Welcome to a year of writing episode eight. In this podcast, we explore the world of writing, productivity, and marketing. My name is Natalie, and I am your host. In today’s episode, we’ll delve into the essential strategies for marketing your books and promoting yourself as a writer. Whether you’re a published author already or if you’re an aspiring writer, these insights will help you navigate into the world of book marketing and will boost your success. So let’s dive in.
Marketing your books is a crucial step to gaining an audience and promoting an interest for your writing. While writing a great book is, of course, essential, creating a good marketing plan that will promote your writing and that will help you reach new readers is essential as well. Creating a solid marketing plan will ensure that your work reaches the people who read and appreciate it the most. So where to begin?
Strategy number one is to define your target audience. Identifying your target audience is crucial to effective book marketing. You need to understand who your ideal reader is, what their interests are, and where they can be found. One mistake that some writers do is to think that their book is for everyone and most books aren’t. I mean, no books are. Every book has an ideal reader. Even the great world success books have. Even the Harry Potter series, the target audience for that book is kids. It’s a children’s book or young adult book. It’s not a book for adults. That does not mean that other people can’t read it.
But when it comes to marketing, you need to know who your ideal reader is. Who’s the person that will be most interested in your book, and where do they hang out? Can you find them on Instagram? Are they on TikTok? Are they on Facebook or somewhere else? Do they read physical magazines, maybe? Or are they online? I don’t know. But you need to find this out, and one way to do that is to look at reports about the people’s behaviors and stuff like that. This knowledge will help you tailor the right message for your audience, and it will help you reach them in a more effective way.
Strategy number two is to build an author platform. What do I mean by building an offer platform? Establishing an online presence is crucial in today’s world, in today’s digital age. So I would recommend that you create a blog or a website where readers can find information about you and about your books and leverage social media to engage your audience to share updates about your writing. You can provide a lot of valuable content for your fans there. You can also have it as a way to connect to other writers. I talked a lot about this in the episode about building an author brand. So if you’ve missed that episode, listen to that one.
Building an author platform helps you connect directly to your readers and that will cultivate a loyal fan base in the long run. Also, having an email list can be really great because that way you own the email addresses and you’re not dependent on a specific platform like Instagram or TikTok.
Strategy number three is to craft a compelling book description and cover. You know the saying: don’t judge a book by its cover? Well, when we don’t know who the author is, that’s exactly what we do.
We judge the book by its cover.
Natalie Forslind
And we judge the book by the description on the backside. So those two have to be really, really great. It doesn’t matter if you self publish or if you’re published at a big traditional publishing house. You still need a compelling cover and you still need a great description. So be involved in the process is of choosing your cover. And if you’re going to self publish or if you’re going with some kind of hybrid publisher, make sure to hire a professional to create the cover. Because books can die from having a bad cover. So please don’t underestimate the importance of this. And also remember that you have to stay true to the genre that you’ve written within. So if it’s a thriller, then you need to have a cover that says that it’s a thriller. Otherwise readers will be really confused if it’s a super cute cover and then like someone gets murdered on the first page. Yeah, you see where I’m going with this?
Strategy number four is for you to leverage reviews and testimonials. Positive reviews and testimonials is something that can really influence if a person is going to buy a book or not. Social proof is something that all of us look at when we don’t know the author. So encourage readers to leave reviews and reach out to people and ask them to leave a review. It really helps the author. Also make sure to leave reviews on books that you like and that you read. Goodreads is a great place to leave your reviews. And also if to listen to the audiobook, leave a review in the audiobook app.
You can also use take these reviews and showcase them on your website or a social proof on your social media. So don’t be afraid to show others that someone liked your book. And of course, I mean if you’re going to use someone else’s name, then you have to ask that person before since GDPR and everything, but otherwise say “Woman 32” said this about the book, or whatever.
Strategy number five is to engage in content marketing. Content marketing is an effective way to engage and reach out to readers. You can do this by creating blog posts, social media posts, videos, podcasts, whatever. And it’s a great way for you to showcase the fact that you’re a professional writer and showcase your experience as a writer. I encourage you to share writing tips, behind the scenes content or things that are related to either the topics that you write about or that are related to writing or reading in general. By consistently creating valuable content, you establish yourself as an authority on this topic and that’s a great way for you to build authority and to gain the reader’s trust.
Strategy number six is for you to collaborate with other writers. Partnering with influencers or writers within your genre can help you reach out to new readers and followers. Partnering with influencers or writers within your genre can expand your reach and introduce your work to new audiences. Seek opportunities like guest blogging or interviews on a podcast or joint promotional events. Collaborations allows you to tap into established networks and gain exposure to promotional readers who are already interested in your genre.
Strategy number seven is to leverage your local community or local connections. So explore opportunities to connect to your local community. You can approach independent bookstores, libraries or coffee shops to arrange book signings, author talks and readings. These local connections can provide a platform for you to showcase your book and engage with readers in a more intimate setting. And these strategies form the foundation of your bookmarking efforts.
Remember, bookmarking is an ongoing process and it is essential for you to experiment and try different tactics to know tactics to know what works for you.
Before we conclude today’s episode, let’s recap essential marketing strategies that we talked about today:
- Define your target audience and tailor your marketing efforts efficiently.
- Build an author platform to connect directly with readers and cultivate a loyal fan base.
- Craft a compelling book description and cover to attract readers and convey the essence of your story.
- Leverage reviews and testimonials as a powerful social proof as powerful social proof to build trust and credibility.
- Engage in content marketing to provide value and showcase your expertise as a writer.
- Collaborate with other writers to expand your reach and reach new audiences.
- Leverage local connections in your community.
This brings us to the end of this episode of A Year of Writing. I hope you find these strategists for marketing your books insightful and actionable. Remember that marketing is a vital part of your writing journey. By implementing these strategies, you’ll increase your chances of reaching readers and achieving your writing goals.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to A Year of Writing for more valuable insights on writing, productivity and marketing. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes where we’ll delve deeper into the world of writing and help you unleash your creative potential. Thank you for joining me today. Keep writing, keep marketing, and may your books reach readers who need them the most. Goodbye.
