By preparing in advance to promote your book in the New Year, you’ll increase your chances of being noticed and setting yourself a part from the sea of authors.
Here are 5 tips to follow to start promoting your book in the New Year:
1) Stop putting off promotion!
So you wrote your book, spent time and money having it edited, formatted, published and printed, and now you have a couple thousand books sitting in boxes in your spare bedroom, or see your print-on-demand book languishing unnoticed on Amazon? What are you waiting for? Your inner circle of friends, family members and coworkers can only take you so far. Make a book publicity resolution to yourself for 2012…and stick to it! Don’t let all of your time, effort and money go to waste. If no one knows your book exists, no one can enjoy the serious thought you poured into your project.
2) Highlight the ‘New Year’s Resolution’ angle of your story
Your book doesn’t need to have a weight loss slant or a goal-setting lesson to tie-in to resolution season. Dig deep into the content of your book and identify the main themes. Does your book offer tips on parenting? Spin a pitch that highlights how your book will help families start the New Year off on the right foot. Did you write a non-fiction book about the consequences of misusing social networks? Push the book as a ‘must have’ guide to starting the year off with a clean ‘cyber conscious.’ Even if your book is an entertaining, feel-good fiction, it can be a ‘must read’ book for 2012.
3) Pinpoint your target market…and all the fringe audiences, too!
While you may think your book is a good fit for ‘everyone,’ the truth is there are probably only a handful of target markets you should focus on initially. By establishing your core target markets, you can work to build initial reader interest with those who will relate most to your book. Moving forward, you can then use the interest from your main audience to attract interest from your fringe markets. For instance, if you’ve written an informative book about the problems of the public education system, you could first start by targeting educators, administers and public officials. Thereafter, you could tailor your approach to reach parents and legislatures. By branching out from your core market, you’ll have leverage when working to attract attention from a new group.
4) Identify calendar events that tie-in to your book and your message
When considering a start date for your campaign, think ahead – sometimes months ahead – to any holidays, causes, awareness months or memorial days that provide a strong news tie for your book. You or your publicist will be able to promote the book in conjunction with the event, giving you a stronger platform upon which to build publicity.
5) Join your local writer’s association
No more excuses. If you haven’t already attempted to tap into your author community, make 2012 the year you commit. By meeting regularly with other authors, you’ll learn publicity and review tips that are working for others, forge book industry connections that you might not find on your own and partake in the overwhelming support that authors have for one another.
Corinne Liccketto is the Sales & Marketing Manager at Smith Publicity, Inc. Beginning in 1997, Smith Publicity is one of the world’s leading promotional firms, specializing in book publicity. Fueled by a passion for making good things happen for clients, the company has worked with over 900 individuals and companies–from authors and entrepreneurs to publicly-held companies and businesses representing a wide range of industries. The Smith Publicity reach is international with offices in New Jersey, New York City, Los Angeles, and London. For more information about Smith Publicity, Inc., please visit www.smithpublicity.com.
Great tips, especially the New Years angle, since Goodbye Emily will be released in January.