October 12, 2015

Easy Ways to Promote Your Book (on Social Media + More)



We all want easy ways to promote our books, don’t we?

I’ve tried many techniques to promote my books in unique ways, especially on social media. So sit back and take some notes. :)


Social Media:

1. When you’re editing your book, create a list of fun facts to share.

2. Post short dialogue as statuses or tweets

3. Find some of your best descriptive paragraphs, share them.

4. Create picture quotes that are thrilling, engaging, or inspirational.
TIP #1: Use your own photos or get permission to use another's.

Blogging:

5. Create a recipe based off something your characters cook in your story.

6. Beth Kennedy in Hurricane Crimes wrote poetry, so I penned a few poems in her name and posted them on my blog HERE.

7. Did you delete any scenes that you loved? Make a post out of it. I have.


8. Did you have to rewrite the ending? Share the alternate ending.


TIP #2: Make sure to include spoiler messages for the deleted scenes and alternate ending posts. 
TIP #3: You can try all of these ideas for your website and newsletter as well. 
TIP #4: Include the Amazon link after all of these promo statuses and tweets.

Now that you have some ideas to promote creatively on social media, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of promotion. When your book first comes out you may be so stressed and excited that you may not do enough promoting. 

First things first, you’ll want to make the announcement EVERYWHERE.


When one of my books comes out I make announcements on:

2. Facebook groups
4. Twitter
5. Yahoo Groups
6. Goodreads Groups

Then I:

8. Update my website with my new book.

9. Fix my email signature by putting “OUT NOW” next to my new title under my signature. Sometimes I include a link.

10. Create a headline on The Romance Reviews. (You have to be a member to do this and it has to be approved.)

And I always:

11. Create a Goodreads event and invite everyone.

12. Set up a blog tour. (I can't say enough how much this helps. It really does. If you doubt it, give it a try anyway.)


So what can you do? All of these things! Look at the social media you’re part of and every single group you’ve joined and make a list of them. On release day, use that list to spread the word.

Now that you’ve made the necessary announcements and have some unique promo posts scheduled to go up on your Facebook and blog over the next couple of months, it’s time to check out sites that you can add your book to. These sites are places where readers may come across your book.

Promo Sites I Add My Books to:

The Romance Reviews (For romance only.)
Wanton Reads (No Children’s books or YA.)

Bargain Sites I’ve Submitted My Book to for a Sale:


**There are a lot more sites. A ton, in fact. Some cost money, many only accept novel-length books, or only promote free books.

For more tips on promoting your book see:

70 comments:

  1. Very timely as I'm currently promoting my romantic comedy ready for release on Nov 5th - I intended to ask you to host me but saw you were full for this year :-(

    Will have a go at some of your other suggestions. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would be a bit late, but I could host you in January. Or I can work something out while I'm taking a blog break for the holidays. Let me know.

      Delete
    2. Brilliant! Thanks very much - I'll email you.

      Delete
  2. Very handy tools indeed, thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Excellent tips! I need to get around to submitting my books to promo sites. There's always a lot to do! :) Have a great week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The list of things to do to promote a book is never-ending.

      Delete
  4. Great tips! I especially like the ones about using interesting facts from the book and deleted scenes/alternate endings etc for blog posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Readers love little peeks into books like that. :)

      Delete
  5. A list I must try and remember, Thanks for sharing with us,
    Yvonne.

    ReplyDelete
  6. There sure are a ton of sites out there indeed, not many of them are that great though, sadly.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Seems like a list all author would have at their desk. :-)
    sherry @ fundinmental

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'll have to add my books to the free promotion sites, though I'm still waiting to hear back from the cover artist I contacted two months ago for revamped covers. In the meantime, I'll have to make other arrangements.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Chrys - what a great comprehensive post for one and all .. great ideas - love the takes on and out of your book - making people want to look in and grab it ...

    Cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good checklist! The image thing works well. I'm going to try a different approach and do Tweets with images again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Images are a lot more popular these days. One can never go wrong with use images to promote/market books.

      Delete
  11. I've bookmarked this page for later reference. The early tips are great ideas for content to share. To add to the ones you listed, I'd like to suggest sharing some of the interesting research that went into the story, and some of the backstory and setting details (more applicable to speculative fiction). I've done both of these on my blog and website.

    All well and good, but the biggest challenge is reaching an audience for this content! Putting stuff on my blog will only be seen by a small handful of regular visitors, so that's not especially useful marketing. Plus I have a strong aversion to blog posts that are just marketing - I just don't read them on other people's blogs so why would anyone read them on mine? I am looking forward to checking out that list of promo sites, though. That's an area I have not yet explored (other than submitting to Bookbub, which didn't get selected for inclusion anyway)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you build a platform on social media, gather followers on Twitter and Facebook and use those places to tell them about the stuff on your blog, you will get new visitors. It takes time, I won't lie. But it's worth the effort. Blog posts that are just marketing are pretty pointless, unless they offer something interesting, new, and fun. A recipe, a deleted scene...these are all things readers like.

