18 Ways to Promote Your Book

You have written a book, and it is a darn good one, but it will just sit on the shelf or be buried online unless a reader knows about it. Here are a few low cost ways, that you as the author, can help the publisher get your book noticed. 

1. Have people sign up to receive emails, a newsletter, or get a free download when they come to your author website. Having them take a survey or asking them to leave a comment will also work to make a connection. You can then provide regular updates and notify them of new releases.

2. Place your profile and picture on Amazon Central, BookBub.com, GoodReads, and NetGalley, or as many of these as is practical. If you can not do them all, concentrate on Amazon Central and GoodReads.

3. Schedule a book launch party with the understanding that you will spend more in venue and snacks than you will probably make at the launch. The exposure you get from a book launch will encourage future sales.

4. Do a webinar or a Facebook live video to interact with others and sell yourself. Don’t sell your book on your webinar or video. Instead, provide valuable content, and people will want to learn more about your book.  

5. Add your book title to your email signature. Put it on your business card, if there’s room. Add it to your social media profiles.  Do a thumbnail of your latest book at make that you social media picture for a while.

6. Sign up to speak at civic organizations who are looking for lunch or meeting speakers. Again, don't go there intending to do a sales pitch. Keep your talk interesting and have visuals if you can. You do want to have at least one book on display on a nice stand, with one or two next to it. You can bring others with you to sell and keep them out of sight in the event someone asks for a book. 

7. Enter writing competitions or apply for book awards, but be careful of the cost and reputation. Not all of them are legitimate, and some are costly with very little chance of winning. 

8. Get a booth at author or book events if the cost is not too high. Look at past attendees to see if you can anticipate a return on your investment or you can team up with another author to share costs.

9. Give a few free copies of your book to appropriate clubs or organizations that have a tie to your subject matter.

10. Add social media share buttons to your website and make sure your fans have a way of sharing your social media posts. It is usually best to have an author page separate from your personal social media account.

11. Contact your local paper and see if they are interested in doing a story on you, your book or whatever makes your story unique.

12. If you are an expert at something, HARO is a site where journalists seek out relevant experts to interview for stories.

13. Create some swag themed to go with your book to sell at shows, on your website, or to give away free with a book purchase. Here again look at the cost. Some swag can be very pricey. 

​14. Contact book clubs and offer to do a video chat or skype or personal visit to their group.

15. Team up with others whose work or business complements your book. Like doing a book signing at a yarn shop if your book is a cozy mystery about yarn crafting. 

16. Offer a price reduction for those who buy your book directly from you.  

17. Create a blog that covers things your readers might be interested in. Try to stay focused o that theme and update it regularly with fresh content.

18. Do not be afraid to ask others to spread the word if they enjoyed your book.