Writing your book is just the tip of the iceberg. Once it’s ready to publish it’s your job to market it.
It doesn’t matter how you plan to publish it, marketing is your responsibility.
- Mainstream publishers will do a bit, but will definitely expect you to have a marketing plan. They are publishers, not promoters.
- A good independent publisher will usually do some social media and may offer some advice.
- If you’re self-publishing you’re on your own!
Listings on sites like Amazon, Nook, Kobo, etc. aren’t enough. If nobody knows about your book, you won’t sell many copies if you’re relying on it appearing magically in searches.
You need a tribe!
Marketing starts before you start writing. Remember that ideal reader avatar you created after reading the last article? That’s the basis for building a tribe. You want lots of people like that.
Having massive followings on social media isn’t enough. Firstly, you don’t own those connections, the social platform does. Secondly, there’s no guarantee that they will see your posts. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t post about your book – you definitely should, but you need to get them on your own list.
What value can you offer your ideal reader to get them to sign up for your list and provide their email address?
- A regular newsletter with valuable insights around the subject of your book.
- A podcast – maybe featuring other expert interviews.
- A regular exclusive webinar for ‘members only’
- Special offers or promotions, or earlybird access.
Be creative.
The aim is to build your tribe or community to a substantial number that means, when you launch your book, they all know about it and have already expressed a strong interest in the subject.
Some examples:
One client had an email list of 6,000 and put together a bonus bundle for his book launch that resulted in sales of 200+ copies of the hardback version and nearly 100 ebook versions on day 1.
Another client built his list to 5,000 over a period of about 18 months – and delayed the book launch to meet his target. He had a highly successful paid launch event (attendees paid +£60 each), with expert speakers and not only launched his book, but also the course and webinar based on the content.
Without that tribe ready – even with a very active social media campaign and an email campaign to a small list (approx. 500 contacts) – another book launch resulted in less than 50 sales.
Bonus offers for your launch
If you’re chasing an Amazon ‘best seller’ badge, you’ll want to get as many sales on day 1 as possible. That means you need to offer people an incentive to buy on launch day.
A reduced cover price is a good start, maybe £10 instead of £20 just for the first day. But you could also offer other material. These might include one or more of these:
- A audio/video product
- An exclusive webinar with the author
- A free ticket to an event
- A draw for something relevant of value (I’ve seen people give places on their high ticket programmes, seminars, kindle readers, ipads, coaching sessions, etc.
Everything in your bonus bundle needs to be listed with its actual value. So you could have a bundle that is worth £100, £500, or £5,000 – for the reduced cover price ONLY on launch day.
Promote your launch
Use your email list AND social media leading up to the launch day. Typically, you’ll need to start at least 6-8 weeks ahead of your publication date.
- Tease book content
- Remind them of the bonus offer
- Share your excitement
- Give an insight on who the book is for and why it will help them
Start with a couple of posts and emails a week and increase the frequency as launch day gets closer.
Your launch is just the first step
Once your book is launched you don’t stop there. You’ll need a marketing plan that is evergreen to keep your book visible, so it continues to make sales.
