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Marketing
One of the first things that a book receives is an ISBN. This is a number that identifies the book and helps with the marketing and registering of the book. Marketing is very important in book publishing. In order for a book to sell it has to be heard about and advertised.
Options of Marketing
-Hire a publicist for radio/television ads and online advertising
-Book signings at bookstores
-Online using social networks, youtube, and book companies such as Amazon.com
-A website on the author
Marketing to an agent, if choosing that route of publishing is another key part to success. Writing a brief letter to the agent on who the intended audience is and how you plan to market your book can give you a better chance of being selected. It is hard to sell a book if no one has read it or there are no reviews. Donating a few to a local library or school can start an interest and increase sales. The more networking an author does the better chances of selling the book. Joining other writer forums online and doing book signings and other speaking events can help get yourself known. The more people that know about your book the more chances it has of being sold.
Marketing a book when using a publisher needs to start before it is on the shelf for sale. The first 4 months are important for sales. It can determine the life of your book. With self-publishing, the marketing can start out slower and build its way up because you are in charge of it.
A book you will most likely need for marketing is the Literary Market Place. Small publishers don't get much advertisement. Don't spend too much on advertising unless you have a lot of money to begin with. Books are a low cost item compared to something like a car, so you won't make more money by overspending. Use free publicity as long as you can and then start spending money on advertising.
-Book signings at bookstores
-Online using social networks, youtube, and book companies such as Amazon.com
-A website on the author
Marketing to an agent, if choosing that route of publishing is another key part to success. Writing a brief letter to the agent on who the intended audience is and how you plan to market your book can give you a better chance of being selected. It is hard to sell a book if no one has read it or there are no reviews. Donating a few to a local library or school can start an interest and increase sales. The more networking an author does the better chances of selling the book. Joining other writer forums online and doing book signings and other speaking events can help get yourself known. The more people that know about your book the more chances it has of being sold.
Marketing a book when using a publisher needs to start before it is on the shelf for sale. The first 4 months are important for sales. It can determine the life of your book. With self-publishing, the marketing can start out slower and build its way up because you are in charge of it.
A book you will most likely need for marketing is the Literary Market Place. Small publishers don't get much advertisement. Don't spend too much on advertising unless you have a lot of money to begin with. Books are a low cost item compared to something like a car, so you won't make more money by overspending. Use free publicity as long as you can and then start spending money on advertising.
Websites are where most of the advertising money should be spent. Using business cards to help traffic people to your website. One of the least expensive and effective ways to help sell your books are book reviews. It costs less than $5 dollars to mail a promotional package to magazines and newspaper companies. Be sure to send them out early because they can take a few months to be reviewed and published. It is also a good idea to send a free copy to a library system that has many different branches to it. They may buy it and if it is a local library, it will be a good promotional tool as well. Use email as much as possible and emails should be sent out between Tuesday and Thursday due to an overload of junk mail sent out over the weekend and people leaving early for the weekend on Friday.
Marketing is affected by seasons. Books should come out typically in the fall because the holidays are in the near future. Spring is the next season to publish. Avoid the summer time as well as December and early fall. People are busy and on the go in the summer and in the fall are busy preparing for winter and getting kids back in school. In my case, my book takes place in the warm summer time so it is best to publish it during the winter to early spring season because people are stuck inside and want to read about warmer weather and summer activities.
Marketing is affected by seasons. Books should come out typically in the fall because the holidays are in the near future. Spring is the next season to publish. Avoid the summer time as well as December and early fall. People are busy and on the go in the summer and in the fall are busy preparing for winter and getting kids back in school. In my case, my book takes place in the warm summer time so it is best to publish it during the winter to early spring season because people are stuck inside and want to read about warmer weather and summer activities.