It’s my hope that these ideas have been helpful in getting you up and out there with your book promo! Here’s the last five tips in this 3 part series of promoting your book on a budget:

11. Use Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.– There are dozens of social networks out there. Find the 3 that you enjoy using most and that give you the best results– and then spend 20 minutes a day on each. An hour of social networking every day should be plenty, and by the end of the first month or two you should see results.

12. Follow-up with everyone that helps you- Whether they’re a fan, bookstore owner, literary critic, family member, blogger, or DJ, stay in contact and show your appreciation via email, thank you card, or gift (something inexpensive but personalized– maybe a bookmark with your contact info and elements of your book cover art?)

13. Be good to book clubs- Offer to Skype in for their discussion sessions, write up some discussion guidelines with questions that book clubs could employ in their meetings, and maybe even attend a few local discussions in-the-flesh!

14. Ask a friend to host a book party- It’s like a mini version of your book launch/reading/signing, but smaller and more informal. The intimacy of these events usually gets the audience engaged (and ready to purchase a book).

 15. Explore consignment options- It can be difficult to get shelf space for your book even in smaller independent stores. But I recommend visiting all the stores within an hour’s drive, talk to the person in charge of acquiring inventory, and ask if they’ll take a few books on consignment. There’s little risk for the store. If they don’t sell in 3 months, you can always come back and pick them up. But they’re going to sell, right?! Yeah, that’s right.
 
To Your Success,
​
MG

While I mentioned it wouldn’t hurt to have some serious cash to throw behind your promotional efforts, nowadays savvy and motivated authors can spread the word about their books in really effective ways for cheap, or even free! I will be back next week with another 5 ways to promote your book on a budget. Here’s the second five tips in this 3 part series of promoting your book on a budget:

6. Do radio interview, and lots of ’em- Getting radio exposure might sound daunting, but there are countless internet, community, and college radio stations that are happy to interview writers. News shows may be interested in your story to fill a couple minutes in their program. Other radio shows focus specifically on the arts or writing, and you might be able to get an hour of air time or more.
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7. Promote yourself in your email signature- You probably take your email signature for granted. But it’s valuable real estate. Make sure to include your contact info, your website and social media links, and maybe even a quote or blurb about your book!

8. Send your book to 7 reviewers each week- That’s one a day. And all it’ll cost you is a few dollars in postage and a few minutes of research. Make sure they’re open to unsolicited review copies first, though!

9. Craft a catchy press release- Make sure the story of your book launch grabs the media’s attention. Spend some serious time on this press release. When it’s ready, send it out through some of the online press release companies. Also, be sure to contact all the appropriate radio and TV stations in your area, local magazines, weeklies, newspapers, and events blogs.

10. Start your own email newsletter- This is the best way to interact with your fans on a regular basis. Find a way to entice your website visitors to leave their contact info (in exchange for a book discount, free chapter of a book in-the-works, etc.). Have an email signup sheet at all your events.
 
To Your Success,

MG
 

Some folks say that the success of a book is 10% quality and 90% marketing. As an independent author you’re probably not working with a big promotional budget. You’ve already paid for pro editing, pro book design, book printing, and more, and the funds for anything AFTER the book has been made may have dwindled.

I’ve got good news, though: while it wouldn’t hurt to have some serious cash to throw behind your promotional efforts, nowadays savvy and motivated authors can spread the word about their books in really effective ways for cheap, or even free! I will be back next week with another 5 ways to promote your book on a budget. Here’s the first five in this 3 part series:

1. Set up a professional author website- Domain name registration and hosting are quite affordable these days. It’ll help you create a great looking site in minutes, equip it with social media integration, a blog, and all the other goodies that’ll help you sell more books.
2.  Make sure your site is media-friendly- When you start approaching the media, you don’t want to make it hard for them to find the info they need. Set up a page on your website that has everything the media will need in order to cover your story. This includes any previous press quotes, your bio, hi-resolution photos of both you AND your book cover, a Q&A, links to all your social media profiles, and whatever else you want them to see.
3. Guest blog posts- A great way to drive traffic to your own website and to boost your search engine rankings is to contribute articles to other peoples’ sites. Find some simpatico folks and ask if you can write a piece for their blog. Or do a blog exchange and trade articles.
4. Plan your book launch event early- Signings are ok, but readings are best! Plan an awesome event that combines a reading with a signing and Q&A opportunity. Go ahead, strut your stuff.
5. Hold a social media contest or giveaway- People love prizes, and they love to share tweets and Facebook posts about contests. Have some fun; use social media to interact with your fans and give away some copies of your book.

