Clever Ways To Market Yourself As An Author

Marketing, for many authors, is the worst part about self-publishing. When you first start writing your book, getting to the end feels like an impossible task, and once you do you feel elated and proud. Then you self-publish and realise if you want anyone more than a few of your friends and relatives to buy your book, this is where the hard work really begins.

In some ways, it’s fantastic to discover that there are a lot of different ways authors can try and market their books. However, if you are not particularly tech savvy, many of these can feel overwhelming, complicated and stressful.

However, without making a real effort you can’t expect to see those sales you deserve - you put all that time and effort into making your book as good as it could be, so don’t deny the world a chance to read it!

Here are some clever ways you can market yourself and your book.

Write a blog or get a newspaper column

The best way for people to discover you is by offering them useful free information that they want to read. Writing and promoting your author blog will help readers discover you. You could also try getting a regular column in your local newspaper (or a larger one!) and connect with a wide range of readers that way.

Teach a class

Offer to share your wisdom by teaching a creative writing class. This could be a one-off or a regular thing. If this sounds like too much time and effort then why not get in touch with local colleges and universities to see if they’d like you to come along and talk to the students instead? Make sure to bring copies of your book when you do.

Hold a reading

Contact your local library, bookstores or creative events venues and see if you can hold a reading and book signing there. Then make sure you advertise yours in every way possible. This might feel nerve-wracking, but if you have confidence in your work you'll do great!

Get some merchandise

Creating merchandise such as bookmarks is super cheap and can really help you spread the word about your book - you could ask local bookstores or libraries if you could leave them there for free. Make sure you have information about your book and a QR code linking to where people can buy it too!

Host an event

Where there is wine, people will come. If you are having trouble finding somewhere that wants you to come along and talk about your book, take matters into your own hands and host a gathering (or several) and invite people along. Try to collaborate with other creatives such as poets and artists and invite as many influential people as you can.

Connect with the local community.

There are lots of ways you can do this. Donate books to your library or local charities, sponsor a community event, talk to local bookshops about hosting an event, check out local festivals and see if you could get involved in some way while also promoting your work.

Publish a press release.

Sind a press release to every relevant journalist and publication you can think of. Newspapers always need content so while you might not achieve a 100% success rate, you could well see your book being advertised in some prominent publications. If you get that far, why not get back in touch and see if they would be willing to do an interview with you or write a review?

Get more mileage from your book

Have you ever thought about turning your book into a play, or a film? Why not give it a go? You never know, you could see your book being performed on stage or in the cinema!

Marketing yourself as an author is no easy task. Just make a plan, stay organised and do everything you can to get your book out there and visible to as many people as possible. Acknowledging you have done your very best to make your book a success will feel so much more satisfying than knowing you could have done more - regardless of how many books you sell.

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'