10 Easy Book Marketing Tips

Marketing your book doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Chances are, you already have everything you need to share your book is for purchase. Whether you’re a novice book marketer or are looking for a few quick wins to bring new life to your book marketing plan, here are 10 ways you can easily market your book for little to no money:

1. Fill out your Amazon author page.

This helps potential readers learn a bit more about you and makes the Amazon shopping experience more personal. There is no cost to this type of promotion.

2. Ask friends to leave a review on Amazon for your book.

Friends are a great way to share your book in general, but having them leave glowing reviews for your book on Amazon helps boost your chances of more sales in the future. Online buyers rely heavily on reviews for everything from appliances to books, so get some reviews rolling in. All you have to do is call or text your friends asking them to leave a review!

3. Share a post about your book on social media.

While you don’t want to inundate your social media following with your book in every post you make, adding a cute photo of your book every now and then helps remind people of your book. Take some time out of your day and take a few different photos of your book with various props. This way so you’ll have a backlog of photos you can post every few weeks or so. If you aren’t feeling creative when it comes to styling your book photos, hop over to Pinterest for some inspiration. There is no cost to this promotion.

4. Send a copy of your book and sell sheet to bookstores in your area.

Most areas still have at least one locally owned bookstore. So, take some time to send (or hand-deliver) your book and a sell sheet to local bookstores. All this will cost you is a copy of your book and postage (or some gas if you hand-deliver).

5. Identify 2 to 5 authors in your genre and ask them to run a combined book giveaway.

If you’ve been on Instagram lately, you’ve most likely seen some type of loop giveaway where you have to follow all the accounts shown to be entered into the giveaway. You can do the same thing by joining forces with a few other published authors and then the winner gets a copy of a book from each author! This is great for social media exposure and all it costs is a copy of your book and shipping.

6. Write a post for your blog.

If you have an author website, regularly posting articles to your blog helps increase traffic which can lead to more book sales. This marketing tip will only cost you time.

7. Attend a virtual event in your local writing community.

Networking is a great way to gain exposure for yourself as an author, as well as your book. Take time to invest in your local writing community to help spread the word about your book.

8. Mention your book to the next three people you meet.

The more you practice finding a genuine way to introduce your book into a conversation, the more comfortable you’ll become with talking about your book. Make an effort to authentically mention your book to the next three people you meet. You’ll find people are naturally curious about authors and their books, which can lead to a book sale. This type of promotion is free.

9. Research popular and relevant hashtags and use them in your social media posts.

If you add a post to Twitter or Instagram without hashtags, chances are not many people will see it. Take time to research popular hashtags that relate to your book, reading, and some of your hobbies. Then, attach the appropriate hashtags to increase post impressions–it’s free and easy.

10. Set up a mailing list on your website.

Don’t underestimate the power of having an email sign-up for your website. Having an email mailing list these days is priceless because those who sign up to receive emails will be genuinely interested in what you have to offer. If you can teach yourself how to set up an email campaign, this will be a free or very low-cost form of promotion.

Need help marketing your book? Call one of our marketing consultants at 1-866-381-2665 to learn more about the book marketing services we offer!