How to Write and Publish Your Book #14

Book Marketing #3

Blogging

You're a writer, so what better way to get the word out about your book than to write about it? Basically, a blog is a way of writing and publishing short articles online and you control the content. Wordpress is a great platform for setting up a blog, either within your author/book website or as a standalone blog site. Write about what you know, share your articles with others, invite guest bloggers, reviews of your book, and link your blog to other sites and blogs.  Maintaining a blog takes some effort, but is a great (and free) way to market your work and get involved with the online writing community.

Articles

Writing articles and posting them online will help lift your profile and build your brand. Articles are usually associated with non-fiction books, but even a novel may have a central theme. If you write a detective story set in 19th century London or the modern day outback of Australia, no doubt you will do a fair bit of research to make sure your story is accurate. Why not use your research to also write articles? These articles will be directly relevant to your story and can be posted on your website or on your blog (make sure to include keywords). There are also websites that offer free space to display your articles. If you post to such sites, be certain that at the bottom of each article you include your author details, a copyright symbol, and a link to your website. These kinds of postings can drive traffic to your website and produce the quality links that support strong SEO.

Forums

Forums are another way for an author to get involved with the writing community. There are literally thousands of forums on the net covering just about every topic. Explore, find the groups that interest you, and join up. Then, get involved in discussions, but be respectful and professional at all times. Don't go in big-noting yourself, and don't be baited by group members who express views that differ to your own. Some forum group members can be outspoken and can even turn vicious when challenged. In my experience, such people are usually wannabe writers with nothing better to do than sit on the net all day, searching for conflicts! They are easily spotted and best avoided you want your forum experiences to enrich your contacts, your writing, and ultimately, your brand.

Book reviews

Book buyers read book reviews - that's a fact. With that in mind, it is important to get as many positive reviews as you can. One way to do this is to research reviewers for your book and send a polite query letter to each one. This letter should briefly tell the reviewer about you and your book. Keep it short and sweet or it won't get read.

Keep a few things in mind when looking for reviews:

• Don't expect your book review to appear in the major newspapers. Reviewers are sent hundreds of books each month and will choose the ones that appeal to them - usually books written by well-known authors or celebrities. Look for smaller publications and online sites.
• Don't expect all your reviews to be positive. Someone out there is going to dislike your book, and they will tell you so in their review. Don't forget you are asking for honest opinions.
• Don't put out a book that isn't ready to be published. This is vital! Make sure your book is professionally edited and filled with well-researched, accurate facts; a reviewer will cane you for too many typos, sloppy prose or inaccurate facts.

Goodreads

This free site offers space where you can display your book and seek reviews. Join up with their Author Program and get your book in front of your target audience and readers. They also offer the option to create an author bio page. 

Amazon

Whether you have your book for sale via the online POD/ebook distribution channels or have your own Amazon account, readers can post reviews of your book on your Amazon book page. Once again, not all reviews will be positive. So if someone just didn't like your book, they can vent their feelings by posting a negative review on Amazon.  Their comments will remain for all the world to see and cannot be removed.

Google Books

Google is attempting to digitize and catalogue every book and make them freely available online. If your book is available via the Publicious POD/ebook distribution channels, it will be listed automatically with Google Books.

Join me next time for Book Marketing #3 when we'll be discussing Social Media Networking.

Write on Andy