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MenuI am an author and have published seven books so far - both ebooks and hard copies. What is the most effective way to market my books?
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1. Paid targeted traffic to a sales page.
2. Free giveaways of one book, hoping to get paid sales of another.
3. Podcast/radio show guest appearances discussing the book's topic.
4. Get an authority talking about your book.
5. Affiliate marketing--get one of your books included as content or bonus in a marketer's solution package, and draw prospective customers back to you through links embedded in the book.
6. Post on relevant forums, blogs, Facebook/LI groups, Quora with appropriate feedback, linking back to your sales page/Amazon page.
7. Book a call with me to flesh out these ideas in detail.
Build a website and mailing list! Focus on the list - write guest posts, offer advice/tips/tricks, and provide value for people who read your subject/genre.
I suggest first creating a media kit to include all of your book covers with a small 100-150 blurb.
Next, identify companies, organizations and/or coaches/consultants who you can pitch your to for bulk sales. It would be to create a database to collect all of the contact information. A great place to find these prospects is on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Lastly, once you have your database, send them a intro letter to include how your book would be a great marketing tool for their audience, and include a discount scale to show how much your willing to offer off for bulk purchases.
I have written, published, and marketed almost a dozen books, so I know what you are going through. You didn't mention whether your books are fiction or non-fiction, or what the genre of your books is; however, I will try to answer your question for all types.
The social media is the obvious area to promote. This includes Twitter (http://Twitter.com ), Facebook (http://Facebook.com ), and LinkedIn (http://LinkedIn.com ). If you haven’t been taking advantage of these platforms, you should start now.
For any new books, you should trying crowdfunding. Use social media to drive people to your Kickstarter or Indiegogo page. Depending on how much people contribute, they could receive the ebook version, the hard copy books, or the book release party.
Go to Meetup.com and attend meetups related to your books, especially if they are non-fiction.
If you don't have a blog yet, start one, related to your books. Post excerpts from your books on you blog with links to your book page on Amazon. Also, at the back of all your books, post the URL to your blog.
For the non-fiction books, call museums across the country that relate to your book topic and ask to speak to the manager of the museum gift shop. Then ask if they would be willing to buy your book to resell at the museum.
Finally, give speeches anywhere you can to any groups that may be interested in having you speak. Your speech doesn't even need to relate to your book topics. You could talk about writing in general: how you got into writing, how you were able to stay dedicated to writing, how you got published, and tips for anyone who ants to write and publish a book. Then sell your books at the end of your speech. Make sure to tell each buyer of your book that you would appreciate it if they leave feedback for you on Amazon if they are so inclined.
I go into a lot of details on book marketing in my latest book, Write a Book in 30 Days Publish in 30 minutes ( http://www.amazon.com/Write-Book-Days-Publish-Minutes/dp/1515234819/ ). Also, please schedule a call for more information and follow-up questions.
My advice is two fold.
One - go and buy a copy of Traction - http://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Achieve-Explosive-Customer/dp/1591848369/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1455378892&sr=8-2&keywords=traction
The book lists 19 channels to help promote your book and goes in depth offering great examples.
Two - my own piece of advise, consider this a distilled version of what Traction says :)
1. Start writing on Medium - offer pieces from your book and get people to "taste" your book.
2. Start a free course and talk about the same things you have written about in your book - you could scale this to paid courses if you get going and are interested in such revenues.
These courses could be in two form - 1. Recorded videos and tools (could be checklists, templates, or anything else that really helps someone) put together into an eLearning course. You could deploy this course on Udemy and watch people jump on it. 2. Live webinars where you engage with your audience - this even helps in refining your book, if you may.
Amazon Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and newsletters. They have all worked for me and my 11 books.
I am not trying to sell you on calling me. Really, I am pretty busy with my businesses and consulting. However, I need more info before I could have a greater impact in helping you.
Ask, Ask, Ask, then Ask again.
Bonus:
Here is $10,000 worth of information for free and in a nutshell.
Concentrate on the 3 M's. There are actually 7, but 3 will do for now. These are Market, Message, and Media. They come in that order.
Who is your target market (customer, clients, buyers, users, etc.)?
Tailor your laser focused message for this target market.
What is the best media mix to get your message to that market?
