How To Market the Heck Out of Your First Book--Without Expiring!

This is actually a repeat post. I decided to re-post it because I've been seeing a lot of chatter from writers about how hard it is to be in the business of writing. I agree that it is more difficult than it was even ten years ago. Publishing has changed so much and so have the demands of the marketing department. We simply can't sit back and expect that some other person is going to do the work for us! Check out this article for some great tips on marketing your book!---Mary Ann

How to Market the Heck Out of Your First Book--Without Expiring

By

Kathryn Jones

                Burned out?

                Many of us are, especially when it comes to marketing our first book, and I'm not counting the craziness of wondering where to start in the first place.

                But since I've suggested it, let's start there.

                Here's a long but sweet list of places/ways to market:

                1. Reviews

                2. Interviews

                3. Blogs

                4. Social Media

                5. Postcards

                6. Speaking Engagements

                7. Online Advertising

                8. Book Trailers

                9. Book Signings

                10. Contests

                Burned out yet? Just reading the list may do that to you. But I want you to notice something. Almost all of these ideas are online ways of marketing. And that's good. Why is that good?

                FREE. Don't you love the word FREE?

                Consider all of the money you'll be saving by plugging in an idea or two and running with it. Now, pay attention. I did not say you have to do all of these ideas at the same time, or that you had to do all of the ideas above, just that this was a list I was creating for you to look at.

                So why the list, you ask?

                Sure beats trying to figure out where to start. Now with that said, I want you to look over the list again. Pay special attention to the top two ideas.

                will get the word out about your book without too much work on your end. A search for reviewers need no longer difficult either. Consider all of the bloggers who read and who would love a free copy of your book so that they might review it. Sold. Think about all of the reviewers who will review a PDF copy of your book over a paperback copy. Even better. And think about this link:

Reviews

                http://www.Stepbystepselfpublishing.net/reviewer-list.html.

                Interviews include blog interviews and blog radio interviews. Both of these come free to you and take very little of your time once you have them lined up.

                Blog interviews: Blog owner sends you a writer's questionnaire. Just fill it out and return it along with your author photo and book cover. The blog owner will do the rest.

                Try: http://www.4writersandreaders.com

                Blog radio interviews: Same as above, only you are recorded via blog radio. The host may send you a list of questions beforehand, or he/she may just schedule a day. The radio interview will be live or recorded.

                Try: http://www.wnbetworkwest.com/WnbAuthorsShow.html

                Once you have a handle on Reviews and Interviews, go down the list. See what additional two you'd like to add to your marketing plan. For example, consider the ease with which you can talk to others about your books if you also have a postcard in hand to give them when they ask about it.

                Postcards are wonderful things. Consider how often you are at the grocery story, the bank, the doctor's office, just standing around waiting for someone or something. I get my postcards through Vista Print online. On one side of the card is printed my book cover. On the back? Information about me and about my book including my website, my email, my book's synopsis and my social media links.

                If the first two prospects, getting reviews of your book and obtaining interviews, scares you about as much as hanging off of the Eiffel Tower, start here. Get 500 cards made up and talk your book up.

                But don't make that your only task. I sometimes get burned out when I forget to balance my marketing with my writing. That means I don't market more than I write, and I don't write more than I market. Even then, I sometimes get burned out, but that's because I've forgotten that life is more than writing and marketing.

                And so I take a break.

                It's amazing what I can do with a fresh mind.

Kathryn Jones is a writer, publisher, and marketer. She loves to weed the garden, take early morning walks, and speak to fans about her books. She is currently, with the help of her genius husband, renovating her newly purchased home. She is a reader of the works of C.S. Lewis, whether it be fiction or nonfiction and is open to connecting with writers and readers alike.

 http://www.ariverofstones.com.

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