Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Book Promotion And Publicity - Marketing Your Book

By Annie M. Jennings

So, you have completed and published your first book. What do you do now? Well, it is time to show you how book promotion and publicity market your book. Although this may appear to be a daunting task, there are numerous opportunities for you to take this most important step.

Hopefully, you chose a topic that has mass appeal. If you did, then there are numerous methods to employ to get you the exposure you need to start selling books. You will need to use the same creativity that was used in composing your book, to market it and to get publicity, so people can find it. Your most effective method will be to do some guerrilla marketing and take it to the streets, yourself. This may sound a little scary, but if done correctly, you will be amazed at the results.

Depending on the size of the closest major city, you can find multiple chances to put your composition out to the public. Hopefully, some of these ideas will help you with your launch. However, know this. Although you have written what you hope will be a well received piece of literature, how you market the book and yourself will go a long way in establishing your success.

Depending on the topic, there will likely be a local radio station that covers a similar topic. They are always looking for interesting guests and topics that may make their listeners more interested. Listen to your local stations and find someone that is normally discussing a topic at least somewhat similar to what you written. Give them a call or send them an email with a biography of you and the book. You will likely hear back from them and you may be on your way. If the topic is more mainstream, use the same process to your local television stations. Again, with the plethora of local programming, you may be able to get a slot on a local morning show or again, a show discussing similar topics.

If you live in a small town, you may need to take a short road trip. Find as many bookstores as you can and contact them. Explain the topic of your publication, why you have written it and how you think it will assist or interest readers. You will likely find several stores that will allow you to promote a book signing event. Most stores are interested in any ways to get customers to come in and with the proper marketing, in this process, you may get to do some live performances, in the form of a discussion group, to explain why they should buy your book. You will need fliers, posters and copies of the book, so get prepared and head out to the shops.

There are so many local radio shows that likely will have a potential slot for you, especially if their show covers any topics discussed in your book. They are easy to contact and are always interested in entertaining guests, as a way to gather more of the listening audience. Every television station and newspaper is looking for great local stories. Contact them, explain the who, what, when, where, why and how's of your composition and you may find yourself sitting on the stage with a local television celebrity.

Most cities have daily or at least weekly Networking meetings. These are gatherings of local business people that are being creative in marketing their companies. At many of these meetings a guest will be chosen to be the featured company, so you may be able to present yourself to a sizable group of people, just by explaining that you have written a book and wish to get it in front of the buying public. In some cases, you may meet someone that has ties to the media and can assist you in getting to the right people to get you some media attention.

Other than the Internet, this type of marketing requires you to be personable, professional and prepared. The quality of your book will be perceived by how you present it to the world. So take as much time as you need to get ready for your next and most important task, because if you do not market your book well, no one will likely buy it and your time and efforts will have been wasted. But, if you can convey the real meanings of the book and the potential impact it will have on people, personal contact will go a long way in getting the exposure that you want.

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