Promotion & Marketing Tips (an excerpt from Self-Publishing On a Budget)

In the self-publishing industry, writing your book is less than half the battle. If your goal is to make a profit from selling your book, then plan to spend at least as much time and effort promoting it as you did writing it. 

Even if you place your book on Amazon.com or manage to get a few copies accepted in a national chain bookstore, like Barnes & Noble, the chances of someone finding it among the other millions of titles there are slim unless you tell people about it. 

This is where the promotion and marketing part begins. There are a number of ways to garner publicity for your book. A few are listed below, but use your own creativity and initiative to get the word out to as many people as you can.

Author Website

 

The most important promotion tool for any author is a website or blog. Make sure your website address is printed on everything you hand out or mail out, such as press releases, stationery, business cards, fliers and post cards. You want to drive traffic toward your website because it is your main information source for potential buyers, as well as newspaper and magazine editors.

Your website should include:

• A photo of your book cover, as well as yourself.
• The sales pitch for your book (taken from your “back copy”) to entice your website visitors to buy.
• Your author bio: a few short paragraphs about your background and credentials for writing the book.
• Reviews or reader comments about your book.
• A schedule of up-coming events, such as speaking engagements, book signings or workshops and classes.
• Ordering information: how readers can buy online and/or order-by-mail.
• A monthly newsletter or weekly tips that make readers want to return to your site.

To set up your website, the first thing you’ll need to do is register a domain name for your site (i.e.: YourName.com or YourBook’sName.com) and then decide on a hosting service. Two sites to check for registering your domain name are: www.Register.com and www.GoDaddy.com. 

There are hundreds of website hosting companies from which to choose. Many of these also offer to register domain names for you. Prices and services vary widely, so shop carefully to make sure the one you pick meets your needs and fits your budget. 

 

Some book printing companies, like CreateSpace.com, will give you a webpage for your book free of charge when you use their printing services. You can also create a free blog on-line for your author website with sites like blogger.com, which is owned by Google.

Other marketing tips covered in this chapter:

 

Press Releases

Speaking Engagements 

  Book Signing Events 

 Classes or Workshops 

Craft Fairs and Expo’s 

 

Order Self-Publishing On a Budget: A Do-It-All Yourself Guide in these formats:

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E-Book for $2.99 on Amazon.com

ISBN's: International Standard Book Numbers (an excerpt from Self-Publishing on a Budget)

International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN's)

If your purpose for self-publishing is to distribute your book to family members or friends, or to sell it in local stores or gift shops, then you won’t need an ISBN (International Standard Book Number). But if you plan to sell your book through major retail chains, bookstores and distributors, then you will need to get an ISBN. In order to do this, you must submit an application to R. R. Bowker Company to apply for a publisher prefix number (the first eleven numbers that make up a 13-digit ISBN). Their website is listed below.

This 13-digit number identifies the publisher, the book title and the author. It is important that you obtain your own ISBN rather than using one issued by your printing company or subsidy publisher, because these numbers are assigned to publishers. In other words, for as long as your book is in print, the “publisher of record” and their contact information is determined by the ISBN that is printed on the copyright page of the book.

Anytime someone wants information about your book or wants to discuss a business deal regarding it, they will contact R. R. Bowker (Books in Print) to get the official publisher’s name, address and phone number. You are not officially a self-publisher unless you are using your own ISBN’s and are listed as the “publisher of record” for your book.

ISBN’s are purchased in blocks of ten numbers for about $250.00. You can also purchase just one ISBN. Learn more about ISBN’s and how to purchase them online at: www.isbn.org.

You will receive a log book by e-mail, listing your ten numbers. Print a copy of it and keep it in a safe place. See the sample log book below. As you write your books, assign one number to each book. You will also need to assign a different ISBN to each edition of your book (i.e. soft cover or hard cover, comb binding or perfect binding).

If you later decide to make major revisions to your book, assign a different ISBN to this new edition. Once assigned, an ISBN cannot be reassigned, even if the book is out of print. Your log book is a permanent record of all the ISBN’s you have assigned. As mentioned before, keep it in a safe place. 

After assigning an ISBN to your book, you will need to register the title and information with R. R. Bowker, so they will list your book’s details in Books in Print. This is a directory of all books published in the U.S. that have ISBN’s. The website is: www.bowkerlink.com.

Other topics covered in Self-Publishing on a Budget:

Bar Codes

Copyrights

Library of Congress Control Numbers

Order Self-Publishing On a Budget: A Do-It-All Yourself Guide in these formats:

Print version for $6.95 on Amazon.com

E-Book for $2.99 on Amazon.com