15 Book Promotion Ideas to Sell More Books Before 2020

by | Jul 30, 2019 | Book Marketing Basics, Marketing Your eBook

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I’ve pulled together 17 book promotion ideas that are so simple execute, you can definitely count on them to help you sell more books before the end of the year.

The holidays will be here before you know it, and let’s assume even though we’re authors, we don’t want to be solely focused on our book promotion while we’re also decorating the house and wrapping presents.

Planning now, and putting in the work now, will set you up for success through the rest of 2019 and into 2020!

Be consistent with your book promotion ideas:

First and foremost, it’s important that whatever you do, you do consistently. So often indie authors try to do more book marketing than their time and bandwidth allow. Fix this by picking the things you know you can do consistently, and that give you notable return for your effort, and forget the rest. Trust me, you will make greater strides and sell more books if you remain consistent in your efforts.

Aim for smart book pricing:

There are lots of reasons books may not sell, but one of the biggest reasons a book isn’t selling is how it’s priced. Spend some time on Amazon right now and compare your book and its pricing to similar books.

How does yours stack up? Need more information? Check out my article on book pricing in the Resources section.

Refine your social media:

And by refine, I mean figure out what’s working and punt the rest. Seriously. There’s no sense in being everywhere – just be everywhere that matters – that’s smart book marketing. Realistically if you know your market, you’ll know they tend to prefer one platform, not all of them equally, so it makes sense to spend your precious marketing time on the most lucrative one and really focusing your efforts there leading up to the holidays and as a revised plan for next year. Check out some of my additional social media tips in the Resources section.

Refresh older books:

So now that another year has almost passed and your books continue to age, it might not be a bad time to consider refreshing your bookshelf by re-releasing older books, or even breaking older books into smaller ones and creating a new bundle. See which ones should make the cut for early 2020 releases and start working on those now. I wrote a really helpful piece on all the ins and outs of re-releasing that you really need in your arsenal, because nearly every author will need to do this at some point to stay competitive. Again, check out the Resources section.

Get creative with your book promotion ideas:

Now more than ever, we need to get creative, people want a sure thing when they’re buying books as gifts and the more unique your marketing message is – the more you’ll stand out from your competition. One way of doing this is using any and all book tie ins, even if it’s out of the box—locations where your book is set, national or regional media tie ins, etc. One example that I’ve used before is how I used a presidential election to make a romance novel into a bestseller, read about it in the Resource section!

 

 

 

Update your email signature to include a link to your book:

Hint: you can get a free signature on Wisestamp! A book link in every email is a must for any author wanting to gain more attention for this book. While you’re at it, remember to include your website and your standout social media account as well. Good information is helpful, but don’t overwhelm, especially in your signature line. Keep it simple, and make it easy for people to find you and your book.

End of year book promotion ideas include more videos:

Let’s face it, video is big and only going to get bigger. Video also gives you content that is entirely unique – because it’s you! Figure out what you plan to blog about and post on social in the coming months, leading up to the holidays, and then revisit that list and see which ideas you can turn into videos. And don’t worry, 30 seconds is really sufficient, so use that time to announce a discount promotion, a new release, your plans for next year, even share your favorite holiday traditions or give them a lovely video of your decorated living room as Christmas gets closer. Remember, video is next level when it comes to converting casual readers to fans that come back and buy again. The Resources section has some book promotion ideas for using video to sell more books!

Lower-priced books:

In a sea of options, it’s a good idea to give new readers inexpensive choices so they can get to know you. I suggest creating some (quality) $.99 books that you can sell right alongside your regularly priced ones. This is also a great strategy for the first book in the series – consider making it free now, before the holidays, to push people to buying more books in the series before the end of the year.

Excerpt your book on Wattpad:

This is a great place to build readership and serialize your book to readers. Excerpting a chapter at a time is a great way to bring readers into your story. You can also use images and share these on Instagram, which is a fantastic tie-in!

What’s in your back matter:

I often suggest that authors include a letter in the back of their books. This is a wildly effective marketing tactic and I’m actually surprised more people aren’t doing it. If you haven’t jumped on this book marketing strategy, now is the time.

You only need to do this with your eBook, since live links are most effective in an electronic format, although you can also include one with your print book, too.

So what would the live link lead to? Well it could be to your website, a bonus content you are offering, or you might invite readers to sign up for your newsletter and ask for an honest review on Amazon.

Give away portions of your book: 

Or your entire book (for a limited time) via BookFunnel. If you aren’t keen on running ads (or aren’t sure how) you can still pop book excerpts, or your permafree title up on Bookfunnel and use it to build more readers and grow your fan base.

Don’t chase shiny objects:

This isn’t so much a book marketing action item as it is a non-action. Throughout the year lots of new stuff pops up, new social media sites, new places for authors to promote and if you’re anything like me – it’s often hard to resist these shiny new opportunities.

The thing is, you should be very stingy about which book promotion ideas can take your time—there’s only so much of it and if you keep chasing new ideas and new shiny objects, it will prevent you from doing the real work that will help you sell books. This doesn’t mean you can’t try new things to help sell more books, just be cautious of getting pulled into too many directions.

Network with other authors:

This is always, always a solid book promotion idea. Join online groups, go to writer events, or join local author groups. Networking with other, similar authors is not just good business, but can help you brainstorm new ideas. Plus, you’ll get a chance to see what others are doing that’s working (and what’s not working), and most likely expand your knowledge!

Do a talk at your local library:

We often talk about bookstore events and while those are great, libraries are often big, missed opportunities. Speaking at your local library will help you connect with really serious readers – because we all know that libraries pull in lots and lots of new readers every month.

Do an eBook promotion:

Most authors don’t do enough of these. Now I don’t mean that you need to do freebies all the time, you can also just discount a book – even $1 off can make a huge difference.

Look over these ideas and create a road map—and possibly even a book marketing calendar to plan which book promotion ideas you can take advantage of to sell more books, what you’ll need to do to accomplish each task, and when each step should happen.

Resources and Free Downloads:

Simple tips for creating excellent video content

Creative, timely tie-ins to sell more books

How to revise and re-release a book to revive interest and sales

Smart social media book promotion ideas

Smart book pricing tips for more sales

5 Comments

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