10 Tips for Easy and Painless Book Promotion – by ‏@LynnettesBooks

by Lynnette Phillips

What is an author; a writer, a business person, someone living their passion? Where do you fall into this group? You’re not sure? Try asking yourself, “Do I want to make my living as an author?” An author who is commercially successful spends only 20% of his efforts getting the book’s manuscript written and published. The other 80% of his labors go to marketing and promotion. So, if you answered “Yes”, the only thing to do is become a book pusher!

If you think of promoting and marketing your book as the bane of your existence and a huge time guzzler, it’s time for a new way of thinking. Commit to doing something for your book every day. The easy and painless part to book promotion is also simple: Set aside a manageable block of time each day expressly earmarked for book marketing. Some days you might spend 20-30 minutes and other days an hour or more but the important thing is to “Just Do It” every day.

Let’s start with a few assumptions: a) you already have a dedicated domain name and website, b) you’ve established a social media presence and c) you write a blog. Now, let’s move on to a few examples.

1. If you have regular emails sent to your inbox from RadioGuestList.com it’s simple and fast to send a few emails to booking contacts for a radio interview letting them know you’d be interested in appearing on their show. Interviews are a great way to build your search engine rankings, get fresh social media content and drive traffic to your site.
2. Add a blog post to your site; think of this as just another writing assignment to be shared with your fans and followers. Blog posts don’t have any requirements, so don’t worry about length or put other obstacles in your way.

By linking your blog via RSS feed to Twitter or Facebook you can also supply fresh content to you followers. [Visit Twitterfeed.com to get started.] Another task done for the day!

3. Write a guest blog post to be included on someone else’s site – with your byline, bio and URL attached, of course.
4. Set up some prescheduled social media posts using SocialOomph.com or HootSuite.com.
5. Comment on other blog posts or in forums. Be sure to include your title and website URL in your signature line.
   Jane Doe, Author of 1001 Tips For An Exciting Life
   www.JaneDoe.com
6. Create site traffic and increase your search engine rankings by adding to your website. This doesn’t always have to be a blog post. You can add a link; for example, to an internal webpage, to a guest post you’ve written or a press release.
7. Share an excerpt of your book on your own site or shoot this off to a friend to be used as a guest blog post.

[If your book is entered into the KDP Select program REMEMBER the only place an excerpt or the first chapter of your book can be read is on your Amazon product page. This doesn’t mean you can’t link to that excerpt or chapter though.]

8. Drop a couple of promotional postcards in the mail so you can stay in touch with journalists, retailers or librarians who have shown interest in your book—or even if they haven’t yet. These can also open doors.
9. Mail a thank you card to the host of your last book signing or book reading.
10. Schedule a literary event within the community. Speak at the Kiwanis club, do a reading at the coffee shop or library or sponsor a meet and greet the author evening; just don’t forget the press release or personal service announcement (PSA) promoting your appearance and make sure you mention it on Facebook.

So, what have you done for your book today?

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Lynnette Phillips is a book marketer, publicist and self-pub author with an ever growing client role. See more of her tips at http://everydaybookmarketing.com