5 Tips for Marketing Your Book

In today’s digital age, it’s becoming increasingly important to market yourself and your book as a product rather than a piece of art. While the writing itself is a key part of finding success as an author, you also have to use marketing as a tool to set yourself apart from others. By publishing your book, you have put your own product out into the world. To ensure it does well, you have to take extra steps to promote it. Here are a few tips to help you get started.

Create Your Own Author Website
One of the main things you have to establish is what your brand looks like as an author. An easy way to distinguish your own brand is by creating an author website so your audience can easily find all the information they want to know about you and your work. A great thing to add to your website is an email newsletter where readers can sign up to get updates on your work. 

Share Your Work on Social Media
Social media has quickly become a great way to advertise yourself and your writing to a wide audience. Websites specifically geared towards writers, such as Wattpad and Inkitt, can help you gain a following by posting snippets of your work. You can also use a personal blog for the same purpose. If readers like what they see, they will continue to follow your work. This can heighten anticipation for your eventual release. 

Engage with Your Audience
Building a presence through your social media accounts can help your readers get to know you on a more personal level. People are more likely to gravitate towards authors that they find relatable. In a bookstore crammed with books of every kind, having a reader recognize your name and connect it to content that’s resonated with them can make a world of a difference. Some authors hold Q&A sessions, share their favorite fan-made art, or interact with their followers through comments and direct messages.

Network with Other Authors
Building relationships with other writers can be extremely beneficial. Other authors can help you navigate the intricacies of publishing, as well as give you new ideas that you might not have thought of. Networking can also lead you to make connections with other professionals in the field that could serve you well in the future. 

Ask for Reviews
Reviews can be useful for authors to get exposure on huge marketplaces like Amazon. When looking into making a purchase, potential customers will look at the reviews to see what others are saying about the product. It works the same way with books. Readers will feel better about buying your book if others are enjoying it and talking about it. Ask for reviews from fellow authors, followers from your social media pages, or readers from your blog. Asking people to support you through reviews is an easy, simple way to promote your book.

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By Florencia Cáceres, Intern

Florencia Cáceres is a recent graduate of the University of Houston with degrees in Creative Writing and Public Relations. She is passionate about world-building, high fantasy and sappy love poems. In the future, she hopes to finish her own novel and continue working with what she loves most: books.