Being an avid book reader, at some point in your life, you must have given a thought or two about writing your own. Like any creative process, writing is a challenge that tests your patience and demands perseverance. To get a clear picture, consider an example of a music album.
For recording an album, you must have inspiration, after which you write, mix, master, and distribute the music. At every step, you must make a few adjustments here and there to achieve the results you envisioned. The same goes for writing. It takes time, consistency, and, most of all, motivation despite obstacles in the way to write a captivating book.
There are a few steps that make writing less challenging. These include coming up with an overall idea, finding inspiration, and organizing your thoughts to create an outline. Although authors get the hang of the writing process, publishing the book and marketing it is hard. After all, who’d know your masterpiece exists without marketing?
There are so many facets to the book marketing process that it can be challenging to attract the reader’s attention. For one, books are published regularly, increasing the level of competition. However, it doesn’t mean there is no hope for your work to get recognized.
To overcome the hurdles in book marketing, start by identifying the target market. That way, you can write a book that caters to the particular reader’s taste. Once the writing part is complete, you must look for a wide range of options, from self publishing to book printing on demand. Choosing a publishing service that is not only cost-effective but also delivers quality work. Although these steps help your book gain entry into the market, how exactly does it grab a reader’s attention? Well, that is what this article will highlight.
Mentioned below are a few tips to place your book under the spotlight.
1. Create engaging newsletter content
Customer engagement is crucial for every business, especially for increasing sales and generating revenue. Although there are numerous marketing strategies, the most effective way to retain customers is newsletter marketing, specifically creating content that speaks to customers.
As an author in the world of book marketing, putting up the right content in the newsletter is what captures the reader’s interest. That said, you must strike a balance between professional and personal to pique buyer’s interest.
How do you do that? By including an excerpt from your book. You can share the synopsis, topics, and why you decided to write in the first place. Some readers might be interested in your work, so it is always better to include buy links, making it convenient for retailers to purchase your book.
The critical elements of an engaging newsletter are it should be relevant, interesting, and valuable. To ensure that, think about the audience you are targeting. If your content isn’t up to the mark, there are a few simple tricks to make it work.
After narrowing down the target audience, remember that the content should be simple and catchy. Revealing a little snippet on social media platforms to feed on readers’ curiosity. Additionally, to create a little buzz, leverage social media.
2. Leverage Facebook Groups
Dedicating a community space to fans makes them feel more connected to a book and the author. It also benefits authors in creating as much word-of-mouth as possible. Joining a Facebook group doesn’t get the job done.
Build an author street team, a group of fans volunteering to promote authors. The street team aims to create book awareness. As an author, you can ask the street team to post reviews and keep readers updated about upcoming merchandise like bookmarks and pens.
Arrange a read-along where participants read a designated number of pages per week and organize discussions at the end of every week. Authors being a part of the read-along is a great way to ensure that fans will also be a part of conversations. Additionally, frequently post book ads on Facebook groups. That way, the more people hear about your book, the more potential readers you are likely to have.
3. Networking
We often think that networking only works in the corporate world, but that is not true. Networking also aids authors in several ways. How? Let’s have a look.
Besides keeping you updated about the latest on-goings in the publishing world, networking is an opportunity for authors to receive feedback and ask questions. Listening to others’ points of view widens your perspective and allows you to see things from a different angle.
As an author, there must have been times when you felt your head was full of creative ideas with no one to share them with. That is where networking helps give writers the headspace to prioritize their thoughts. Moreover, advice from experienced authors saves you time, resources, and energy in the long run.
Interacting one-on-one with people gets creative juices flowing. In the marketing world, it is not about what you know but who you know. While publishing a book might be challenging, the real deal is making sure people know about you.
Seize every moment that comes your way to speak about your work, you never know who is listening, and they might spread the word.
4. Create an Emailing List
Building a mailing list is one of the most promising marketing tools to increase your sales. Collect emails from readers who enjoy your work and are loyal to making the most of it. Social media platforms and retailers might not entice people, but a reminder of your new book will keep the readers hooked.
Create a website that allows users to navigate and directs them to the mailing list. One of the commonly used websites by authors is WordPress. It is a fantastic starting point for writers as the platform offers a variety of themes and step-by-step guides, all for free.
The more your book attracts readers, the more it will generate sales. There are a few ways you can prompt readers to hand over their email addresses. Arrange giveaways, mention hand-written notes and showcase exclusive interviews.
From time to time, analyze the results of your email to improve your performance. Use Google Analytics to find the number of people who opened your email, spent time reading your content, and the number of clicks.
Conclusion
Writing a book is a long and tiring journey that requires patience and motivation to see it through to the end. However, publishing and marketing your book is the real challenge. Several things could go wrong when you put your work out for people to see.
That said, there are a few marketing strategies that help in marketing your work and attracting readers. From leveraging Facebook groups to delivering engaging newsletter content and creating an email list, you can create a fan base and increase sales.
