There are many types of activities involved in book promotion and they require varying degrees of energy, time, planning and preparation. That’s why I maintain that you’ll be a more successful book promoter if you can learn to pace yourself while pursuing these activities. Here are some ideas:
List the initial activities that you want to pursue—those most conducive to your book and your audience. For a historical novel set in Connecticut, your primary list may include: send press releases to Connecticut newspapers, historical societies and bookstores; contact book clubs nationally; request book reviews by all major reviewers; solicit friends and colleagues to post reviews at Amazon; submit stories/excerpts to historical magazines and websites; become guest blogger or arrange for interviews at key blog sites; set up presentations at local venues; if you do not live in the locale where the story is set, plan a trip to that state and schedule book signings, speaking engagements, visits to bookstores that are not carrying your book and so forth.
If you’re promoting a young adult fantasy, your list might include, pursue appropriate book review sites; present programs to middle school students; submit stories to appropriate magazines and mention your book in the bio; do a blog tour and set up some games and other things of interest to young people visiting your website.
For a nonfiction book featuring natural beauty secrets, you may want to, post blogs daily at your own blog site and lead visitors to your blog by using Twitter and Facebook; comment at other pertinent blog sites often; plan presentations at many venues where your audience congregates; arrange for your book to be recommended reading at sites related to beauty products, health, etc; write articles for a wide variety of magazines and research appropriate trade shows and plan to attend with your book.
While continuing with these activities, you’ll also eventually add such things as, participating in book festivals (I recommend signing up for all local festivals and traveling to some of the major ones); piggyback marketing; speaking at appropriate conferences across the U.S.; creating spin-offs to entice more sales and so forth.
Prioritize activities, but also intermingle them. You can be sending out review copies and press kits while scheduling speaking engagements and keeping up your daily blog. You can seek guest blogger opportunities while offering excerpts from your book to key publications. You might plan a home party where guests will be encouraged to join you in acting out scenes from your book while running a contest to bring more awareness to your book.
That’s nearly two dozen book promotion ideas. All of these ideas and around 225 more are in my new book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. Available now at Amazon in print and Kindle http://amzn.to/oe56Ia. Can also be ordered through any bookstore or IndieBound or B&N.com. Or purchase it from the author’s website: http://www.matilijapress.com/PromoteYourBook.html
By the way, check out my guest post at Marcie Hill’s Marcie Writes blog this morning. http://www.marciewrites.wordpress.com October 18, 2011.