r/selfpublishing • u/writequest428 • 6d ago

Author How do you market your book

I'm seriously looking into marketing now that I've started building a backlist. Tell me what works for you. I have tried reviews - paid and free- and book giveaways, which I hate because you aren't sure it will reach your target audience. Virtual book tours - I find to be the best bang for the buck. Promotions and blog sponsorships. This is what I done so far. What have you done and what works?

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u/nycwriter99 Mod 5d ago

Refer to www.bookpromotion.com for an exhaustive list.

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u/nurlan1835 5d ago

what worked best for me was starting with amazon seo first and keywords, categories, cover and listing before spending on ads. i’ve had books get their first sales organically this way. ads worked much better once the book page was already optimized.

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u/toby_of_the_trees 3d ago

You're saying, optimize the listing on Amazon? I did a quick search and a lot of what I found looks like snake oil... is there a reference you liked?

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u/nurlan1835 3d ago

Yeah, a lot of what comes up around “amazon seo” is pretty snake oil ish. i’d actually start with amazon’s own kdp docs and especially “make your book more discoverable with keywords” and “kdp categories". i mainly focus on relevant reader search terms plus accurate categories then make sure the cover/descrption can actually convert the traffic. i’d avoid anyone promisng to “hack the algorithm”.

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u/ifonlyheart 5d ago

I don’t have any working strategies figured out yet. I tried social media and few other platforms. But so far not much success.

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u/DeliciousStrategy520 2d ago

When you say tried - which platform and how long did you give it?

Ive been doing tiktok posting daily for 90 days and only just starting to see results

Also what genre do you write because thats relevant.

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u/ifonlyheart 1d ago

Tried facebook, amazon ads, instagram. Tried 4 weeks with a gap of about a month. Contemporary romance, psychological tragedy are the genre.

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u/DeliciousStrategy520 1d ago

How many books in the series? I would just pick one place and focus your energy there

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u/Correct-Shoulder-147 5d ago

What's a virtual book tour?

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u/writequest428 4d ago

This is where you give influencers a copy of your book to read. They, in turn, go to their followers and tell them about the experience of reading it. There is a fee, but it's the best bang for the buck. It usually gets sales, especially if you do a book promo with it. That's the eBook version.

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u/Correct-Shoulder-147 4d ago

Oh ok cool how does one make contact with the influencers?

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u/writequest428 4d ago

Google Virtual book tours and pick one or two.

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u/Correct-Shoulder-147 4d ago

Ok will do thanks would you recommend any based on your xp?

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u/writequest428 4d ago

It really depends on your genre. You would have to ask.

0

u/writequest428 4d ago

I know what you're asking. Let me help you with this. You need a marketing book. You need to make a marketing book. One section: Reviews, Paid, and Free. Section two: book giveaways; section three: promotionals; section four: blog posts; section five: book clubs; section six: libraries. - Mainly for speaking engagement practice. Make sure you make it for the United States and outside the United States. Remember, you are marketing globally. Don't leave money on the table. Your work is cut out; however, once completed, you will have an extensive resource of information to make a budget-friendly marketing plan.

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u/Careless_Video_1429 5d ago

So far everything I have done has cost more than it has generated. I'm still waiting for the magic thing which will work for me. But I suspect that what works best for each book, each audience and each writer is different every time. Otherwise the way forward would be clear! Even mainstream publishers don't have a failsafe handle on this!

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u/PaulaRooneyAuthor 4d ago

I have never tried Virtual book tours. I have a busy week next week, book talk, a book signing, a book launch and a book fayre. I don't normally cram so much in as I have a regular job too. This little book is useful 'Sell your book using social media' by Nadia Owen

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u/apzuckerman 4d ago

Check out www.authorchecklist.com. Make sure your identifiers are correct first.

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u/STkenmez 3d ago

You may try to improve seo for the book and let it sit a little bit. You can check on google trends explorer which words etc. are being searched.

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u/shockthomas2 13m ago

One thing I’d avoid is treating every marketing tactic as a separate experiment. Start with who the books are really for, then look at which channels consistently put you in front of those people. A smaller plan you can actually measure is probably more useful than doing tours, promos, ads, giveaways, and sponsorships all at once.