by Yvonne Perry
A book is not a baby as some authors tend to believe. Even if the book were a baby, would you leave it to survive on its own? A book is a product and being an author is very much like running a business. If you don’t market your book, it will not sell. Don’t wait to start your marketing. There’s plenty to do while you are still writing your book.
1. Create a buzz: There’s a difference in creating a buzz and outright marketing. To create a buzz about a book that has not been completed, contracted or is not available on the market, I might suggest setting up a blog where you mention that you are working on a book. Give updates about your writing process. If you hire an editor, mention that. When you decide on the publishing method you want to use, blog about it. It commits you to the process, knowing that you’ve announced to the world that you are writing a book.
However, as a word of caution, don’t give away your story line or jeopardize your ability to be picked up by a publisher. Some will not publish content that has been published on the Internet, so only talk about the process and topic related to your book, but don’t post any text from your book online before you publish the book.
You also may want to write articles for article directories in order to start establishing yourself as a go-to person on the topic of your book.
2. Get established online. Networking is a vital part of an online marketing strategy, and this is another thing you can begin even before you have a book to offer. A good bit of time and some technical skills are needed for this. You must sign up for social marketing sites and establish your network of followers (musicians call them fans).
3. Get a marketing education. Do your marketing research while you write your book. Click on links that come to you via Twitter, other bloggers, Meetup and Yahoo groups, newsletters, etc. and make new connections by commenting wherever you can. Learn all you can about online marketing techniques that are available. Technology is always changing and you want to be on the cutting edge of whatever works to sell books.
Online marketing serves the same purpose as print or traditional marketing, but I have found it more effective and less expensive.
Online marketing is more about getting the word out and sharing information, while traditional marketing involves buying ads, querying magazines, or hoping the press will run your release. You have more control online because there are so many avenues where you can simultaneously get your book in front of a wide variety of people, or you can home in on a target market by selecting certain sites that are more related to your topic.
So, write your book, but make sure you do whatever you can to get connected before your book is on the market.
Yvonne Perry is a freelance writer and the owner of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services (WITS). She and her team of ghostwriters are ready to assist you with writing and editing for books, Web text, business documents, resumes, bios, articles and media releases.
For more information about writing, networking, publishing, and book promotion, or to sign up for free email delivery of WITS newsletter, please visit https://www.writersinthesky.com. New subscribers receive a free eBook “Tips for Freelance Writing.”
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