips when they should be taking them.

2. Go beyond writing groups to promote your books online. Look for blogs that deal with your topics and comment on them. Admittedly, it’s hard to find topics in novels, play every angle. And be cool — don’t push your book. That just gets you labled a comment spammer.

3. Decide who might be interested in your book. Find a unique angle in your story that might interest a targeted group of people. One woman used “women who loved football” as her hook.

4. Instead of a booksigning, have an event. Give a talk, address writing groups, bill your booksigning as a “coming-out” party.

5. Review other authors’ books and post the review in as many places as possible. After the review, include a brief bio or yourself, and include links to your work.

6. To see if you can set up a booksigning or event at Barnes and Noble, call to get the name of the events co-ordinator. Some Barnes and Nobles have group events for authors from independent publishers.

7. Have a cyber launch party for your book. Set up a group on Yahoo, Facebook, your blog, and invite all your connections. It helps to have a friend who will feed you questions if the party is slow.

8. Look beyond bookstores for your booksigning/event. Is your book regional? Perhaps the historic society or tourist shops would be interested. Does your character golf or fish? Check out golf shops and fishing shacks.

9. Carry your book with you. If someone asks to see your ID, show them your picture on the cover.

10. Do a literacy promotion like: “Kids who see their parents read are more likely to become readers. If you don’t know what to read, I have a book . . . ”

Okay, the tenth suggestion is a bit off-the-wall, but book promotion is about being creative and coming up with off-the-wall ideas. One of them might actually work.