Yesterday, we talked about our emotions upon holding our completed book in our hands for the first time and the letdown that sometimes follows. Today, I\u2019d like to discuss what comes next.
\nThat\u2019s promotion, of course.<\/p>\n
But where does one start the process of promoting his\/her brand new book? Here\u2019s what I suggest:<\/p>\n
\u2022\tSet up a merchant account system, a paypal account or some other reasonable method of accepting payment for books sold. (This is assuming that you have done the right thing and have a well-established website designed to promote your book.)<\/p>\n
\u2022\tSend announcements to your entire mailing list\u2014snail mail and email. (If you\u2019ve been working on your mailing list while you\u2019ve been writing your book, you may have hundreds of names by now.)<\/p>\n
\u2022\tPlace announcements in all of the newsletters and at websites where you can publish such things for free or a minimal fee. This would include your association newsletters (SPAWN members can place announcements in SPAWNews for free), publications related to your genre\/topic, your church bulletin, your alumni newsletter and so forth.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tSend well-written, pertinent, news-based press releases to all of your local newspapers and those in your former home-towns. Follow up to make sure you get some coverage.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tSolicit book reviews in several appropriate newsletters and magazines\u2014those related to your genre\/topic. (If you\u2019ve done your homework, you\u2019ve already researched these.)<\/p>\n
\u2022\tContact appropriate bloggers and ask for an interview or ask if you can be their guest columnist for one post. (Presumably, you have already discovered key bloggers in your topic\/genre and have made contact with them.)<\/p>\n
\u2022\tWrite articles or submit some of your stories to appropriate publications. Again, you should have been doing this all along as a means of establishing your credibility in your field or becoming known in your genre. Now is the time to step it up.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tBegin contacting newspaper\/magazine columnists in your topic nationwide and ask for an interview or a book review. If only a small percentage of newspapers feature you and\/or your book in a column, your reach could extend into the hundreds of thousands of readers.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tGet your book on amazon.com and, perhaps, barnesandnoble.com, and other online bookstores.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tVisit independent bookstores in your area. Arrange for book signings and ask if they will carry your book in their store on consignment. <\/p>\n
\u2022\tArrange to be interviewed on local or national radio programs.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tSet up some speaking engagements locally.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tVisit appropriate non-bookstores such as, gift shops, stationery stores, pet stores, art galleries, gyms, motorcycle shops, pharmacies, kitchen stores, nurseries, etc. You might have a better chance of having your books accepted if you arrange for your own point-of-purchase display.<\/p>\n
Now this ought to keep you busy for quite a long time. If you stick with it, continue researching new opportunities and consistently follow through, you should ultimately sell numbers of books.<\/p>\n
Disclaimer: Those of you with self-published books (you established your own publishing company) will realize the greatest benefit from these promotional activities. If your book was produced by a pay-to-publish service, you can pursue some of these activities, but you will discover some restrictions along the way because you don\u2019t own the ISBN, because your \u201cpublisher\u201d won\u2019t always comply with your request for a shipment of books, and because it may not be cost effective for you to make an agreement with a bookseller, for example.<\/p>\n
Learn more about how to pursue each of these activities in The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.<\/em><\/strong> You\u2019ll also find numerous other promotional ideas. http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/rightway.html<\/a> <\/p>\n Sign up today for Patricia Fry\u2019s next online Book Promotion Workshop <\/strong>to start January 12, 2010. By the way, thank you to those who have been ordering The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book<\/em><\/strong> through Amazon.com. They just placed a large order for the book today. But the best way to order it is through Matilija Press at Yesterday, we talked about our emotions upon holding our completed book in our hands for the first time and the letdown that sometimes follows. Today, I\u2019d like to discuss what comes next. That\u2019s promotion, of course. But where does one start the process of promoting his\/her brand new book? Here\u2019s what I suggest: \u2022 Set […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/course_bookpromotion.htm<\/a> <\/p>\n
\n http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/rightway.html<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"