Tuesday, 8 October 2019

How to Build Buzz and Market Your Books?―Share if You Care!





"Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public.” ―Winston Churchill


My publisher asked me to market my books aggressively to increase sales. I am not an expert in marketing but I am fairly an expert in writing about branding because branding is my passionate area. Most people are shy to market themselves for fear of being perceived wrongly. In this digital world, marketing is essential to stand out from others. In this post, I will draw a blueprint to build buzz and market your books aggressively.   


A Blueprint to Market Your Books

Writing books is very challenging because it involves lots of creativity, effort, and persistence. You have to overcome innumerable challenges to publish your books. After publishing the books the authors must take initiative to market their books both online and offline. It is the responsibility of both publishers and authors to build buzz and market books to reach out to larger audiences. In this way, authors enjoy sharing their knowledge while publishers enjoy earning money. Here are some tips to market your books.
  • Identify the potential market for your book to target the right audience.
  • Create a website for the book.
  • Run a preorder campaign.
  • Prepare a free chapter and approach prestigious magazines and journals to feature an interview about the book.
  • Approach podcast and radio hosts to feature an interview.  
  • Explore guest blogging to reach out to different channels.
  • Request the endorsers from your book to spread the word about the book on their social network.
  • Request your friends from social network especially LinkedIn who you helped in the past to spread a word about your book.
  • Get as many book reviews as possible.  
  • Participate in live events.
  • Deliver presentations on your book to raise awareness. Gift your book as a complimentary copy to the participants in your training programs and workshops.
  • Shortlist the best chapters from the book and publish them in prestigious magazines with a published link of the book at the end to enable the readers to purchase the copies.
  • Send bulk mail to your connections to purchase the copy.
  • Create the right hashtags for your book.
  • Understand the usage of social media platforms and leverage them effectively.  
  • Emphasize more on pull-marketing and less on push-marketing.
  • Collaborate with your publisher and participate in the book signing event.

Don't encourage paid reviews which are usually done by some authors with deep pockets. Some authors pump their money to become bestsellers globally. Ultimately it is the essence from the book matters. The readers are intelligent enough to assess the genuine authors. So, be authentic to achieve credibility.  


Conclusion

Authors must appreciate the fact that they can survive only when the publishers survive. So, they must take initiative to promote and sell their books through different channels.

In this cut-throat competitive world, you must identify innovative tools and techniques to stand out from others. It is essential to market your books aggressively to achieve the desired outcomes. Hence, don’t hesitate to build buzz and market your books. Good luck!

References
Secrets of Successful Public Speaking: How to Become a Great Speaker by M.S. Rao (Authors Place Press, October 08, 2019)


Share if you care!





Life is great!

Professor M.S. Rao
Founder of MSR Leadership Consultants, India


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