5 Unique Ways to Market Your Self-Published Book

One of the biggest deterrents to self-publishing is that the author must be not only a creator but a marketer too. There is no experienced book publisher behind the author promoting their work to the world. Instead, that responsibility falls onto the creator.

Most self-publishing authors have considered using various ad services for their self-published books, but there are many other creative ways to market. While ads are a valuable tool, they aren’t the only hammer in the proverbial toolbox. Below are five other marketing ideas perfect for self-publishing authors.

1. Sponsor a Video on Social Media

Content creation sites such as YouTube and TikTok offer viewers entertainment and creators the opportunity to earn money in various ways. One of those ways is sponsored content. If an author is writing non-fiction, they should find content creators on their topic and send them a message asking if they would promote their book in a video for a fee. Fiction authors can reach out to those in the reading community and ask if they will sponsor a video. These videos are not book reviews but instead tie into the genre or featured tropes of the fictional book. For instance, a romance writer might sponsor a video about what makes a great love interest. The content creator will talk about what they love in a romance and then introduce the sponsored book to their audience.A self-published author promoting self-publishing a book giving a presentation

2. Create a Meet and Greet

Authors can ask their local libraries, independent bookstores, or coffee shops if they will host an author meet and greet event. This may include a book signing and/or a book reading.

This gives the author a chance to get their name out to the local population of readers and may open doors to get their books onto library and shop shelves. In addition, many independent books stores will agree to sell books on consignment if they believe there are enough interested local readers.

Authors don’t have to limit their meet and greet opportunities to local areas either. When an author plans a vacation, it doesn’t hurt to reach out to venues near their destination.

3. Be a Speaker at a Local Organization

Non-fiction authors can reach out to local organizations related to their topic and ask if they can be a guest speaker. Authors are considered experts on the topics they write about, and organizations often appreciate learning more about the subject they already love. In addition, the author might make a few sales to members, and the members might tell other friends with similar interests about the author’s presentation. This creates wonderful marketing opportunities through word of mouth.

4. Share Book Related Photos on Social Media

There are reader communities on almost every social media platform. Authors can find fun ways to share their custom book covers on social media platforms such as Instagram. This could be a post of the book chilling with a morning cup of coffee or a book visiting Niagara Falls.  Fun and enticing pictures of a book create a cover and name recognition, making readers more likely to try that book when they come across it online or in stores.

If the book has a unique and enticing cover, seeing it might be enough to convince a book lover who comes across the image to buy the book.

Images don’t even have to be of the books themselves. Images can be taken of something representative of the book, and the title and the purchase link to the book can be shared in the image description. People love sharing intriguing images with their friends and family. The image might even go viral, introducing a wide readership to the featured book.

5. Create Your Own Content on Social Media

Authors can start groups online related to the topic of their book. They can talk about their love of books or their writing process while creating content to share. They can live-stream book readings or other content they think their group members will love through various social media platforms.

Readers love having the opportunity to interact with their favorite authors, and they also prefer buying books from people they like. Becoming a content creator won’t only get an author’s name out, but it will also help them establish a relationship with their core-reader community. When authors establish a good relationship with their readers, those readers will line up to pre-order the author’s next book. Relationship building is one of the most useful marketing tools that an author can use to create a long-standing readership. As long as the author delivers quality content, they will create loyalty amongst their social media community.

There are many ways to market a book. A little creativity is all an author needs to share their book with the world and get readers hungry for their content.

But, for that content to be marketable it must be more than a neatly typed manuscript at the bottom of a draw. A marketable book needs to be published.

If you are a self-publishing author, InstantPublisher can help you with your book printing needs. They offer a wide range of books publishing services, including custom book covers, interior book design, and digital printing services. Our expert staff is available to assist you at 1 800 259 2592. So call today, fill out our online contact form, or send an email to questions@instantpublisher.com. We look forward to helping bring your dream book to life.

5 Qualities That the Best Self-Publishing Book Companies Have in Common

Self-publishing is a highly competitive business with numerous book printing services competing for your hard-earned dollars. As a result, it is in your best interest to do research to discover how to identify a high-quality self-publishing company to partner with to help make your writing dreams come true.

1 – Fast, Reliable Service

The best self-publishing companies can deliver high-quality books within a reasonable timeframe. They have the equipment and capability to deliver your books to meet critical dates such as providing them for a holiday book fair, a presentation or conference, or any other time-critical event. These companies have solid processes in place to anticipate possible issues and mitigate them before they even occur.

High-quality books printed by a great self-publishing company

2 – Friendly & Knowledgeable Support

Self-publishing your own book is a large investment, and you will undoubtedly have lots of questions. An excellent self-publishing book company will take all of the time necessary to answer all of your questions, provide you resources to assist you with the publishing process, and explain the process each and every step of the way.

3 – Fair and Affordable Pricing

An excellent self-publishing book company is upfront with the pricing on their printing services, clearly stating what you get for the price. These companies are always honest with you and have a standard pricing system that they use for every order. In fact, they may even have a book pricing calculator already on their site. Superior self-publishing book companies may even offer price matching for similar jobs from other publishing companies.

4 – High-Quality Printed Products

A superior self-publishing book company delivers top-notch printed output including excellent bindings, clear, crisp printing, and a quality that is equal to that of any book printed by “traditional” publishers. If there are problems with the final product, the book printer will fix it.

5 – Numerous Publication Services and Options Available

An excellent self-publishing book company not only prints the books, but offers supplemental services such as custom book covers, book manuscript formatting, and services related to marketing the book, and much more. These services are not mandatory in order for the book to be printed and are priced at reasonable rates.

The book printer offers many different page sizes, binding options, color or black and white typesetting, and other customizations in order to make sure that the finished product meets the author’s specific requests.

InstantPublisher Prints World-Class Self-Published Books

InstantPublisher is a full-service self-publishing book printer that provides a variety of printing services to deliver high-quality self-published books. Get more information about these services by calling 1-800-259-2592, filling out our online contact form, or sending an email to questions@instantpublisher.com.