Get Creative to Get More Sales
Sometimes you need to think out of the box to generate buzz for your book in a crowded market. So start focusing on what everyone else is not doing, or at least what few people are doing, to promote their books.
What you’re aiming for is something that’s innovative, different, and bound to generate attention. Not something that’s so over the top it generates you another kind of attention — the negative kind.
To get you started, check out Maria Veloso’s site promoting her novel Midwinter Turns to Spring. Maria is also a songwriter and created a music soundtrack to accompany her novel. This clever promotional tactic has generated press because it was both unique and appropriate to what she was promoting.
What Are Others Saying About You and Your Book?
All authors want to know when other sites, blogs, or online stores mention them or their book. Keeping up with all your latest mentions can be time-consuming, however. To make this task easier, and automated, try Google Alerts. Set up an alert for a specific name or phrase and you’ll receive email notification when it appears on the web or in Google news. You can receive your alerts daily, weekly, or as they occur.
Currently I have several Google alerts set up, one for my name and one for each of my most recent books. Although some of the alerts are rather routine, I’ve found sites mentioning me that I otherwise wouldn’t have discovered so quickly.
A Google alert is also a great idea if you’ve just issued a press release about your book. Create an alert for a phrase in the title or text of your release that should be relatively unique online. This will give you a good idea of how effective your release is in terms of online visibility.
Tags: book marketing, Google alerts, online press releasesRelated Posts
Three Easy Ways to Increase Your Book Sales–Fast (Tip 1)
Do you want to generate more sales and publicity for your book, but can’t afford to wait weeks or months for your efforts to pay off? I’ve created a series of tips just for you.
#1 Comment on High-Traffic Blogs
Find several high-traffic blogs that serve your target audience and add interesting and insightful comments to current postings. To generate results from this technique, you have to do more than say “nice post.” You need to offer some additional information of real value, provide your own meaningful insight into the topic, or provide an alternative view to generate some excitement.
You can state that you’re the author of a related book and include a link back to your site, but avoid direct promotion. In other words, don’t participate in comment spam. This will only damage your reputation, not enhance it. You want to use your comment to provide useful information and illustrate your background as an expert and author.
The right combination of blog, post, and comment will send a stream of interested traffic to your site.
Success Story from Bolivia: Joan Hernandez
This week, a success story and guest post from reader Joan Hernandez in Santa Cruz, Bolivia:
During the past ten years I have written a number of books and booklets in Spanish on education, development and human relations for different projects sponsored by the university for which I work (Nur University, Santa Cruz, Bolivia). Later, some of these materials were incorporated into courses in different faculties, so I had small, periodic sales.
Then last year I decided that I wanted to let a wider audience know about these valuable materials. I started by developing a webpage. The next step was getting people to visit it, and I learned about ezines. So three months ago I started publishing an ezine twice a month. The subscriber list has been growing slowly but steadily, and I really enjoy the positive feedback I get from my subscribers. I also started a blog on which I put the main articles from my ezine.
Although I’m definitely not “swamped” by orders for my materials yet, every month I receive several orders through the webpage, mostly from people who are receiving my ezine.
This week I’m sending out a special promotion for my new 38-page booklet Manejo Financiero Transparente, which is designed to raise the consciousness of local community organizations regarding the importance of honest and transparent financial management and to give them the basic tools they need to do so.
I truly appreciate The Web Savvy Writer, because through it I’m learning about opportunities of which I was completely ignorant; for example, how to put books on Google Search, and even how to submit my webpage to be included in Google.
Now I’m taking the first steps in learning how to better my webpage to make it more “friendly” to search engines, so that hopefully some people may begin to find me that way, and not only through my ezine.
Thank you so much, Patrice, for sharing your knowledge with us.
Have a success story of your own? Feel free to contact me about your own online book promotion success.
Need Free Content for Your Author’s Website/Ezine?
Do you need content for your website or ezine related to writing, publishing, or book promotion? I have a variety of articles on all aspects of online book promotion that are available free of charge. Some are posted on the articles page on my website, but I have many more than aren’t online yet. If you’re looking for content, let me know.
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About the Author
I'm a freelance writer and author specializing in business technology.
