Thursday, June 26, 2014

Five Steps for Marketing Your Ebook

Eschler Editing had an article today that really made me stop and think.  It's one of the best marketing articles I've read in a while and I learned several things from it, even though I've been in this business for a while.

The article first introduces things that we've talked about on the blog before, but bear repeating, especially for anyone who is self-publishing.  For example, you must write a good book and present it with a professional cover (and a back blurb!) You want your first impressions to be good. (Remember when we talked about writing great back cover copy on this blog. Click here for that post.)

Have a professional looking and easy to read Amazon author page. Know your keywords and your subcategories that best fit your work.  Now, we've talked before how important key words are and how to do them right (click here for that post), and I don't think authors can hear it too much. Go tweak your Author page. Make it the best it can be and make sure your work will be seen!

But where the Eschler Editing article really hit a home run was with all the marketing resource they cite in finding your audience.  You can see it here.  I know I'm going to check out several sites mentioned. Definitely a keeper in your marketing arsenal.

Part of being a writer, whether you are traditionally published or self-published, is knowing how to market your work.  Study it. Know what you're doing and your readers will come.  (Hey, that sounds like a movie I saw when I was a kid.)  I've been trying different things that I'm comfortable with, including having a street team, and I'm really loving the process. Sometimes marketing can be hard, but the more I learn, but more I think it doesn't have to be.

What else is in your marketing arsenal? Do you have anything to add?

1 comment:

Debra Erfert said...

I'm just barely getting into the marketing side of writing, and to be perfectly honest, it scares me. I'm not that brave to get out there and ask others to do, well, anything for me. "Would you read my book?" is a very scary question. "Would you read my book and give me a review?" is a more terrifying one. What I do understand is that if you write a middle grade book, you better not ask someone who writes a paranormal blog to read and review your book unless you want a embarrassing rejection and or a negative review. It's smart to stay within your own genre. I don't think a lot of people know, or understand the reason for this.

I went to a writer's conference where one presenter said that the more books you can sell on the first day or two of its launch, the higher its ranking on Amazon, and the higher its profile will be. That, in turn, will get the site automatic program to promote your book, or "suggest it" to readers who have bought other books in the same genre.