Here's what you do...first, make it an offer that is so incredible that they cannot resist. Secondly, do all the work for them. Make it so easy to make the purchase now that they can do it virtually without effort. Thirdly, give them an incentive to act right now. Fourthly, offer an almost unbelievable guarantee. Fifth, offer a bonus for acting now. There are many other incredible steps, but these steps should help the novice to the professional sell anything.
Whether you are selling B2B or B2C, you have to focus on selling to only one person. You can actually sell to one person at a time while selling to millions at a time. They are one and the same. Don't get off track, what we call digital marketing selling is just selling in print. And that has not changed since Cluade Hopkins wrote "Scientific Advertising." Really long before he wrote the book.
The secret to success: I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with some of the biggest names in business, celebrities, actors, entrepreneurs, business people, and companies from startup to billion dollar operations. The number one reason for their success is doing what they know and love while doing it in new, creative, and innovative ways.
Ask, Ask, Ask. Have thick skin and learn from each "mistake." In a short while, the market will tell you what you need to do and who and what you need to ask. But get started now even if that just means asking a contact on LinkedIn.
While you are thinking, think big and think of something at least 1% better, newer, or different. And being cheaper is not a winning strategy.
Make decisions quickly and change decisions slowly..unless you are actually going off a cliff.
Remember these two 11 letter words...persistence and consistency. They are two of the most important tools ever invented.
Treat everybody you talk to and everybody you meet (including yourself) like each is your number one million dollar customer.
Bootstrap when possible and reasonable. Read "How To Get Rich" by Felix Dennis. Or better yet just remember the camel's nose in the tent story.
However, sometimes you just need to make a deal.
Listen, in any business you have to take some chances and some risks. Make sure you don't need a license and go for it. Remember, timid business people have skinny kids. Paraphrased from Zig Ziglar.
Best of luck,
Take massive action and never give up.
Michael
Michael Irvin, MBA, RN
Write to Market:
1.) Know your target reader
2.) Use the EXACT channels and methods for that reader
There some channels that work for ALL genres:
-- Amazon Ads
-- Facebook Ads
As a beginner I would concentrate on Amazon ads (they are the fastest and easiest way to learn paid advertising!)
As the other experts have already answered here, your EMAIL list is probably the number one marketing platform available, however, if you are a beginner and have no list...
Go get a list!
Email Promotion Sites are probably the #1 way - especially when you don't have your own list yet.
1.) Know your market/target reader...
For example if you are a non-fiction author who writes about business start ups or similar; then BUCK BOOKS will be a very good email promotion site for you.
BookBub:
"The Mother of all Lists" is an email promotion site, with over 1 million readers. However, they are expensive...
But they serve all genres.
But you should be open and think out of the box at all times.
For example, what if you are a Childrens Book author?
Email list building in this genre is extremely difficult (kids usually don't have emails! So your target reader is NOT your target buyer.)
In this case I recommend INFLUENCER outreach and author outreach. e.g. make Box sets of your books with other compatible authors books!
Networking, and outreach with other authors and influencers is probably the best way of all.
I have interviewed many successful authors on my blog, and most of them say, if they had to do it all over again, they would have started with the networking and outreach FIRST.
It works, regardless of what genre you are in, or what product you sell.
A free launch can help you get noticed and build up those all-important reviews on Amazon. As a side note, be sure to choose the right category for your book on Amazon. In addition to selling your book on Amazon, you can also promote it there, too. This pay-per-click ad allows you to target Amazon users with keywords that are related to your book. While setting up an ad campaign with Amazon means that you are paying them to sell your book, there is a benefit. Your personal profile just will not cut it, especially if you are planning to market your book. You will need to spend money to market yourself and your book.
You can read more here: https://nybookeditors.com/2018/05/9-tips-for-marketing-your-first-book/
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
Related Questions
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I'm selling books on Ebay Australia for $25, postage is $3. How do I sell globally on Ebay & Amazon when postage is $25 or more?
Have you considered providing the book in electronic format. If somebody wants the book and are willing to pay the shipping fee, they get the paper copy, otherwise, it's a download.JS
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Personal branded domain (mattpeplinski.com) or a branded domain (empiricspirit.com) to promote books?
