How does one promote a book? (page 2)

Stealth453

I have never done it, but were I to, I would post a chapter or two on forums such as this, and then link it to e-bay or the like.

s

Jankyn

Bryan's given you some really great suggestions, as have Seeker4 and Lady Lee.

Here are a couple more:

As a pre-requisite to contacting anyone, make sure you've listed the main reasons why your book is relevant to their audience/customers. Be prepared to give a quick, bullet-pointed pitch on your book at the drop of a hat. Lose any reticence or shyness you may have about self-promotion; unless you're Stephen King or John Grisham, you will *have* to promote yourself to sell books.

Know your market. Who is likely to be interested in this book, and where are they? What publications do they read? What other things are they interested in? Target your pr/advertising efforts. All too many authors take a "shotgun" approach, assuming that if they pitch the book everywhere they're bound to get results. PR professionals know that the opposite is true. Targeted pitches not only save time/energy/money, they also avoid ticking off people that you may want to approach later with another project.

Always carry copies in the trunk of your car. If you're near a bookstore, check to see if they're carrying it. If not, offer it, and see about an in-store event.

Contact local colleges/community colleges/adult ed centers that have creative writing course. See if they want guest speakers. Always take copies of your book.

If your book highlights your expertise in a particular area, look into TEACHING a course at a local community college/adult ed center. It increases your visibility and the marketability of your book, and positions you well for the NEXT book.

Contact newspaper columnists and book reviewers (best to do this by email, as they are *incredibly* busy and hate to take cold-call promotions). Pitch the book to them as a human interest story/review item. Make sure you explain why *their* readers would be interested. All columnists/critics/editors are, first and foremost, interested in keeping their readers interested.

Write some op-ed or feature-type pieces for local papers that take advantage of your expertise on the topic you wrote about. Include the book's title and publication info in your bio. (For example, having read Bryan's book, I can say he's a natural to write op-ed pieces on changes in custodial laws and parental kidnappings. This is a double-whammy: people who read the piece and see the book in his bio line are more likely to buy it, and editors are more likely to run his pieces if they see that he's actually published a book on the subject.) Keep a clip file of these pieces to use in future pr packets--and when pitching your NEXT book to the publisher.

That's all I've got off the top of my head.

Jankyn (former PR/Advertising exec, current writer/editor/critic class)

daniel-p

If your book highlights your expertise in a particular area, look into TEACHING a course at a local community college/adult ed center. It increases your visibility and the marketability of your book, and positions you well for the NEXT book.

You should include a warning in this, though, as forcing your students to purchase your own book is sometimes a breach of ethics and considered bad form. Depends on the college administrative culture, of course.

slimboyfat

Don't be shy, please give details!

After all, Don Cameron is certainly not shy about promoting his book here and elsewhere.

Slim

How does one promote a book?

Stealth453

Jankyn

daniel-p

slimboyfat

vitty

slimboyfat

heathen

AlmostAtheist

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