You’ve written a ucdm . Congratulations! Many want to write a book but few follow through and actually get it done.
Writing that book was grueling. It took time and energy and lots of patience. Now that it’s complete, you need to sell it. After all, you want the world to read what you’ve penned, right?
Back in the day, multi-city book tours and book signings were the norm. Authors needed to meet and greet potential readers at events in order to market themselves and their books. While some authors still do this, the vast majority now rely on other venues to promote their work.
If you’ve written a book and aren’t sure of the next step, here are some tips.
Establish an online presence.
Create a website and/or a blog. Potential readers want to learn about you and your work. Make sure your web address and blog address are related to you and are easy to remember. Website hosting is generally $8-$15 a month and many companies provide that service. You’ll also need to register your domain name and that fee generally runs $10-$30 per year.
Blogs, on the other hand, are free. Both Blogger and WordPress offer blog hosting for free and also offer easy templates to create a distinct blog. I use Blogger for my blog. It’s very simple and makes posting images, links, and other things easy–just with the click of a mouse. I also use WordPress for my website and it tends to be a little harder to manipulate, but you can create a unique look if you understand some simple coding.
Whatever you choose, just choose something. Readers expect authors to be easily accessible online.
Set Up a Facebook Author Page
If you have a personal FB account, it’s simple to set up a page for your author information. Follow the easy directions and then be sure to invite people to “like” your page so they can get updates. I use mine to announce my book releases, update my word count on my current work-in-progress, link to interesting writing articles, and interact with my followers.
Twitter is a social networking site similar to FB, but much more condensed. Twitter allows you to interact with other writers, readers, publishers, agents, etc. It’s a great place to establish connections. Learn to use hashtags and get involved in online chats.
Goodreads
Readers and writers alike congregate at Goodreads. Be sure to set up an account and then start making friends. You can access reviews of your own books as well as thousands of other books. You can also interact with readers. Be sure to activate the && that posts your blog content directly to Goodreads.
Goodreads is a great way to expose your book to readers, especially if you sponsor a giveaway. You need to have a physical copy of your book (you cannot give away ebooks) and then set up a giveaway in a few simple steps. I like to set my giveaways for about a month and have 3-5 copies available. Be sure that you follow through and send out copies to the winners.
Sponsor Blog Contests
Many bloggers have giveaways. You can sponsor their specific giveaway in exchange for a promotional post and link to your book. Most bloggers will also feature your book in their sidebar during the contest.