Both domains are very important. I suggest that you use both of them in different ways. If you believe that your empiric spirit domain is a "company" that you would like to support in social media and in articles, etc., for years to come, support it on its own domain separately from your personal domain. However, I surmise that your personal domain is where you will (and, in my opinion, should) be driving up your social media presence and content. So, I recommend that you direct all book traffic there. So, create a subdomain for your site, or a subfolder, and "point" your book domain to that subfolder. Write about the book in your social media and blog, and all traffic will come where you want it to ultimately come - your website. It's important to maintain a website for the success of your book - for informational purposes, and to show people where to purchase the book. But it is important that you use social media like a pro, and become a guest blogging expert and frequent guest on radio programs... Those things matter much more. Direct all traffic where you want using bitly links, and track what is most effective. Good luck! Enjoy the journey :)KG
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In a Non-Fiction Book can you mention a story told by someone else?
Hi There - I'm a development editor and literary agent with over ten years experience in the industry. Saw your question and thought I'd chime in. You can mention the story in your book, yes, but you do need to reference Malcom Gladwell's speech or whomever said it and wherever it came from. It doesn't have to be formal, but something like, "When Malcom Gladwell was speaking at xxx, he told a story about ....." Then after that you'd connect the story to the point you're making or it's possible the story serves to support a claim you made beforehand. If you're interested in hopping on the phone feel free to reach out. All the best, CynthiaCK
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How can I grow an email list of 100 people to a list of thousands of qualified leads?
Obviously you need to generate more leads. But then you need to segment your list. Your basic list are those leads who "come aboard" and want to know what's going on. Your qualified leads list are your potential buyers. Between the two, you need a gate. So, they come on your big list. Then they need to get something that qualifies them from being a basic prospect to being a qualified prospect. That puts them on the second list. Leads >> Qualifier >> Qualified Leads. What's the topic of your book? Qualify by things people have said in similar book reviews. This is a lot easier if you are doing non-fiction, but it's possible with fiction as well. In the reviews you'll see people saying things like, "I bought this book because..." What they say after that is the pain point. Use this language, as they wrote it, in your qualifier. For example, in a review for SPIN Selling, someone says, " I don't do "hit and run," one-time sales. Tom Hopkins and Zig Ziglar offer great tactics for those kind of salespeople, but they don't work for me." Another says, "...I had no idea how to sell professionally. I had already read a few books by Tom Hopkins, but felt he was targeting used-car salesmen types. It seems as though Hopkins' techniques relied on "closing" gimmicks when it came down to it. (I must say I did learn some good principles from Hopkins, but his gimmicky style is not for me.) I was instantly attracted to SPIN SELLING when I saw that (1) it was based on extensive research, and (2) it dealt primarily with the large sale. Since I want to start my own corporation after my MBA, and want to have Fortune-500 companies as my customers, I realized SPIN SELLING was for me." See the commonality? So if I was launching a solid B2B sales techniques book, I would make use of this language. First, I would attract them to my basic list with the promise of a corporate B2B sales book. Then, I would qualify further with language like, "Are you looking to build real relationships with your customers, instead of hit-and-run one-time sales tricks? Are you eager to understand the secrets of professional corporate selling?" A Call To Action would follow. Those who respond to this language are qualified leads, as salespeople in other situations would not resonate with that copy. How can you transfer what I've shown you here to your niche? If you're writing non-fiction, as I said, it should be straightforward. If it's fiction, then you can find similar stories and pull from the reviews for those...the things they say they like about the author's style (assuming yours is like theirs), the story structure, the excitement, the thought process, or whatever. Why not just go straight for the qualified leads? Because your net won't be big enough. Better to grab a whole lot of interested readers, which you can make use of later as well, and qualify from there.JK
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What are the best strategies for pre-launching a book and generating a high volume of pre-orders?
It can depend on the type of book and goal for your book. But the strategies I know of working and that have worked for me. Involved building an audience of your own and leveraging other peoples audiences. So if you don't have an audience go through and find the thought leaders and personalities in that space. Chat with them about the book and see if you can get them on your launch team. Start Sending out advanced copies to these people to get their feedback and support. Then you want to create some pre-sale freebies. With Mark Mason The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck. Had a bunch of freebies if you pre-orded it for 20 bucks or something. He also appeared on a shit load of podcasts and had a bunch of people promoting his pre-launch.JB
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