by Dorian Martin

Whether you are a new writer on the block or someone who has decided to chart their own course after several publisher-backed book launches, self-published work can be both exciting and scary at the same time. While you do enjoy more freedom and creative decision-making, you will also lack the higher budget and networking opportunities provided by a large publishing agency.

That being said, you can still successfully market, launch and monetize your written work without a middleman with an adequate pre-launch advertisement campaign. With that, let’s take a look at several winning marketing tips for self-publishers which will help you spread the word and interest in your literary work in order to reach as many readers as possible.

Write a Brief Outline

While you are the author of your own work, the people who will consider buying and reading your book will most likely know very little about its contents. In order to amend that, you should create a small paragraph or two which will briefly outline your book’s content or plot, depending on its genre and message. This will not only help you attract a greater reader base to your book but also challenge you as an author to describe your work in as few sentences as possible.

Make a Preview Available

One of the best ways to market your literary work as a self-publisher is to make a preview available to general audiences. Free previews in the form of a small, non-spoiler chapter can showcase not only your writing style but also the general premise and content of the book to those unfamiliar with your work. Previews can be published on several communication channels such as social media and your own website, with an end-note which can consist of an Amazon affiliate link or a direct book order form from a partner print agency.

Create a Social Media Presence

Given the global nature of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, marketing your book via these channels is of utmost importance. To get started, all you have to do is create dedicated pages under your pen name and publish updates about your writing progress, future literary career plans, tips for other writers, etc.

Jennifer Brook, Head of Content Writing at Supreme Dissertations spoke on the matter recently: “Whether you market your work locally or globally, social media will allow your followers to share the content with their social circles unlike any other medium. In addition, you can easily engage your followers and chat about your product, their feedback about your work and other topics related to your continued development.”

Hype up a Release Date

With so many books, book series and literary materials available to readers across the globe on a daily basis, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd without creating hype. Hyping up a proverbial release date for your book with small plot snippets, calls to action for your readers, or even previews of illustrations or other visual content within your book can work wonders in terms of digital marketing. Once you start building hype toward a particular release date, you can add other activities to your marketing campaign, such as book signings, public readings and other types of public events with yours truly.

Blog about your Writing Process

When it comes to marketing your literary work to new readers, blogging about your writing process is one of the best ways to do so. You can set up a simple WordPress blog under your pen name and start writing articles and posts about the way you write, your thoughts on contemporary literature, writing tips and other useful content. Dispersed within these can be ads, messages and promotional materials about your upcoming book releases, as well as affiliate links to digital storefronts where said books can be obtained.

Reach out to your Mailing List

Resorting to email marketing is a great way to raise interest in your self-published work regardless of whether or not it’s your first outing. Reaching out to potential readers via email will allow you to control your marketing message and adapt to constant readers more easily than by using public advertisement channels such as social media. When it comes to tools to do so, a combination of writing platforms such as Best Essay Education, Evernote and Grab My Essay, in addition to a mailing platform such as Mail Chimp can do wonders for your self-publishing success.

Organize a Meet-and-Greet

Lastly, a great way to create interest in your self-published work is to resort to public events via your local book stores, libraries and coffee shops. Author meet-and-greet events, marketed via social media and personal website prior to their happening, are a great way for you to gain loyal followers, ambassadors and supporters of your practice as a writer. Most importantly, these events cost nothing in terms of resources apart from your own time and willingness to interact with interested readers, opening doors for a variety of activities such as reading sessions, signings and book discussions among others.

In Conclusion

Working with publishing agencies may appear as a path of least resistance at first glance. However, doing so will rob you of creative integrity and a percentage of your earnings, not to mention the legal obligations per your contract with any given publisher. Focus on creating a book you can be passionate and proud of before jumping into self-publishing and marketing waters – with a solid baseline, finding the right audience for your writing will only be a matter of “how”, not “if”.

Image source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/book-chapter-six-5834/

Dorian Martin is a blogger and novel writer. Currently, he works as an editor at Studicus and IsAccurate. His biggest passions are jazz, baseball, and medieval art.