Writing is a long and tiresome process. A constant process of making your work better and trying to tweak it to perfection. Many sleepless nights and thousands of hours spent polishing your work that will hopefully amaze readers to the point that they will go through it a number of times always finding a new and intriguing detail. When it comes to writing, and usually life in general, there aren’t any shortcuts when aiming and going for perfection. Every minute carefully and wisely invested in writing and editing your work is sure to pay off in the end.
However, you should not think that it is time to relax once you have finished your work. Failing to successfully promote your book may eventually doom it. No matter how well it is written, if it does not reach enough people who will have the opportunity to read it and really appreciate it, it will not sell. That is why we have compiled a couple of useful tips on how to promote your book with social media.
Even though many writers shy away from connecting with other people through social media, the Internet is a powerful promotional tool that can prove very useful if used correctly. Everything is done online nowadays. For many people it can be easily said that their whole life is online. And that is why with social media any writer can easily and efficiently build up his or her image, create and grow a following of readers which will translate into book sales and earnings; because if you decide to publish a book with an electronic publishing service like Bookish Fellow you will receive as much as 50% of earnings for every book sold.
Before developing a marketing plan, you need to conduct a proper research. Main goals of that research should be to define your goals and answer the following questions:
- Define your target audience – Who will want to read your book? How your ideal reader looks like? Be very specific! A number of different groups might find your book interesting, which is why it is a good idea to narrow down your focus before you start working on your marketing plan and defining your target audience. Take into account factors like sex, age, employment, earnings, education etc. Books that are directed towards a specified target audience tend to sell well. That is why you have to cater to them from time to time and include the things that they like in your novel.
- Define your competition – The book industry is enormous and is growing with each passing day. It is also highly competitive. Writers can use this to their advantage. You need to conduct a proper market research for ebook and find out which books are selling/not selling and why. A little research never hurt anybody!
- Define a strategy for your target audience – Does your audience like to listen to a specific music genre, visit certain events or read special magazines or blogs? As we have already written above, define your target audience and explore their likes and preferences, which you can later be used to indulge them.
- Define a reason why someone would want to buy your book – This is one of the fundamentals of marketing. Having a clear reason why someone would want to purchase your work represents approximately half of your marketing plan. If you are offering something unique and eye-catching, you will have no trouble selling it.
- Define your budget – How much are you willing to spend on promotion of your book? What type of campaigns and promotions will you use? Your budget will dictate the choice of promotional activities. However, you need to be fully aware that a large sum of money will not always bring success.
Knowing that most new and emerging authors are not willing to spend a lot of money on marketing, online promotion with social media is the perfect solution for them.
Once you have answered all the aforementioned points and gathered enough quality information through proper research, you will have a much clearer picture about the market and your ideal reader and it will be easier for you to promote your work online.
Do not be lazy! Be persistent! Be honest! Do not be afraid to interact with people and share your ideas online. If you have something unique and fresh to offer, you will build up a strong fan base in no time!
