I have enjoyed some success with my latest book This Broken Earth. Currently Book 1 has been downloaded over 500 times, some of them being sold through Amazon Kindle, Nook and mostly Smashwords as a free download. This wasn’t easy, however, and took a lot of work on my part, but with a little knowhow and internet marketing I have been able to get my book in front of as many people as possible.
Here are 5 ways I amped up the promotion of my book.
1. Blogging – I have been maintaining this blog now since December of last year and have managed to post at least one post every day (excluding weekends) about the varied niche topics in which I specialize: writing tips, common core instruction, self-publishing and writing software. Through this blog I have met some very great people who have helped me along the way, mostly people who have been in the publishing game for a long time and have given me great advice and help to promote my books.
2. Social Networking – I know it is a lot of work, but writers must use Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Pinterest, and many other social networking sites to not just announce book signings and publication dates but actually socialize. Think of these networks as one big publishing party where all the publishing big-wigs come to party. I have met some very great and important people through Twitter alone. This has helped me get noticed by more and more readers.
3. Conventions – I write mostly science fiction and have many friends who are massive fan-boys and fan-girls. It costs at least $100 to secure a table at one of these events and then even more if you plan to stay in a hotel for the weekend and push your book. A wonderfully inexpensive method I have discovered is that if you network together with people who go to these conventions regularly (and they are good friends willing to help), you can put together a small business card with an ad on it for your book and how to order it and have your friends pass them out at the convention. I usually pay them with dinner or a free book. Some of my friends have even managed to get the cards into the hands of some very influential people.
4. Virtual Book Tours – Several of these sites charge big bucks to ensure that your book announcement lands on as many websites and blogs as possible, but I found a few little known smaller virtual book tour sites that will promote your book to bloggers who volunteer their blogging time to promote your book for FREE! One I will be using is Bards and Sages Publishing who will promote your book on several websites at no cost to the writer. Gotta love that.
5. E-mail Lists – Collect as many e-mail addresses as you can. I do this by just communicating with people via Facebook and other social networking sites and then getting the word out through large e-mail blasts that then exponentially reach many many people. I ask in the e-mail for them to forward it to as many people who might be interested in reading my book.
What are some methods you have used to get the word out about your latest book? Post them here!
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Writing Is Hard Work 
Thanks for these helpful hints, Roger. It’s been a few years since my books came out in print and I’m still trying to figure out all this promotional stuff. Some of your ideas I’ve tried, but there’s a couple I still have to move on. Glad to read that your book is doing so well and good luck with your future endeavors. 🙂
Great post, Roger, thank you! Congratulations on the success of your book (which I still haven’t finished – I’m slowly catching up and getting back into a routine after my big move from Alberta to British Columbia, but the recovery has taken longer than I expected) – wishing you much more success, especially in your upcoming blog tours! Have a great day, and happy writing! 🙂
Very timely post for me!I’m new to this; my press’ first title launched Monday. So far one of my most successful strategies has been sending press releases to local newspapers. I, admittedly, published a writing craft book that profiles 42 writers who live in various places, so I’ve sent nearly 20 releases out, written specifically about one or several authors who live in that neighborhood. Still, it’s a great way to let friends and neighbors know your big news.