Ebook Marketing

There are many ways to market your ebook online--social media is one. You can promote your material through Twitter, Facebook, and your blog. But if no one is following you, then your Tweets and blog posts aren't doing you much good. You need to stoke interest. Ask yourself, why would anyone be interested in following me? What do I bring to the table that the million other blogs or sites don't have? A unique perspective? Expertise in a subject matter? Magic skills?

 

If you have a strong following, you are ahead of the game. If not, you need to start building one. Please feel free to start with me. I'll give you a reciprocal follow on Twitter, and be your friend on GoodReads and Shelfari. Ideally, you want to target readers who would be interested in the genre you write in. So find out where they hangout online and engage with them in a sincere manner. You need to add value to the forums and blogs you participate in--not just promote your book.

 

Another piece of your marketing puzzle is to make sure that your product description on your e-tail page pops. Or snaps. It is also beneficial if you can get people to review your books on the retail sites, which can be challenging. When is the last time you wrote a review for a product you bought? Fortunately, a lot of readers are writers, so they are more likely to give one than the average person.

 

Book bloggers are a great way to get word out about your book. Just be wary that there is no guarantee of a good review. Here are some links:

It's important to understand that bloggers have a lot of books to read, and a busy life of their own. They might not be able to review your book for months, and they may not be interested in reading yours if the synopsis or pitch doesn't interest them. And not all bloggers accept indie-pubbed books. I'm sure the big publishers are courting them with free ARC's (advanced review copies) and other goodies.

 

Should you pay to advertise? On indie author forums I've read, the majority of writers stated that they didn't have much success using Google AdWords. They had better results using Kindle Nation, a site that promotes Amazon books to Kindle readers. Microsoft offers advertising plans, but I haven't heard anything about how effective their program is. If you've tried using any of those services or if you have used others, please post about your experience in the forum. 

 

Many authors still like the hard stuff--postcards, bookmarks, and business cards. If you add that to your marketing mix, don't be shy about passing them out. For reasonable prices, I have heard good things about Vistaprint. Another company is iPrint--they make great bookmarks, and frequently offer discounts.

 

Event marketing is another strategy. Local schools, churches, or libraries may host events that you can have a table at. Make sure to bring materials to hand out, and consider offering a promotion, such as a giveaway.

 

Making a book trailer can give your novel added exposure. You can post your trailer on YouTube and on your site or blog. You can create trailers by using various video editing tools. If you're a Mac person, iMovie is easy to use. For PC folks, Windows MovieMaker comes free with your operating system, and isn't that difficult to learn. If you aren't comfortable using video editing software or making a trailer, have a family member or friend do it for you. Just remember that you can't use copyrighted music in your videos. Don't make your trailer too long, the attention span of a YouTube viewer is short. My trailer is less than 30 seconds long.

 

Experiment with a variety of marketing tactics, and track your results to see what works best for you.

 

Lastly, don't forget to put links to your blog, website, or social media pages in your actual ebook.