In the past a writer’s job was finished when the book was written. All a writer needed to know was how to be good with words. Nowadays, writers have to write, edit, publish and market by themselves. To help you out, we selected the top internet marketing strategies that will boost your presence and will grow your sales without driving you insane.
1. Don’t forget your optimization
First things first – make sure your product and your image are optimized for the environment you are marketing it in. Have a clean design for the cover, get your press pack ready and create for yourself a bio that is tailored for the market you are aiming to conquer.
The biggest mistake when it comes to authors’ bios is that they feel the need to include every experience they have been through. You might be a decent musician, but you wrote a book on computer programming – your public is not interested in you as a person, but in you as a programmer. Trim your bio. It doesn’t have to be boring, but it has to be concise and it has to support your reputation.
Also, make sure your product is optimized. If you are selling a physical book – get one before the launch and make sure it looks professional – no cricked rows, no pages missing, no odd looking photos or tables. When you are dealing with an e-book, make sure it is optimized for the search engines – people have to find your book in order to read it. Then, make sure it looks good – download your book on any device you can get your hands on and take a look. A professional appearance will solidify your reputation as a writer.
2. Don’t spread too thin on the platforms you are trying to sell your book on
The temptation is to have an account on any platform that could help you sell the books, from publishing platforms to social media. But the truth is by spreading too thin, you don’t really have time to master any of these environments. A crowd forms behind new and interesting material. If you don’t have time to think through your posts or even worst, you don’t have a regular schedule for posting, you will get no traction in any of these environments.
When you are trying to figure which one to keep and which one to ditch, just think of what you love most. Sort them first by keeping the platforms you love working with. If you are more of a Tweeter person than a Facebook geek, keep one and lose the other. If you love to blog about your book, but you don’t really feel the Instagram hype, hold on to what you do best.
Whatever you do, keep in mind that Amazon is the only must when it comes to selling your material. It is still the best way to reach a big crowd, hungry for your talent. When you are sorting the platforms, the magic number is three accounts. Think of a great Amazon presence and maybe two more environments – a personal blog and a social media account.
By cutting back, you will actually get more done in less time and results will soon start to show.
3. Make sure your product has a home
As we mentioned before, having a home for your brand and your product is a great way to manage your reputation. A personal site where you can present yourself and your product is the way to go. You have total control over the information presented, over the timing and you get to know who your public is.
Having a well groomed personal and product website might seem more difficult than it actually is. If you are willing to spend some money, you can get your own hosting and have somebody help you with setting it up. If you are on a budget, just get a WordPress.com account, find a theme that fits your personality and if you feel like splurging, for the cost of a big pizza, get your own domain. It will look professional and you just created your first home for your brand.
4. Build your tribe one post at a time
No matter how early in your publishing life you are, your fans want to hear from you. Everybody started with one fan – themselves, and post by post, as time went by, they have built an audience. If you are waiting to have a big audience before telling the world your story, you will have to wait a while.
Tell them where they can find you. What are your future projects? How can they get in touch with you? Show them your work and they will only love you more. Just think of your favorite pizza place – you have their app on your phone, you get their flyer in the mail and yet, you can’t wait for them to tell you what’s new – from offers to seasonal tastes.
Be confident and start sharing with your fans.
5. Be a guest where it matters
Just like the social media temptation, once you get the taste of being a guest on other blogs, you just want to keep on going. At first, you are happy somebody left their audience unattended in your hands. But after getting some experience and creating a network, you have to curate your presence and guard your reputation.
Do your best to get on blogs and shows that are related to your theme or that would benefit from your presence. If you just finished your raw vegan gluten free cookbook, a podcast on atheism will do nothing for your marketing and will be awkward to perform. Although any invitation is an honor, not all invitations should be honored.
In the end, don’t forget the ultimate marketing strategy is staying true to yourself. If you are in love with social media – rock it with all you’ve got! If you blog as you breath – keep doing what you’re doing! But be consistent and curate your presence. Shine your true light and you will attract a crowd that loves every word you write, every story you tell.
Image credit: Pixabay
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Larisa.png[/author_image] [author_info]Larisa Elena Muntean is an experienced writer and editor specialized in self-publishing and internet presence. Larisa oversaw the publication of more than ten books, is the editor in chief of an environmental protection journal and has collaborated with a variety of blogs and magazines. [/author_info] [/author]