How to Market Your Book, Online and Offline

So, it's finally done, weeks, months, years and your ready to sell, the next big thing, the great American novel. You send out 100 manuscripts to agents and publishers and for months you wait and nothing.

Wait lets skip ahead, you know where I am heading… You have heard this pitch before, and obviously your self publishing, so you know you're on your own.

I self published Mr. Instability through Lulu, it was free and easy. I use the same marketing strategies as listed in this article. I don't consider myself a self published author. I consider myself an independent author, no different than an independent filmmaker. You have to be your own salesman.

I have been an online marketer for about three years and the first two I lost way more than I made. And the commission you make selling a book isn't that much, but that doesn't matter, I will explain later.

When you sell online look at it as a giant mall, a mall with billions of stores with billions of buyers. But, no one will even know your there unless you show them the way. You can be listed on all the book selling websites, Listed on all the distributor list and no sales?

Here is what you do:

Most people run out and get a website, waste of money if you don't use it right.

When I decided to be an online marketer, I got a website and listed everything I was selling on it.

I learned the hard way that if you provide too many choices and options and not the meat and potatoes people get bored.

Most people who write there first book want to go into great length about themselves and about the book. Guess what, they don't know you, never heard of you and don't care.

They are there because something about your book peaked there curiosity.

So instead of marketing your website address, market your link to your online store, where they can briefly read about your book and either put up and buy, or leave.

The link to your online bookstore is probably long so I suggest going to simurl.com and getting a short easy to remember link, and simurl.com tracks clicks.

Websites are good if you are selling lets say a book on how to grow turnips.

What you should do since most websites allow you to add video, is to post an add on craigslist, looking for a production crew and actors, most will work for free as a resume builder.

Film a infomercial featuring you as the expert and show people how to grow turnips and at the end say you have a book its, on the website with more information and helpful tips and they should check it out. So basically don't market the book, market the free infomercial.

Post on Youtube, Myspace, Google video as well as your website, and anyone searching for videos about turnips will see your video, think you're an expert and hopefully buy your book.

Never, let people know your selling something, let them use your website as an educational tool about the subject; pack it full of tips, and advice. And you will be surprised how quickly you start selling books.

For example we did this for my friend who sells security systems, we mad a video on how to do a security survey on your home. It shows us walking around a house with a homeowner “actor” and we told him what to do, and what he could do to make the house safer and my friend just at convenient times kept plugging his security systems.

I am a cop in the real world, so I know how to do a home security survey, never claim to be an expert on something your not, or have an infomercial where your viewers are going to know, you have no clue what your talking about.

You still want a website for your sci fi or whatever, okay. Here is what I suggest, if you plan this to be your only book use www.yourtitle.com if you plan on writing more than one book make the web address your name.

Make only one page, remember the saying “too much info” When you go into a bookstore and you see a book, you can read a chapter the back cover a little author bio, than you make the decision to buy or put down. If you read a lot of the book you may decide you don't like it, but online buyers don't have that luxury to be able to read a few chapters.

If you fill your website with useless information and give too much of the book away some people will lose the spur of the moment purchasing decision. Look at an Amazon storefront, a B&N storefront, they give you a teaser and you either click buy or you move on. But that's where your skill as a writer come in, your title has to smack a potential buyer in the face to get them to pick the book up, read your first chapter and a description that screams Buy me!