Do you have any advice for other authors on how to market their books? Promotion tips change constantly. What’s working for you these days?
11 thoughts on “READER FRIDAY: Tips on Marketing Your Books?”
1. Write a book that makes readers want more of your work.
2. Give readers more of your work.
3. Build an email list by giving away a sample of your work (I use BookFunnel for this), and make your updates entertaining to read on their own, not just another pitch.
Great advice, Jim…as always. Thank you.
Amen.
My publisher also uses BookFunnel. When ARCs are available, I send people there for downloads. Works for me.
I use BookFunnel to hit my diehard reader/reviewer list (a list I’ve developed for dependable reviewers) & offer an ARC in exchange for an honest review, cross-posted. I give them enough time to read my book & give them a timeframe to post the review as close to the release date as possible. My “reliables” also know how to write a thorough review without giving away the plot twists.
BookFunnel is more secure than sending files directly. Thanks, Chris.
Agree with JSB above.
Don’t use social media to “sell”, use it to engage. Inundating people with “buy my book” type posts doesn’t work. Posts should be 80% engagement, 20% sales-oriented.
The best ROI I’ve ever had from advertising is with BookBub, but those Featured Deals are hard to come by. They accept about 15% of submission. They’re costly, but the few times I’ve been lucky enough to score one, I’ve made several time my investment, and sales have carried over into the series. Which brings me to my last “tip.”
“Write the Next Book.”
Good morning, Terry.
I agree on Bookbub. As for social media, I’m stumped why authors try to sell their books to other authors. That cracks me up. Yes, I’m a reader first, but don’t give me the hard sell.
We tried FB ads and had some success but nowhere near the roi needed to justify it. I found some book promo sites that are much smaller and less expensive than bookbub and we’ve had success with some of them, espcially eReader Cafe, Faithful Reads, and eReader News Today.
Bookbub accepted my book for international promo next Wednesday. It will be interesting to see what that does. I will reapply for a domestic featured deal later next week.
Good luck on your Bookbub promo. Congratulations.
It’s hard to isolate what success means unless you run ads solo to see if you get a surge in sales. Most times I sign up for as many low cost promos that make sense & run Bookbub on its own.
Thanks, Kay.
Jordan, I agree with the strategy you outline. We’re running the promos in series rather than in parallel so we can see which ones work the best. It’s turning out to be a fun experiment.
1. Write a book that makes readers want more of your work.
2. Give readers more of your work.
3. Build an email list by giving away a sample of your work (I use BookFunnel for this), and make your updates entertaining to read on their own, not just another pitch.
Great advice, Jim…as always. Thank you.
Amen.
My publisher also uses BookFunnel. When ARCs are available, I send people there for downloads. Works for me.
I use BookFunnel to hit my diehard reader/reviewer list (a list I’ve developed for dependable reviewers) & offer an ARC in exchange for an honest review, cross-posted. I give them enough time to read my book & give them a timeframe to post the review as close to the release date as possible. My “reliables” also know how to write a thorough review without giving away the plot twists.
BookFunnel is more secure than sending files directly. Thanks, Chris.
Agree with JSB above.
Don’t use social media to “sell”, use it to engage. Inundating people with “buy my book” type posts doesn’t work. Posts should be 80% engagement, 20% sales-oriented.
The best ROI I’ve ever had from advertising is with BookBub, but those Featured Deals are hard to come by. They accept about 15% of submission. They’re costly, but the few times I’ve been lucky enough to score one, I’ve made several time my investment, and sales have carried over into the series. Which brings me to my last “tip.”
“Write the Next Book.”
Good morning, Terry.
I agree on Bookbub. As for social media, I’m stumped why authors try to sell their books to other authors. That cracks me up. Yes, I’m a reader first, but don’t give me the hard sell.
We tried FB ads and had some success but nowhere near the roi needed to justify it. I found some book promo sites that are much smaller and less expensive than bookbub and we’ve had success with some of them, espcially eReader Cafe, Faithful Reads, and eReader News Today.
Bookbub accepted my book for international promo next Wednesday. It will be interesting to see what that does. I will reapply for a domestic featured deal later next week.
Good luck on your Bookbub promo. Congratulations.
It’s hard to isolate what success means unless you run ads solo to see if you get a surge in sales. Most times I sign up for as many low cost promos that make sense & run Bookbub on its own.
Thanks, Kay.
Jordan, I agree with the strategy you outline. We’re running the promos in series rather than in parallel so we can see which ones work the best. It’s turning out to be a fun experiment.
Good for you. Thanks for the tips.