2021 Book Marketing: How Authors Are Promoting Their Novels – Written By Diana Urban

on BookBub Insights:

With each passing year, there seem to be more and more book marketing tactics you can use to amplify a title’s exposure and reach more readers. And it can be tough to keep up with all of them! So what are some of the biggest (or newest) book marketing strategies that authors have been using in 2021 to promote their novels?

We’ve compiled a list of strategies we’ve seen authors buzzing about so far this year. Some tactics can help directly increase book sales, while others may help expand an author’s platform, which can lead to future sales. And while this is by no means an exhaustive list of book promotion tactics, we hope it helps give you some ideas for strategies to consider as you create your next marketing plan.

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Using TikTok to Sell Books – Written By Dominika Pindor

on Writers Helping Writers:

Because marketing is a challenge for many authors, Angela and I talk quite a bit about it, sharing tips on how to grow audiences on various platforms. One we don’t use is TikTok, and, frankly, we’d have no idea how to find readers there. Thankfully, Dominika Pin—a teen author with an impressive following there—has that info for us.

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Almost every teenager in the United States knows about TikTok—the video-sharing social media platform with hundreds of millions of active users. And with the increasing popularity of the #BookTok hashtag, which readers use to talk about their favorite books, many YA authors are turning to TikTok to promote their work.

I began posting on the platform in August of 2020 and have since amassed nearly 225,000 followers (a number that is still growing by hundreds each day). TikTok makes it incredibly easy to go viral with minimal effort. Just one fifteen-second video can get you tens of thousands of followers; all you need is a decent strategy. Here are some tips that earned my videos millions of views:

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7 Ways to Boost Your Author Brand – Written By Nicholas Rossis

Nicholas Rossis gives us insight into seven ways to boost our author brand. Thank you so much for this great post, Nicholas!

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The inspiration (and Infographic) for this post came from Resume Now, which has an article about branding yourself. While they are focusing on job applications, what they say is remarkably useful for those building an author brand, too. I am summarizing below, but I suggest you also visit the original post for more ideas and examples of successful brands.

How to Develop an Author Brand

Developing an author brand helps add value and credibility to your books. Here are seven steps to help you get started.

1. Find a Niche

The first step in building your author brand is to find your niche. Some questions to help foster this process are:

• What are your passions and interests?
• What credentials do you possess?
• What types of writing do you particularly love working on?
• What makes you forget to look at the clock?

It’s crucial to find a niche that can evolve with you. Your interests are not stagnant, so choosing an area of focus with growth potential is crucial for long-term satisfaction.

2. Determine a Target Audience

Once you’ve identified your niche, you should figure out who your target audience is and how to tailor your author brand to them.

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Tour & Book Review – Hallelujah by Kim Fielding and F.E. Feeley

Read about Kim Fielding’s and F. E. Feeley’s new book at the ‘Drops of Ink’ blog, written by Anne Barwell.

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A big welcome to Kim Fielding and F.E. Feeley as part of their tour with Other Worlds Ink for Hallelujah.

Review
The premise and world building in this story are fabulous, and the characters very layered. Although there are romantic elements and a romance in it, it’s not the HEA of a romance novel, and even though the final pages give some hope for Joseph’s future, he’s still got a rough road ahead. I liked the mythos behind Joseph and those like him, and how their abilities work, and how they differ.

I hope this is the first in a series as I’d love read more of this world, and its characters. I got hooked on this story very quickly, and didn’t want to put it down. The writing style flows well and I couldn’t tell where one author handed over to the other as the transitions are very smooth. The settings were very easy to visualise. I particularly liked Stormy’s ability—it’s different and very cool.

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Book Marketing during Covid-19 – Written By Tim Grahl

This might be an article that interests many of us. Thank you for featuring that sensitive subject, Tim!

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on Book Launch:

Over the last few days, I’ve fielded a lot of questions about what to do with book marketing during this COVID-19 pandemic.

I’ve got all this time, what should I do with it?

Is it rude to try to market right now?

Am I going to annoy people if I do outreach?

In this article, I’m going to walk you through do’s and don’ts of how to put a book marketing silver lining around this world crisis.

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Don’t Advertise, PADvertise: Catch Readers With Their Pants Down – Written By Kristen Lamb

With her usual humor and direct way to say things by their proper name, my favorite blogger and teacher posted an article about ‘PADvertising’. Thanks a lot for that one, Kristen Lamb!

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Seems writers are always looking for some new way to advertise their books, which is fine…but some folks have gone more than a little bit cray-cray. I finally fled Twitter, by and large, because it’s next to impossible to locate real hoo-mans among all the automation. My email has pretty much gone feral as well, but meh.

Today, let’s have some fun at the bots’ expense, shall we?

Okay, any of you who regularly follow my blog know that I am totally out of my mind a bit eccentric. I’m reposting this blog because a) I’ve been flattened with bronchial pneumonia b) I have to travel and c) this post never stops being funny…especially if you’re like me and have the same sense of humor as a fourteen-year-old boy.

