Congratulations!!!! Now that you have published your book, its time to focus on Book Marketing. But be careful that you don’t make simple Book Marketing mistakes that many Authors make.
If you don’t have a sensible Book Marketing plan, selling books becomes a hard work.
I’ve listed 10 Book Marketing mistakes that I see many authors make. A bad Book Marketing plan takes away all the efforts of writing a wonderful book.
Mistake #1: Marketing Your Book to Everyone
Some of my favourite comments from my readers are, “This is exactly what I needed to hear.” or “It feels like you’re reading my mind!”
The reason I am able to connect to my readers is because I know exactly whom I want to connect with.
Many Authors have heard me say this before, and I’ll repeat it: “If you’re marketing your book to everyone, you’re marketing it to no one”.
Specific is terrific. In other words, specifics lead to particular people.
Do you know your niche market? If you don’t know what it is, then you need to identify it and define your target audience. This is key to effective Book Marketing.
Mistake #2: Selling books only on Amazon
New authors think that they need to sell their book only on Amazon. Cars need salespeople to sell them. Real estate needs agents to sell houses.
You can’t sell books only by placing it on a platform and wait for unknown people to buy it.
Plan a strategy that will probably focus on content marketing and author’s branding to attract book buyers.
Mistake #3: Spamming Your Readers
How much attention you pay to all the junk mails you get? If you’re like me, then it automatically goes into shredder. I consider spamming as panic marketing. Bombarding everyone with your book and hoping that it will catch someone’s attention who will want to buy it.
That’s just a downright lousy strategy. In fact to tell you the truth it doesn’t work most of the time.
Mistake #4: Using social media as a Sales Tool only
If you become active on social media only during the release of your book, then you won’t see any interaction with your readers. On social media, people want information, interaction or light entertainment. And not hourly posts of your book cover, and Amazon links with “a please to read my book”.
Use social media promotions strategically as a part of your marketing plan, along with your personable posts that get your readers involved. It’s all about balance!
Mistake #5: Starting Too Late
Marketing is communicating and connecting with people interested in the same things as you are. It’s not just product focused – but it’s people-focused. It takes time to make meaningful connections with people
Ideally marketing should begin the minute you start writing your book. This is the right time to initiate connections with your audience.
But one of the biggest mistakes I see authors make is starting the marketing process too late. They begin just a month or two before their book release, and to effectively market the book, it’s not enough time to set up their audience.
Don’t make that mistake – start now!
Mistake #6: Using Newsletters to Promote Your New Book only
Newsletter is your powerful marketing tool. Your newsletter subscribers are just one step away from buying your book. They are your attentive audience. Make sure that you treat them like gold.
Consistently contacting your newsletter subscribers is incredibly important. They have given you their email address. In doing so, they have said, “Yes! I’m interested! I want to hear more from you!” So, providing great content consistently is vital to make this relationship strong.
Don’t use your newsletter for advertising purposes only. I have heard so many authors say that they use their newsletter only when their book is releasing or about the announcement of their event. Share great content and be consistent, to see great results.
Mistake #7: Not Having a Plan in Place
Releasing a book with no marketing plan or a book launch activity is common. Readers can only buy books that they have heard about.
You don’t need to be a marketing expert. But it would help if you thought about how you will make your book visible over weeks and months.
Mistake #8: Having incomplete data
An effective book marketing ensures that your book is placed at the right place. For example, books which are placed at the front of a bookstore will always sell much better as compared to those kept at the back of the store.
But today, this means at the front of an online store. If you want to get attention, you need to publish your book with precise metadata. This includes categories, keywords, a short book description, ISBN, and title.
Metadata, not persuasion, is how book buyers can find your book – and then buy it.
Mistake #9: Avoid Turnoff words or Phrases
Using certain words online is always a bad idea.
These words include check out my book, buy my book, check out my blog, get my book for free, free for two days only, or give five-star reviews for my book.
These call-to-action words and crucial phrases might work for grocery purchase. But they don’t work for books on social media.
How do you react to these ‘kill’ words? Most often, the honest answer is negative.
Mistake #10: Trying to Do Everything
Doing more doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get more significant results when it comes to marketing. I’ve seen so many authors getting confused and exhausted, because they try to do everything they can think of to market their book. I love authors with ambition who want to do everything possible to get the word out about a book. But in marketing, more often than not, less is more.
I strongly encourage authors to focus on just one or two promotional ideas and do them well. Just do a few things well, and you’ll see a more significant response.
In the end I would like to say that use other people’s experiences and learning to help you understand how to give your book its best chance of success.
Keeping up to date on the industry’s news, constant changes, and trends in online publishing all help you make better decisions.
I know how bad the consequences of not having the structured marketing plan can be. As I have made absolutely all of them over the years.
You can still turn things around! It’s never too late. If you do any of these mistakes, a few quick adjustments will make all the difference in the world.
About the Author
Manika Singh is #1 Amazon Bestselling author and co-author of 4 books (Decoding Fitness, Decoding Intermittent Fasting, Chakra Entrepreneur and 7 Technology Tools for Growth Hacking). She has a Masters Degree in Business Management and have worked with multinational companies like Kingfisher Airlines, Mafoi management Services, iResearch International Services in the Human Resource department. Currently she is CEO of Wings Publication and Founder of Indian Authors Association https://www.facebook.com/groups/indianauthorsassociation. Being a visionary she has created a platform for all the Authors where necessary training can be provided to Write, Publish and Market their books http://www.wingspublication.com