Ask Evan – How to Promote a Book (and Other New Products)
Ask Evan is a segment on this blog where I answer reader questions. This week’s question comes from Pat:
Dear Evan:
My greatest challenge right now is promoting my paperback, Run For Your Life. It can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. and has received some nice reviews. But the problem is getting it known by more and more readers without breaking my budget.
I would appreciate all the help I can get.
Thanks
Pat
Dear Pat,
For starters you can read my Ask Evan post last week where I discussed how to promote your business with no money. I’m going to add to that by offering a few additional tips that can help you showcase your book.
1) Use the Media
This can be critical for any business owner. Think about when you pick up a newspaper or visit a website – do you read the content or do you read the ads? Of course you are there to read the content.
While advertising can work, you’ll get a lot more leverage if you can get a story written about you and the best part is, it’s free! If you’re an author then you are an expert in your field and you should be able to provide expert opinions on related topics.
All you have to do is look for opportunities and present yourself to the media as the go-to expert. You can either build your own media list and pitch reporters with story ideas (NOT press releases, genuine stories they would be interested in) or use a service like Help A Reporter Out (Free) or PR Leads ($99 / month). I used PR Leads, for example, to get into the New York Times which was always a goal of mine.
Bloggers are always looking for great content to add and often run into writer’s block for what to publish next – you could be the answer for them!
2) Involve the Bloggers
If you’re promoting your book online through Amazon then you need to get bloggers involved to help you out. Seek out bloggers who are in your industry and offer to do a guest post for them. Pitch them a story idea that would be of interest to their readers and under your article you’ll get the promotion back to your book.
Bloggers are always looking for great content to add and often run into writer’s block for what to publish next – you could be the answer for them! Again, make sure it’s value-add content and not just a promo for your book. If there is no value to them, they won’t publish it.
Bloggers can also get involved by doing a book giveaway as a contest, interviewing you about what’s in your book, doing a book review, etc – your imagination is the only limit!
You need to find a way to stay relevant and continue the momentum – a good way to do this is to start a blog and talk about issues that relate to your book.
3) Keep the Momentum Going
Most authors will do a ton of work to get the book launched – they’ll tell everybody they know, ask them to do reviews online, try to become an Amazon best seller for the day and then the momentum dies off.
You need to find a way to stay relevant and continue the momentum – a good way to do this is to start a blog and talk about issues that relate to your book. A good example is Gretchen Rubin who wrote The Happiness Project. The book has received a lot of attention and Gretchen continued the momentum by starting a blog.
Gretchen’s book is about finding happiness so she blogs about new discoveries she makes about happiness. She’ll also comment on new studies that come out and other people’s opinions on happiness. She maintains her relevancy through the blog and allows the momentum to continue. If you’re an author then writing is one of your skills and having a blog should be a natural extension of your book.
A final ideas is to also check out the P.T. Barnum promotion blog post for more ideas and inspiration: How to Promote Your Business like P.T. Barnum.
Good luck Pat!
Readers, do you have any other ideas for Pat? Have you used the media or bloggers to promote your business? Have you seen other authors have successes that you can share?
I’d love to hear your thoughts if you leave a comment below!
Photo Credit: Celine Chamberlin
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RT @tweetmeme Ask Evan – How to Promote a Book (and Other New Products) http://dld.bz/kK3P
RT @tweetmeme Ask Evan – How to Promote a Book (and Other New Products) http://dld.bz/kK3P
RT @tweetmeme Ask Evan – How to Promote a Book (and Other New Products) http://dld.bz/kK3P
RT @tweetmeme Ask Evan – How to Promote a Book (and Other New Products) http://dld.bz/kK3P
RT @tweetmeme Ask Evan – How to Promote a Book (and Other New Products) http://dld.bz/kK3P
RT @tweetmeme Ask Evan – How to Promote a Book (and Other New Products) http://dld.bz/kK3P
RT @tweetmeme Ask Evan – How to Promote a Book (and Other New Products) http://dld.bz/kK3P
I know so much more about book promotion now that I have read your article!
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great article.
Im a great lover of Evan. His articles and blogs are impressive and mostly in favour of the goodness of others.This Book Sale idea gives a different approach to the problem. Thank all.Cheers!!