 
To Your Success,
​
MG

It doesn’t have to be Halloween for you to use these 7 surefire ways to sweeten-up your book promotion on Twitter:

1. Longer tweets get more clicks. Internet marketers like to tell you to keep things short. But a tweet is only 140 characters, so it’s one of the few cases online where you actually benefit from using all the space you’re allotted.

2. Use more verbs. Less nouns. We’re emotionally stirred by action! So make your tweets sing, screech, punch, and dance.

3. Tweet in the afternoon and evening. After 2pm, Twitter traffic increases fairly dramatically. Maybe folks feel like they’ve got enough work done for the day that they can afford to sneak in 5 minutes on Twitter. So schedule your tweets with those people in mind.

4. Tweet closer to the weekend. As the workweek draws to a close, Twitter traffic soars — with Friday being the busiest day. So your heaviest Twitter activity should be on Thursday and Friday.
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5. Ask for the retweet (“pls RT”). A lot of times in life the simplest way to get something is to ask. The same goes for Twitter. People are far more likely to retweet your content if you ask them.

6. Spread tweets out by at least 1 hour. You want to get the most people possible to see your tweets. By spreading out your Twitter activity by at least an hour, you’re increasing the likelihood of different folks seeing your activity. Plus you’re not annoying your followers by cluttering up their news feeds all at once.

7. Try putting the link towards the beginning of the tweet. Sure, 60-80% of your tweets should link to interesting content. But there’s also evidence to suggest that you should place that URL towards the beginning of your tweet. In many A/B tests between similar tweets, the one with the URL up front performed better.
 
To Your Success,
​
MG

The term special sales is commonly used to describe sales opportunities outside of bookstores. Also referred to as non-bookstore (or non-traditional) marketing, it can be a profitable source of new revenue. Remember, I told you I’d come back this week and share with you selling to non-retailers. So, here you go:
Non-Retail Sales

Corporations, associations, foundations, government agencies and the armed services buy books directly from publishers for use as premiums, incentives, sales promotions, for educational purposes, and sometimes for resale. The factor differentiating this segment from the retail sector is that you sell directly to buyers in these organizations. Book sales are typically made in large quantities, returns are rare, and payment is received more quickly.

Content is king in this sector. Buyers want to use the information in your books to help them solve a business problem. They use your content as a tool to increase their sales, introduce new products, educate students, or motivate members or employees.

Businesses. There are two areas of opportunity in the corporate setting. One is Human Resources, whose managers may seek books on retirement-planning programs or how to save money on insurance premiums by showing employees how to improve their health. Employee recognition and motivation is also a growing trend.

Associations. There are over 135,000 nonprofit membership organizations worldwide. Consider two major ways to sell to associations. The first is termed “cause marketing” where you donate a percentage of each book sale to a charitable, non-profit organization to help finance their cause. The other approach is to sell books directly to the association, to be used as a premium to increase membership, or to re-sell in their bookstores.

Schools. The academic marketplace is an opportune segment for publishers, one using books as a foundation for its existence. It impacts people of all ages, from pre-school through graduate school and adult education courses. Regardless of the grade, age of student, major in college or choice of home, public or private education, the need for books is ubiquitous.

Government. How would you like to sell to a customer that needs your content, has virtually unlimited funds, and does not return your books? There is such as customer—and it is your own federal government. And don’t ignore state and local agencies.

Military. You can sell books domestically or overseas, to military exchanges and libraries, Department of Defense Dependent Schools, onboard ships, to retired military personnel, and to the families of military personnel. Do this online and through commissaries and direct book marketing.

​Special-sales book marketing is not a separate way of doing business. It is not even a new way of doing business. It is an integral part of your overall book marketing strategy. Simply divide non-bookstore marketing into its two component parts and you may find hundreds, if not thousands, of prospective customers for your titles.
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Don’t miss an opportunity just because you weren’t looking for it. Need help with this, call us at 866-599-6270.
 
To Your Success,
MG