Last post we discussed basic ways to get started with book promotion using social media. Today, let’s wade into the promotion/marketing sea a little deeper. I’m going to show you three more easy ways to tackle that book promotion beast.

Writing Tip for Today: After an author becomes comfortable on social media, what are some other techniques to promote a book?

The One Hundred Mile Radius

 Since I was (am) a writer with very limited budget, I asked myself what I could do to promote my books. I’m sure I didn’t invent the concept, but what I came up with is the idea of developing face-to-face opportunities (signings, speaking gigs, book clubs etc) within a day trip’s distance. For me a day trip is only about two hours one-way. By the time I’ve driven to a venue, done my gig and traveled back home, it’s at least 5-6 hours of a day. So for instance, if your book is about a certain topic, set in a specific region or published by a denomination, you might consider “cold-calling” places you think might welcome a free appearance, speech or other event by a published author (you!). For me, that means emailing those who are at the limit of the “two-hour” (100 miles by car) radius, then following up with a phone call. I sometimes make up a press release to send along too. Notice I said FREE.  At first it’s going to cost you to cultivate these opportunities, although some may give you a free lunch, a mileage stipend or other honorarium. Later, you may be able to pull down fees. Just don’t start out saying you demand to be paid.

Get a Newsletter. 

I’m still working on this one myself! But at a recent writing conference, I heard again and again about how getting people to sign up for your newsletter is vital to becoming known as an author. You’ll likely need to investigate and employ an email service such as Constant Contact, Mail Chimp or others in order to distribute your monthly newsletter. But the services have a pretty wide range of options to fit all sorts of budgets and followings. By creating a newsletter, you are branding yourself whether you know it or not. As mailings go, e-newsletters are fairly cheap. If you are afraid or don’t want to design your newsletter, there are pros for that too. My Emma is one I know of.

Do a Fundraiser.

By now you know I successfully ran a fundraiser for the Lillian Vallely Indian School in Blackfoot, Idaho using indiegogo.com What I want to stress here is that I was absolutely clueless going in. Never done anything like it. But it wasn’t rocket science and I was pretty good at figuring things out. These sites WANT you to succeed! Kickstarter is perhaps more well-known than indiegogo, but I chose the latter because they offered reduced fees for nonprofits (the school is a certified nonprofit) and they also have an option to keep the money raised (for a higher admin fee) if your campaign falls short of your goal. With Kickstarter, it all goes away should your campaign not meet the stated goal. With either site, you are mainly pushing buttons. They have excellent tutorials and walk you through each phase. Just think–you could help spread awareness of your book AND help a worthy cause!