What To Do After Publishing Your Book

You’ve finally finished writing your book, got it printed and published with the binding and finish you wanted – you know what would be good now – if somebody actually bought and read it! After all the hard work and creativity that you’ve put into writing your book, you need to find ways to effectively promote your work and get it into the marketplace – the book will not sell itself, and if you are a first time or little-known author, then your name alone will not move it off the shelves! You cannot just sit back and wait for the book royalties to start pouring in – you need to be proactive in increasing your book’s exposure – here are some guidelines to help you do just that:

Website

A promotional website is a must – whilst you will obviously be looking for a presence on Amazon, or similar authors pages, you will need your own personal dedicated website. Your website should always include a description of the book you are promoting, any reviews you have garnered from others (see later) and include these on your website home page and a “Buy Now” page you must create to allow an easy option for visitors to your site to access and purchase your book. Include a section where you can ‘preview’ your book – give readers a chance to have a ‘snippet’ of what the book is about and capture their interest in the plot or storyline and the characters. You can perhaps offer a limited number of free ‘giveaway’ copies but ask for something in return, for example, email address and contact details to ‘kick-start’ your prospective customers emailing list. Include a page on your site about yourself – perhaps a photo and a brief overview or bio about yourself and why/how you came to write this book – create a more personal rapport between yourself and your readers. 

Promotional ‘Loss Leader’

Do a ‘giveaway’ campaign – there are many ways you can organise a free giveaway of your book that will help generate interest. There are online sites you can access to distribute your publication this way – but consider there will be a financial overhead for this, but loss leaders can be very effective in ‘starting the ball rolling’ in generating interest in your work! You’ll create raised awareness in your book and perhaps even initiate the start of your book sales in the process!

Targeted Email Campaign

Create an email list – this provides an effective start to marketing both your book and, perhaps more importantly, yourself as an author! The people included on your list will be there because they have a declared interest in your work. Maybe they signed-up to your list after reading some of your work, or perhaps offered their email address in return for a preview of any new work you may have on the horizon – whatever the motivation or source, having their contact details allows you to market to them directly – and for free! The next time you set about producing new work, you can notify the list beforehand creating anticipation and expectation of the new book and perhaps generating early sales!

Targeted Social Media Help

These days it is far more likely that anybody reading book reviews is doing it online through blogs or social media platforms – the days of people studying newspaper articles for reviews are long gone! Look for online platforms on which the most influential bloggers post and try to get a presence – and your book – on those!

Request Reviews

Ask for reviews of your book – use any subscribers to the email list you’ve created, or just anyone you know and for whom you have contact details and ask them to read and review your book – they get a copy for free, and you can build a library of reviews to help promote your book! Reach out also to established book reviewers on platforms such as Amazon – send them a copy and ask them to review it – the worst that can happen is that they say “No”, but those that do will add professional weight to your work!

Self-Promote

Send yourself on a ‘Blog Tour’ – traditionally writers have conducted Book Tours making personal appearances at different bookstores and other relevant outlets for personal book signings and such. Modern technologies and trends now allow you to ‘go on tour’ without leaving your house – after your book launch, arrange to visit lots of blogs to promote your book. Create guest posts – perhaps write blogs about topics that are features of your book or novel to promote awareness, or blog about the actual process of devising, creating, and writing the book itself – any aspect that will bring attention to your published work! Collaborate with other relevant bloggers – get another blogger to interview you perhaps including an accompanying video or produce an audio podcast.

Print2Demand

If you would like more information about publishing a book, please don’t hesitate to contact us.