Selling Books

Your Guide to Writing, Publishing and Marketing Books and Ebooks

  • Blog
  • Free Newsletter
You are here: Home / Book Publicity / Self PR for the Self-Published Crowd

Self PR for the Self-Published Crowd

September 26, 2013 by Mickie Kennedy

self-publicityYou’ve just written a sure to be award winning book on the history of ducks in television. Hundreds of copies of it sit on your desk and you’ve sold one to your mom, one to your best friend, and another to your dog. How in the world do you get word out about your epic tome?

Internet Word of Mouth

The first thing to do, if you haven’t already, is set up a Facebook and Twitter account for yourself and your book. On Facebook you can also set up a fan page for the book itself and recommend it to your friends and others. On Twitter, converse with other authors and get some buzz going about your book.

Also, send a few of those copies to book review websites. If you have a book in a specific market, like a book on ducks in television, send some of your books to sites that specialize in that area. Even sites that don’t necessarily review books might make an exception since it’s in their specialty.

Bookstores

Set up a book reading and signing at your local bookstores. Sometimes the larger chains like Barnes & Noble do this as well, but it’s best to start locally as they will be more receptive to your independent release. At the reading, make sure to have copies of the book available for folks to buy. And stay late to sign and talk with anyone that came! The long hours will be worth it.

These same bookstores might also be interested in carrying your book. Talk to the manager and they might buy a handful of your books for purchase. If people like it, they’ll buy more, which is easy word of mouth in your community.

Print Ads

Spend the money to put an ad in newspapers and/or magazines. Again, since your book is a specialized market, organize your campaign around that. Look for duck or television magazines to promote the book in. If it has a community flavor, try local newspapers or a trade magazine.

Also, try sending these places copies of your book for review.

Pound the Pavement

Get out there and mix it up! Go to writer meetings and shows. Send out business cards or postcards. See if there’s any room at the annual Duck & TV Convention and get a booth. Do whatever it takes to show people you mean business when it comes to your book!

One note: if you’re publishing through a company like Lulu.com, then for a price you can sign up for their promotional packages. If you’re really unsure about your skills, then it’s worth the money; but if you have a solid plan and PR background, you more than likely will not need it.

How have you successfully gotten the word out as a self-published author?

Mickie Kennedy is the founder and president of eReleases, the online leader in affordable PR distribution since 1998. Download the free whitepaper Beginner’s Guide to Writing Powerful Press Releases, a must-read for the PR professional. Follow eReleases on Google+, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.

Related Posts :

Your Book Promotion Cheat Sheet
Baseball and Book Marketing
Press Releases and the Search Engines
Is the Press Release Dead?

Filed Under: Book Publicity Tagged With: book promotion, PR, publicity

Sell More Books!

FREE! Sign up Cathy Stucker's Selling Books newsletter. You will get useful tips and techniques for writing, publishing and selling books, plus member-only exclusives such as free webinars.

BONUS! Get instant access to Cathy's audio program on how to Build an Effective Author Platform!

I respect your privacy & will NEVER sell, rent or share your email address. More than a policy, it's my Privacy Pledge.

Recent Articles

  • Save the Cat! Writes for TV
  • Summarize Your Book and Increase Your Book Sales
  • Why Structure Is a Friend, Not a Formula
  • Save the Cat Story Cards
  • Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet
  • Stop Procrastinating, Start Writing
  • FAQs About Children’s Book Illustrations
  • 5 Posts Every Author Should Write on their Website
  • Reducing Everyday Distractions So You Can Get More Writing Done
  • E.S.Danon – Moon in Bastet

Pages

Contact
Contribute Articles
Contributing Authors
Free Newsletter to Help You Sell More Books
Get Interviewed
Publishing Resources
Subscribe/RSS
Privacy/Disclosure Policies

Categories

Agents Amazon.com Article Marketing Author Interviews Author Platform Blogging Book Business Book Design Book Marketing Book Proposals Book Publicity Book Publishing Book Reviews Book Signings Bookstore Book Titles Book Tours Cathy's Blog Children's Books Content Marketing Copyright Copy Writing Ebooks Editing Fiction Writing Freelance Writing Get Published Ghostwriters Internet Marketing Marketing Fiction Motivation Networking Non-Fiction Writing Oprah Winfrey POD Publishing Public Speaking Research Resources for Writers Running Your Publishing Company Self Publishing Social Media Special Sales Video Marketing Writers Block Writing

Return to top of page

Copyright © 2006 - 2022 Cathy Stucker · All Rights Reserved

Log in to your account