While on the March writers retreat, the topic of marketing and promoting our books – both traditionally published and self-published generated lots of conversation. And since my latest novel – the contemporary thriller – is soon to be released, I decided to look around for advice and stumbled on an article on BookBub titled 140 Book Marketing Ideas.
For those of you unaware of BookBub, it’s a “free service that helps millions of readers discover books they’ll love while providing publishers and authors with a way to drive sales and find new fans.” Free to readers, that is! And you can get great deals through the platform.
While much of the advice in the article was familiar, I discovered some new ideas – or at least, new to me.
- Set up an online store (likely on your author website)
- Create a list of target keywords
- Welcome subscribers with exclusive content
- Get more BookBub followers
- Unify cover designs in a series
- Relaunch a book with a new cover
- Link to your mailing list in your book’s “back matter”
- Make sure descriptions include quotes, awards, and language specific to your audience
- Include target keywords on product pages like book description and headline
- Write a ‘killer’ elevator pitch (one of THE most difficult tasks and something I know, but it must be repeated!)
- Use Polling software like PickFu (a consumer research tool) to test variations of description or marketing copy
- Create images of teasers and quotes
- Share teasers on social media along with cover
- Post cover reveals on other blogs
- Run a BookBub ad for pre-order
I’ll stop now so those of you who are interested can check out the BookBub article. But I’ll complete the list on the next post. Back soon!
More tips on marketing and book promotion:
- 5 Must-Know Tips for Marketing Historical Fiction
- Amplifying Your Book’s Success Through Collaboration
- Novelists Work Together to Manage Marketing Tasks
FOR MORE ON READING & WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION – AND OCCASIONAL LIFE STORIES – FOLLOW A WRITER OF HISTORY. Use the SUBSCRIBE function on the right hand side of the page.
M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel is THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, a dual timeline set in Hong Kong. Mary’s other novels, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads or on her website www.mktod.com