This post was inspired when I was speaking in Idaho. I’d excused myself to the ladies’ room and, as I closed the door to the stall, I noticed all the advertising on the back of the bathroom door. This cluttered wall of ads made me think about all the authors spamming non-stop about their books on social media and via email.

Writers were becoming worse than an MLM rep crossed with a Jehovah’s Witness. Could the author book promotion get any more invasive?

Wait…

Maybe it could.

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Top Tips for Marketing Your Book for the Holiday Season – Written By Ronita Mohan – On Nicholas Rossis’ Blog

Thank you very much, Ronita, for a blog post full of marketing ideas for the Holiday season!

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The holiday season isn’t just about snow and families and giving gifts—it’s also a great time for marketing your book.

We have some top tips for holiday book marketing—including what to post on social media and include in newsletters—so you can improve book sales and reach customers well into 2020.

Season’s Greetings

How are your fans and audience going to know that you are participating in the holiday season? A simple gesture is all it takes—share season’s greetings on your marketing channels.

This means sending out a holiday-themed post on your social media and sending a holiday email.

But you can go beyond that. Why not also design holiday cards—with card templates—that fans can send to their families?

You can use imagery from your books or, if you prefer, something simple: you in a festive hat, or your books with festive bows tied around them.

Sharing best wishes for the season is a simple way to remind people that you and your books are just what they need to make their holiday season.

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9 Ways To Market Your Book With No Money – Written By Kurt Walker

Kurt Walker informs us about marketing possibilities for authors with a small marketing budget. He published his 9 ways to market your book with no money on Nicholas Rossi’s blog. Thanks for all the information in this post!

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This is a guest post by Kurt Walker. Kurt is a digital marketer and a college paper help writer at Easyessay.org. Besides that, Kurt is a guest blogger at AustralianWritings, UK.bestessays.com, and Superior Paper writing service. Kurt specializes in email and social media marketing. He is the father of three kids and a passionate New York Knicks fan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9 Ways To Market Your Book With No Money

While publishing has never been easier, selling one has never been harder, especially for independent authors who have to rely on their own skills and professional networks. A report claims that 2.2 million new titles are published worldwide each year, so you definitely have a lot of competitors to deal with.

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Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Book Marketing – Setting up your Amazon Author Page by Sally Cronin

Sally Cronin provides us with an article about setting up our Amazon Author Page. She throws in all of her knowledge, wisdom, and experience and helps us find our way to that part of Book Marketing. Thank you, Sally.

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I began promoting authors and their books back in 2001 and then it was all about splashy book launches, press releases and getting local coverage. Indie authors had it tough in those days trying to break into the establishment and get the attention of national press, but could do very well locally.

It is very different today in many respects, but certainly you can still make a big splash in your own local area, especially if our books are relevant to the history of the area. Press releases and going door to door to established businesses such as bookshops, cafes, art galleries and holding book signings can certainly launch a book and possibly get the attention of a wider audience and the national press.

Six years ago I began promoting my own books (particularly Ebooks as I tend to still go local for my print books) and a handful of authors here on Smorgasbord, which over the next two years developed to become The Cafe and Bookstore. This celebrated three years of book promotions earlier in the year and there are between 150 and 175 active authors with new releases and reviews at any given time.

Taking my experience of the ups and downs of book marketing over the last 18 years I feel that if I can give a helping hand to other authors, it might help them navigate the marketing process a little more effectively. Especially when we have a global marketplace at our fingertips.

I am delighted that I am in a position to showcase authors here on my blog and on social media. And for me it is important to provide this FREE as I know how tough it was back when I started, and even more so now, to get noticed.

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Reducing the Horrors of Book Marketing: An Interview with Sue Campbell

On Xina Marie Uhl’s blog I found this interview with Sue Campbell which might help us writer’s with our book marketing and the horror that comes with it. Thank you so much for publishing that interview, Xina.

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Book marketing.

The very words make doom resonate through the universe like the implosion of a black hole. It sends perfectly sane writers running through the streets screaming and gibbering, while others huddle in the corner, under their desks, repeating in a zombie-like drone, “No, Lord, please, no.”

As someone who is getting ready to launch a zany romantic adventure called Lady Law and the Texas DeRangers, I’m familiar with both reactions.

Really.

~shifty eyes~

Seriously, though. Authors are well known for their aversion to marketing their own work. Most of us are much more familiar with and enthusiastic about the process of writing itself. But in today’s world of eight hundred gazillion books, you have to step up and promote yourself if you want anyone to read what you’ve worked so hard to create.

It was this realization that led me to learn more about setting up my author platform and launching my books into the universe. Tim Grahl, author of Your First 1000 Copies: The Step-by-Step Guide to Marketing Your Book, knows a thing or two about book marketing, having launched numerous bestsellers.

Enter Sue Campbell, author and Tim Grahl certified book launcher, who was kind enough to answer some of my questions.

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