You’ve written your book, and you’ve submitted it to a POD publisher. Now you can get copies of your book printed when – and only when – someone buys it. So who’s going to buy it? While POD is an excellent tool for self-publishing authors, it means you don’t have the backing of a major label, publisher, or agent to help generate sales. In addition to being a self-publisher, you have to become a self-marketer, too.
Some POD publishers offer you packages in which they’ll do some marketing for you and try to push your book to different online media outlets or brick-and-mortar stores. While it may seem like an attractive option, you really don’t need it. With self-publishing and POD, you already have so much control over your product, so why not take it all the way? It’s entirely possible for you to successfully self-market your POD book. Here are some tips to help you.
Be Confident
You truly believe in your book, don’t you? You should, and don’t ever doubt it. You should have full confidence in the merit of your book. If you do, you’ll be able to convince other people of its value, too, and convince them to buy it. Never waver in that confidence and always market your book like it’s the best thing ever.
Improve Your Website
If you don’t have a website for your book yet, you should. Websites are absolutely necessary for selling your POD book. If you aren’t great at web design, hire someone to create a professional-looking site for you that will help you market your book. People should be able to learn about you and your book through your site, and they should be able to purchase the book directly from it.
Market Online
There are lots of ways to handle your marketing online. You can try maintaining a blog that will help establish you as an expert on your subject and drive up the SEO of your book’s website. You can become involved with social media by harnessing the power of Facebook, Twitter, and the like. In addition, become involved in the online community of your niche. Write meaningful comments on related blogs and join in on discussions. It’ll give you an opportunity to link back to your site and plug your book to the audience who will be most interested.
Get Out There
Your marketing campaign doesn’t have to be limited to the Internet. Get out there and physically bring your book to the people who want it. For example, you might set up a booth at a related conference or event. You should be a participant in any venue or event that your niche audience will frequent.
Prepare Media Kits
A media kit will help you advertise your book and attract interest. Distribute the kit to as many different media outlets as you can think of by sending an online version to websites and blogs and a print version to magazines and papers. Also host one on your website.
These tips are just some ways you can begin to self-market your POD book. As you become more adept at marketing, you may want to contact major wholesalers and distributors and attempt to get them interested and willing to carry your POD book. There are no limits to what you can do, and many POD authors have achieved great success. It’s a matter of how hard you’re willing to work and realizing that your work isn’t done after you write “the end.”
Stella Brown is currently writing her first novel. After using her favorite grammar checker to prevent editing migraines, she is looking for a green printing solution.
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