Recently, I spoke to an author looking for help with marketing a self published book. She’d found my company’s website and was calling to find out what marketing services my company offered. I explained to her that she could either download the Book Marketing Ideas For The Author ebook or hire me for a phone consultation. I told her that the eBook was for authors who were ready to get started on their own and for those authors who have additional questions; I encourage them to take advantage of the one hour phone consultation.

“Can’t you just do it for me? The marketing that is…” she said.

I explained to her that I didn’t offer that service, but I was able to consult with her about what steps she would need to take in order to create a marketing plan and that together we could come up with marketing ideas specifically for her book.

She then told me she was self published. She’d released her book a few months prior, sold a few hundred books on her own but was looking for more exposure and marketing a self published book proved harder than she’d expected. She expressed the fact that she didn’t have time to read the eBook (which I must say is a quick read) and she didn’t have the time to implement any marketing strategies.

This is a common sentiment among authors. As a matter of fact, it was my sentiment very early on. It was one of the reasons why I wanted to be traditionally published at first. I didn’t have the time to devote to marketing. What with a full time job, freelancing, blogging, being a mother and the fifty eleven other things I do on a daily basis. (Yeah I said fifty eleven. lol.)

But that was years ago and I want to share with you what I’ve learned since then. First, I want to reiterate:

You are your book’s best spokesperson!

You are your own best cheerleader!

Why?

Because YOU wrote the book.

You are the most passionate about it.

You best understand the message your book is trying to convey.

You can best explain the process and the motivation behind it.

Can someone else market your book and garner you greater exposure? Absolutely! But more often than not, authors who hire book marketing firms are left feeling like they didn’t get their monies worth, when the marketing efforts don’t equate to thousands of dollars in book sales. A book publicist or marketing team should compliment what you are already doing to market your book, not replace you.

Marketing A Self Published Book The Right Way!

 

Why should writers take charge of marketing a self published book?

If you are self published, at the very least you should be devoting a few hours each week to marketing your title. This can be done through social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc.) or traditionally (book signings and interviews).

As an author you should be interacting with the readers of your books, learning their likes and dislikes, reading the reviews and communicating regularly with the people who support you. Once you begin working on your next book, you’ll know what parts of your book compelled the reader, what parts made them cringe, and what parts kept them up at night.

Why should you take charge of your marketing?

Because it makes sense!

Do you have to handle ALL of the marketing a self published book?  Absolutely not! But just as you would have some input on any other career you embark upon, you should do the same with your writing career. After all, writing is very personal and who better to represent your artistry than you?

Are you marketing a self published book? Please share your challenges in the comments section below.

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