5 Effective Ways to Market Your Indie Book

You have finished your book and it is being published. Congratulations!

Now you need to let readers know why they will love it. You need a marketing strategy. Here are five things you can do (mostly for free) that will help you get the word out about your newly published book.

1.      Send a Press Release

You can blast out a press release using a press release service. We often use PRLog which offers both free and paid press releases. But it is a good idea to target your press release as well. Writing-World.com recommends that you, “Blanket your local newspapers and magazines. Send releases to editors of writing magazines you've published in -- they often have "Good News" features on authors' successes. Send your release to alumni newsletters, even though you hate school reunions, and professional organizations you belong to. Get your release out to writing colleagues for their blogs; they're generally happy to announce your book and may offer to interview you (and you can return the favor when their book finally gets published).

TCK Publishing’s article How to Write a Press Release that Gets Attention from Reporters is a comprehensive guide for creating a press release.  The Alliance of Independent Authors offers some additional good ideas on how to Write a Better Press Release.

2.      Organize a Launch Team

One of the most important ways to attract attention of potential buyers is by generating positive reviews of the book. Reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, or Barnes & Noble are often critical to people’s buying decisions.

You can front load the process by organizing a Launch Team to review your book. Family, friends, and writing colleagues are often happy when you ask for your help in getting the word out about your book by joining your Launch Team. Our blog post How to Organize Your Book Launch Team will guide you through the process of enlisting potential reviewers.

3.      Conduct an Influencer Campaign

There is an active online community of bloggers and Instagrammers who review books. Many of them have a wide reach with thousands of followers who will see the reviews these influencers post. Their reviews also provide a link to where the book can be purchased.

Do some online research into Book Bloggers or Reviewers. Most of them will indicate the genres of books they review. You will find plenty of individuals or organizations which review books like yours. When you find a blogger or reviewer who looks like a good match make sure to check their requirements for submitting a book. Some require a query first. They usually indicate what they want you to include in your query. Be careful to note what they indicate that they don’t want to see. Other bloggers and reviewers request that you send them a copy of your book. Check to make sure that you send the format  they request. Some want a physical copy, others digital copy. Draft a good cover letter to accompany the book highlighting why your book will be of interest to their readers.

4.      Schedule a Blog Tour

A blog tour is the online equivalent of a traditional in-person book tour in which the author appears at bookstore, libraries, or on various media outlets to promote their book. You provide content to the blogs where you will appear. That content may include a review of your book written by the blogger, an author interview (usually a set of questions the blogger asks you to answer in writing), or a guest blog that you write for the site. All come with links to places where the book can be purchased.

You can schedule your own blog tour. After the kind of influencer research described above contact bloggers you have found who are open to participating in blog tours and ask them to consider giving your book a slot. Writers Edit’s excellent article How to Promote Your Indie Book with an Awesome Blog Tour provides a good guide to setting up a blog tour.

You may also find companies that will organize a blog tour for you for a fee.

5.      Use Social Media

If you already have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or other social media account you can use it to promote your book. If you don’t have one you might want to get one. You don’t have to be active on every social media platform. It is better to do a good job on one platform than to do a poor job on several.

You will find all kinds of information online about how to use social media to promote your book. The Book Designer 12 reasons Indie Authors Need Social Media (and How to Get It Right!) provides an excellent overview of things you will want to consider.

It is important to realize that there is no magic formula for marketing your book. Approach marketing as a long-term project in which you will use a variety of tools to reach potential buyers. A traditional publisher may be willing to put significant money behind publicity and marketing a book, but most indies don’t have that kind of budget. Choose the strategies that seem the best fit for you and plan how you will employ them. Part of you plan is to determine the time you can devote to marketing your book. Then decide how you will use that time. The idea is that over time you will build a following for your book(s). Rather than expecting a big bang when your book is first published, plan ways to gain momentum for the book over time.