Writers know how to turn a phrase, but we are often sorely lacking in the knowledge of how to market ourselves and our product. We love the process of writing, but for many of us, we may struggle with actually getting the news out there. If you are writing to make money, then you need to be a good marketer. HotGhostWriter is here to help! We know the drill. We know how this works, and we’re used to helping authors become a success! Let us help you with a few tips on how to market your book.
This post will begin a new series that covers:
- Self-promotion on social media Using ads to promote your book
- Creating your author website
- Crafting your elevator pitch
- ARC readers and reviews
- Self-Promotion & Social Media
Now, if you’re anything like me, social media feels like a strange jungle where if you enter, you may never come out. But in reality, it’s an amazing tool for getting authors the publicity they want and need with the simple click of a button. Marketing is all about getting the information about your book out there, and social media can be an incredible way to connect with your readers and build a network that can help spread word of your book exponentially!
For social media, we’re talking Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Since it’s what a huge percentage of people are looking at a huge percent of the time, this is where you’re going to get the most word out and fast.
Facebook:
One of the ways to promote yourself is having a Facebook business page. Despite my social media fears, I have one as well! I collect followers, send out posts about my latest work as well as links to what I’ve been up to. Facebook also has great ways to promote your work such as ads that can help bring an even greater amount of view to your site.
Instagram:
Create an author Instagram page and send out picture updates of what you’re working on as well as you working on your book!
Twitter:
Just like the Facebook page, you can send out updates on what you’ve been working on, give teasers for the book, and provide links to your pages.
Personal blog:
This is another great way to get info out about your book, especially if you either have a lot of followers or you have linked this page to your other social media pages. Here you can describe your writing process, give information about the book, and provide your readers with all they want to know before you publish.
Using ads
Ads Use advertisements to get word out about your book. We’ll delve into this further in later articles. Create Facebook ads! With their ad creator, it’s as easy as pie! Create your own ads and put them on social media and author website Hire out a graphic designer on sites such as Fiverr and Upwork to help you create ads that will lure your readers in.
The Importance of an Author Website
Your readers want to know who you are. Once I get into an author I love, I want to know everything about them in connection with their writing. I want to know their rituals, their lives, and just who they are as a person and writer! It helps me connect with them as well as get updates and info on when their latest book comes out. As an author looking to market their products and sell them, you need an author website. It’s essential. However, it can be a little tricky, so keep these tips in mind as you go along.
If you’re not computer savvy, you may want to hire out this task to someone else on a site like Fiverr. However, there are site creation tools that are pretty easy to use. Think SquareSpace or Weebly. Take a look at their site tools, and see if you can’t create a site on your own. Add all the essentials to create a good author website. Check out the author sites of authors you love just to get an idea.
Important things to include are your bio, links to your current books, as well as information about your upcoming books, links to your social media pages, and blogs, reviews from your previous books, and a way to get in touch, like an email - newsletter! Keep things simple. Get the information across that your readers want to know.
Using Goodreads and Amazon pages to promote yourself.
A lot of famous authors have these pages where you can find links to all their books, teasers for their next books, as well as posts about their work. You can even leave comments for authors, and they can get back to you through these sites!
Crafting Your Elevator Pitch
You need to create a one or two-sentence summary of your book that you can tell someone to give them a general overall idea. Having a pitch in your pocket is perfect for social media or even sending in pitches to traditional publishing companies. It’s also a great tool to have on your author website to get people interested in your new book! Your pitch is a way to hook your readers that gets the main ideas across and makes your readers go, “Hey, I want to read that book.”
For example, a pitch for the Harry Potter books would go something like, “Orphan boy thought he was ordinary until he was told he was a wizard”, or even better: “Ordinary orphan boy turns into a powerful wizard, fighting evil.” Have a pitch ready. You never know when you’re going to need it. You can use your elevator pitch to create your book blurb.
Your blurb is what goes on the book jacket or on the back of the book. It gives your readers a little taste of what they’re going to get into if they purchase your book, but it doesn’t give away too much. It’s about a paragraph, and it teases and entices. It does the same job as the elevator pitch but is a little more fleshed out.
Getting Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) Reviews
Another way to bump up your visibility on a platform like Amazon is to have good reviews already there! A lot of readers, even those in your genre, want to see reviews to make sure they’re making a good purchase. Get some of your reviews ahead of time (such as ARC reviews) How to get ARC reviews and why? Link up to readers who can read the book for you (for free) and give you reviews! Having reviews on your site can make you look so much more professional and credible as an author, and you get feedback!
Beta reader reviews:
You can also use beta readers while your book is still in the publication and editing process and save these reviews for when you do actually publish your book!
Contact top reviewers:
Some authors like to find out Amazon’s top reviewers, for example, and contact them to see if they can get a review. It’s a great way to boost your audience, get people to trust you as a real author, and instill trust in your readers that what they’re about to purchase is worth it!
Use Goodreads giveaways:
Do a free giveaway on your Goodreads site but ask for reviews in return! It’s another easy way to get reviews on all your sites.
Conclusion
You are your own impetus to success. Use the marketing tools at your disposal and get word out there about your book. Keep up to date with your social media, your online pages, and your author website to keep info on your book visible and accessible, and to answer interested readers’ questions!
If you don’t want to do it alone, and you need some advice, contact us at HGW with any questions! All you need to do is click the messenger icon at the bottom of the page, and we’ll be ready to answer you!
Kerilee Nickles
HotGhostWriter.com