As I may have mentioned in past blog entries, I’m a fan of Writer’s Digest Magazine.  Each issue contains helpful information for professional writers and amateurs alike.  The current issue contains great information on how to promote your book, especially if you are self-published, like me.  Here are some strategies I have learned from the article, “Success Stories in Self Promotion”, located on page 26:

 

1. Kindle, Kindle, Kindle! Kindle is a wonderful way to publish your book, especially if you’re on a tight budget. Why? Simple: there is NO COST to publish with Kindle! You can enroll your book into Amazon’s KDP Select, where subscribers can check it out for free.  Other readers can still pay to download a copy of your book.  However, free samples will attract new readers.

 

2. Goodreads Giveaways.  If you are an author, you really need to become a Goodreads Author.  Creating an Author Page is very simple, and once you get started, you can host a giveaway.  I held my first giveaway just last month for “Valentine”, for 10 books.  While I only anticipated 100-150 entries, I received 511 entries! What does this mean? While I’m only giving away 10 copies, 511 people became interested in “Valentine”.  10 new people will receive books, 10 new people will read “Valentine“, and hopefully, provide me with some feedback.  If you’re on Facebook, you can invite your friends to join you on Goodreads, where they can friend you and become your “fans”.

 

3. Blogging. Do you have a website? Hopefully, you answered “yes” to that question.  Now, do you have a blog? If you said yes, good for you.  If you said no, well, start one! Blogging is not complicated (look if I can do it, anyone can).  My suggestion: don’t make every blog you post about your book.  Mix it up! Blog about your hobbies, or your job, or your kids, etc.  If all I did was shove my books in your face in every blog, it would be pretty boring.  Also, blog about the things that help you with your writing; things that have worked for you as well as the things that didn’t work. 

 

4. Social Media: Like it or not, as a writer, you can not afford to ignore social media.  Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr…I’m on all of them.  Yes, keeping up with so many pages can be a pain sometimes (I have neglected my Tumblr page, but I’m working on it), but it’s a must.  Create a Facebook page for your book, where you can post links to where it can be purchased,  Also, you can post quotes from the book itself.  Tweet lines from the book on Twitter.  And if you don’t have a website….wait for it….you can create one on WordPress FOR FREE.  Yes, FREE! Again, super easy to do. 

 Of course you can find these tips and more in Writer’s Digest Magazine