By Atlin Merrick
There are a lot of things to do to help promote your book – and here are 11 book promo ideas – but there are a few things you want to not do, including:
Don't create a Goodreads page for your book
Goodreads is owned by Amazon, and once your book is listed there by your publisher, Amazon automatically generates a Goodreads page for your book. So if you create one before Amazon you will end up with two pages. If you have no book page after a few days or a week after your book is out (it sometimes gets overlooked with ebooks) do tell that to your publisher.
Book Promo – Don't:
make a Goodreads book page | cold call bookstores |
be shy of promoting | forget your publisher
And do create an author page on Goodreads, and a webpage for your book if you have a website, or put a photo of your book in the banner of your Twitter or wherever else you are on social media.
Don't walk into a bookstore cold
Even if you write LGBT mysteries and there's an indie bookstore that sells exactly that, bookshops generally ask you not to walk in off the street, book in hand. That puts staff on the spot and probably you won't even meet the decision maker. The exception to this might be a bookshop you frequent regularly, a place where the staff really know you.
For all the other bookshops, email them a photo and short description of your book, including ISBN, price, publication date, and where they can order the book. A sell sheet has all of that information on it, and you can make one easily yourself after having a look at these sell sheet examples.
Don't be shy about promoting your book often
Royalties depend on you sharing the fact that your book exists. Social media's ephemeral – January the 5th is Ye Olde Ancient Times come the 6th, so share, reshare, and share again. Think of it this way: a play runs for weeks, songs play more than once on the radio, and your book? You want to give people ample opportunity to know it's out there.
If you want ideas to keep things fresh, think holidays, life changes, contests. For example, if it's trans awareness week and your book has a trans character, blog or tweet about that. Your book has just had its two month anniversary; Instagram it! Snapped a photo of your kitty looking at your novel? Share that! Or maybe tomorrow you're moving house and you're channeling your protagonist who's always saying "I can do this, I'm doing it, I've done it!" Tell us about that. These and a million more moments give you a fresh way to retweet, reblog, to remind us about your precious book.
And tell your publisher you've done it, we'll retweet and reblog too; we're a team and we want to know when you have a milestone or get a new review. Tell us!
Don't forget your publisher is a resource
Small press or large, your publisher absolutely wants you to help promote your book. So once you've turned the last edit in, well before publication, ask how you can get the ball rolling to get the word out there. And come to them with ideas, because, while promoting your book is definitely on their radar, so is promoting six other books they're in the middle of reading, editing, or getting proofed.
Remember to absolutely, positively tell your publisher about good reviews so they can share them on their website and social media, too!