Evan’s articles are always great and impressive as well. I like this blog. This book sales idea gives good and precise information to us. Thanks for sharing this article.
I always review Evan’s posts. These are very, very good, and simple to read.
The article makes me feel empowered. It is attractive. Thank you.
Dear Evan:
I can’t thank you enough for your wonderful article on how to promote my book, Run For Your Life. Your ideas seem very feasible and I agree the main object is to keep the momentum going. At the request of some of my “fans” I am well into a sequel temporarily entitled, “Terror in TerraCove.” Keep up the Good Work!
Your articles always give good information, thank you.
It gives really a great information
I like this article very much.
Really, it is a great blog.
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The articles on this blog are great.
Promoting the products also plays a major role in Entrepreneurship. The ideas given here are so impressive and informative. Thank you once again Evan for your continuous support
nice articles and blogs are impressive and mostly in favour of the goodness of others
Evan, your ideas for book promotion are effective and can give a boost in publicity. The description of different modules of publicity you have given is very informative and it’s the trend. Thank you for sharing your extraordinary suggestions for book promotion.
it is very interesting and very useful article.
In general, many articles are informative, but this article gave me so much more than that when I read it. Thank you for posting it.
Useful for book lovers. Informative blog. Thanks!
I’m very impressed and informed now that I have read this article.
Thanks for your very nice, interesting and useful article about promotion of new books and products. I read many articles by Evan, and all of those articles are very good and useful.
It is a very interesting and nice to read. It gives more informations about Promoting a book.
Very nice and inspiring and useful. Thanks for the information.
Evan’s articles are always useful and this article on How to Promote a Book is also very useful and interesting to read.
This is an impressive article about book sales. The above article gives good information about promoting a book. Thanks for this great article.
A really educational article!! It provided a different meaning for ‘blogging’ and ‘online advertisements’. It really presents the readers with a new and impressive and innovative way of promoting a book. Nice work!!
create a facebook fan page and a twitter account…blog about what the book is about etc.
This is very useful info. I am working on a novel and this article has great tips on how to promote it. Great stuff!!
Glad you liked it – good luck with the novel!
A great article to learn much more about book promotion! The ideas are very impressive and informative.
Great information about business. This Book Sale idea gives me some new information. This topic is totally business related. Thanks for the article.
Hey, that is a very informative and useful article for the reader to build up their knowledge.
I’m a great fan of Evan and I like this blog a lot.
Great information about how to promote a book online. I have just been starting to write a blog and often do get writers block and would love to have a writer add content to my blog.
Very useful information about business. Thanks to Evan for posting a lot of good articles. Very nice.
I like this article. I think that Evan is a very good learner and very big thinker, which allow him to create this kind of article. Nice, keep it up. Thanks.
I have tried this blogging thing already and I have gotten limited success in it. I have figured out I am failing to keep momentum going. I have yet to figure out how to use media effectively for promotions. Thanks for the advice.
Helpful tips always make a difference.
Nice tips to start.
Your article is very useful to us. To start a new business or to introduce a new product media is a must and it plays a vital role for the company or to the product and even bloggers play a important role. And this article regarding happiness was a good one. Thanks for sharing the information with us too, keep posting your views.
It is a very interesting and nice to read. It gives more informations about how to promote a book.
This website contains really good ideas and information about the business of book sales in articles and blogs.
This blog is really very interesting and impressive. I really like this blog. Thanks for sharing it.
Evan’s articles are always great and impressive as well. I like this blog. This book sales idea gives good and precise information to us. Thanks for sharing this article.
You did a good job in researching and writing your content. This is good information that will help others. Great job.
This is very useful information. I look forward to learning more about the SEO latest trick books.
This is such a helpful article, thank you!
RT @ECAccounting: RT @tweetmeme Ask Evan – How to Promote a Book (and Other New Products) http://dld.bz/kK3P
RT @ECAccounting: RT @tweetmeme Ask Evan – How to Promote a Book (and Other New Products) http://dld.bz/kK3P
RT @ECAccounting: RT @tweetmeme Ask Evan – How to Promote a Book (and Other New Products) http://dld.bz/kK3P
RT @ECAccounting: RT @tweetmeme Ask Evan – How to Promote a Book (and Other New Products) http://dld.bz/kK3P
How to Promote a Book (and Other New Products) http://dld.bz/kK3P
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