      Delete
  12. Great list. I'm going to save this. So far I've only done quote images that I shared on social media. And did character interviews on my blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Quote images and character interviews are two of my favorite things to do. :)

      Delete
  13. Great list of some wonderfully creative ideas, Lady Chrys! Any one of them could even be used as a casual "Oh by the way, have you seen this?" for those marketing weary folks ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  14. You've provided a treasure trove of help, Fey! Wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love all of these! I could definitely share a recipe or two! I have shared pictures of the cupcakes I've made that came from my story.

    ReplyDelete
  16. These are fantastic ideas. I was stressing about ideas to promote my book, but you saved the day:) Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great stuff! I bookmarked this page and I look forward to promoting my books on many of these sites.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh, you give the best advice. I jotted down a few things.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I try. :) I hope this post gets your creative juices flowing.

      Delete
  19. Love you list, going to make it mine! I have a lot of catching up to do! LOL
    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Great tips. I'll file this away for the time I might need it (if ever).

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hey Chrys. I'd dare say not many of us have the time to implement all of these promo sites etc, but I am paying close attention as I hope to have my first novella published in time for Halloween! Woot! Woot!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It doesn't take too much time to use the promo sites I listed that you can use. And everything else just takes a bit of planning before hand. All doable even with limited time. :)

      Delete
  22. Like Patsy wrote: your post is very timely since my volume of Halloween short stories, TALES TO BE TOLD AT MIDNIGHT, comes out tomorrow the 13th! Cue the spooky music.

    Lately, it seems like my books are wearing leper bells! Thanks for this post. Good to have you on our sides. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Congrats on your collection. I love Halloween stories. :D

      Delete
  23. Very thought out info on promoting books with great info you shared here.

    Betty

    ReplyDelete
  24. You give such great tips bit as I read them my insecurities come out and I feel so overwhelmed since, one day, I want to write a book about my mom's life. I think of just writing and realize that is just the actual tip of that iceberg. There is so much more underneath.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know how that is. I didn't know how much there is that writers have to do when I first started. Not only do we have to write and edit our books. We also have to market them. Once you get the hang of it, though, it gets easier.

      Delete
  25. I love love love this article. I need to keep this in mind whenever I finally get something published.
    I have a few poems published on my site that were 'written' by characters in my story. I don't generally call attention to them on my blog because they reveal plot points.

    But this article has got me excited to work on my story again. I have to find a better way to organize my time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think tell us about those poems could generate interest in your story.

      I'm glad you're excited to work on your story again. Get to work! :P

      Delete
  26. These are fabulous, Chrys. I'm saving them for my book launch in March. Now, I must get busy on edits or it won't be coming out.
    Thanks for all your great advice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good luck with edits, Beverly! And you're very welcome. :)

      Delete
  27. Thanks for all the great ideas!! Very useful!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Great ideas here, Chrys. TY for all the ideas. Some I've used but many I hadn't even considered. You're a wealth on knowledge!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Lisa! I hope you're able to take some of these new ways and use them to your advantage. :)

      Delete
  29. Thanks for sharing such fantastic helpful hints, Chrys. Can you tell me what a blog tour actually involves and how it works? Thanks

    gvsimages@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Greg! A blog tour is essentially you and your book being featured on blogs during the course of a specific amount of time (one week or one month...it's up to you). You could be on one blog a day or several a day. It involves you creating interesting posts about your story/characters for these bloggers to post. This could be an author interview (bloggers usually provide a list of questions if they do this), a character interview or scene spotlight. Along with it you provide the cover art of your book, the blurb, and buy links. Your basically generating interesting and hoping the readers of these blogs will be intrigued enough to buy your book.

      If you check out the link I shared in the post "How to Set up a Blog Tour" you'll get tips on how to find these bloggers and what to do.

      Delete
  30. What awesome ideas! I swear I've bookmarked so many of your posts, it's crazy. Ever consider putting together a book of them, like Chuck Wendig does? A marketing one would be awesome. You have a big enough following!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have thought about it and plan on doing just that but it won't be coming out until sometime after 2016. :)

      Delete
  31. Wow, those are great tips. You're the first person I've seen say that blog tours help. I've heard that quite a few writers feel they're a waste of time. Any idea what might have made the difference for you?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I fully believe in blog tours. I sell the most books during a blog tour for a release than after I do after it. I think just doing unique posts and targeting a wide variety of blogs (not just those in my blogging circle) that make difference. And doing it for a month, at least, with 2 posts a day. The longer you do it, and the more you're seen, the better outcome you'll have.

      Delete