By Rohi Shetty

[NOTE: Good news! You can download the digital version of Aneeta’s next novel, The Age of Smiling Secrets for free from Amazon for the next five days or so. Aneeta has also priced the paperback at the minimum price allowed by Amazon. It’s a great read. The free offer is available worldwide. Grab it right away here.]

If you have just published your first or next book like Aneeta, make a specific book promotion plan and write down the number of books you want to sell per month. When you have a specific goal in mind, it helps you to plan your book promotion effectively and also serves as a yardstick of your success. At the end of the month, review your results and make a fresh plan.

60 Simple Ways to Achieve Your Book Marketing Goals

You may already be doing some of these methods. You need not do all of them. Choose the ones that appeal to you and let go of the rest. Shortlist the ones that you want to implement and add them to your calendar. Action is supreme.

Amazon

  1. Aim for at least 5-10 book reviews after the publication of your book. Request your email subscribers and book bloggers to post a review. They need not be 5-star reviews. A mix of review types is more credible.
  2. Create urgency to buy the book right now. Increasing the number of sales within a short period after publication will boost your ranking on Amazon. To create urgency, offer special limited-time bonuses or discounts.
  3. Maintain your Amazon Author Central account. Add video, links to your social media, and to your blog.
  4. Add a link to your bio to your email list opt-in page on your Amazon Author Central page.
  5. Optimize your Amazon book page so that your ideal readers can find your book.
  6. Optimize your Amazon book description and add your book keywords to it.
  7. Invite readers to join your email list in your book.
  8. If you have published other books on Amazon, be sure to list them in the current book with links.
  9. Add your bio in your book and how your readers can contact you (link to your website).
  10. Research other books in your genre to find out which categories they’re using and request Amazon to add your book in more categories. You can be in up to ten categories.
  11. Include sample chapters of your other books in the back of each book.
  12. Sign up for the Amazon Associates program so you can earn a small fee every time someone buys from your link on Amazon.
  13. Post reviews on Amazon for the work of other authors in your genre and include “author of [title of your book]” in your review.
  14. If you’re doing a free ebook promotion through Kindle Select, sign up for free ebook promotion sites in advance of the free date.
  15. Experiment with the retail price of your ebook. Increase downloads with free (if on Kindle Select), and then increase the price to $0.99, $1.99, and so on. This will improve your ranking on Amazon and boost the visibility of your book.
  16. Sometimes, the bonus is included as part of the book, as a coupon code or link to free content. If this is the case, make sure to point it out in the book description
  17. Use Amazon Ads and set up a low-cost campaign based on keywords. (Available via your dashboard on KDP.)

Your website

  1. Add Google Analytics to your site so you know where your readers are coming from.
  2. Offer a sample chapter or chapters as a free download from your site.
  3. Add a buy now link in your blog to your Amazon book.
  4. If you sell printed books on your website, autograph them to make them more special and exclusive for your readers.
  5. Post your book one chapter at a time on your blog, as you’re writing it. Invite your blog readers to purchase the book to read the ending.
  6. Update your media kit and add your contact information, your bio, a high-resolution picture of you and your book cover, and links to your social media profiles.
  7. Incorporate the research done during the writing of your book in your blog posts.
  8. Add positive book reviews to your website and social media.
  9. Create a resource page on your website for other books or products in your area of interest that you can recommend to your readers.
  10. Let other authors or product creators know that you’ve recommended them and offer to write a testimonial for their website.
  11. Research other books in your genre and pick ten to recommend and review on your blog.
  12. Set up a contest to give these books away if someone joins your email list.

Your social media

  1. Add a link to your book in your bio on all your social media accounts and in your email signature.
  2. Make your Facebook and Twitter backgrounds an image of your current book cover.
  3. Run a book giveaway on Goodreads.
  4. Create a profile on LinkedIn and include your books.
  5. Ask for cover design feedback on your personal and Page feeds on Facebook.
  6. Find other authors in your genre on Facebook and join their pages and/or groups so that you can check out how they market their books.

Offline

  1. Do book launch party with friends and family.
  2. Do author event such as book signings or book readings at a local bookstores.
  3. Do free speaking engagements and offer signed copies of your books after the talk.
  4. Offer to run your books on consignment in local bookstores.
  5. Offer your book on consignment to other retail stores such as gift shops and general retail stores.
  6. Donate one or more copies to your local libraries.
  7. Pitch your book to local media and try to associate the topic of your book to a current event.
  8. Create a hashtag for your book and also associate it with trending hashtags of current events on social media.
  9. Pitch for interviews on radio stations, both local and online.
  10. Get an interview on The Authors Show for free.

Your email list

  1. Your email list is your most important tool for marketing your books. At the end of each post, use an opt-in form to invite the reader to join your email list.
  2. Treat your email list subscribers to exclusive content that they can only get if they’re on your email list.
  3. Offer advance reader copies for free to your email subscribers and request them for book reviews on the launch day of your book.
  4. Offer a special bonus gift if someone emails you with their Amazon receipt, proving they bought your book or a link to their review of your book.

Your online network

  1. Approach bloggers in your country or niche and offer to write a guest post for their website.
  2. Approach bloggers or authors to post guest articles on your website.
  3. Reach out to other authors in your genre and see if they’d be willing to promote you to their list in exchange for promoting them to your list.
  4. Request to be a guest on podcasts related to your genre.
  5. Promote the work of other authors in your genre.
  6. Join the email lists of other authors in your country and your genre and check out the topics they discuss, and how they promote their books.

Additional marketing steps

  1. Create a professional book trailer.
  2. Distribute a press release about your book on Online Press Release Distribution Service.
  3. Publish your ebook on Smashwords, which distributes it to all retail sites except Amazon.
  4. Get your book translated into other languages and publish on Amazon.
  5. Create an audio version of your book.

(Just a reminder: You can download the digital version of Aneeta’s next novel, The Age of Smiling Secrets for free from Amazon for the next five days. Grab it here.)

The book and eBook are available worldwide, but for ease of reference, here are some of the more popular links:

USA: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GC1YNYV/
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GC1YNYV/
India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07GC1YNYV/
Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07GC1YNYV/
Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B07GC1YNYV
Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07GC1YNYV
Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07GC1YNYV

 

Join the conversation

I will be happy to help you publish and promote your book on Amazon or Smashwords. If you want to publish your book or want help to promote your book, let me know in the comments below.

(31 August 2018)

Rohi Shetty is a doctor, health writer, and digital publisher. Check out his Kindle books on Amazon and connect with him on LinkedIn. You can contact him here if you want his help to publish and promote your books on Amazon or Smashwords.

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