Marketing Strategies to Improve Book Sales

by Susan U. Neal RN, MBA, MHS @SusanNealYoga

Today’s article will finish the topic from the Southern Writers article, “How to Sell One Thousand Books in Three Months.” Last month The Write Conversation posted the blog “How to Use Pre-Publication Planning to Sell More Books” Today, we will review the after publication marketing plan. Publishers expect an author to market their book. The marketing section of a book proposal is a selling component of any pitch.

Book Reviews

Before publishing your book, create a book review team. This team is vital for your book’s promotion. Weeks before publication, I send a copy of my eBook (via BookFunnel.com) to team members and ask them to please post a book review within a couple of weeks of the book’s release. I use Book Funnel because only one person can open a book link from this site. Therefore, your manuscript cannot be shared with anyone else. It is also beneficial to send your team book promotion memes for different social media channels.

Continuing to request reviews is an essential component of any book’s salability. Whenever I receive positive feedback from a reader, I graciously respond by thanking them and ask if they would be so kind as to post a review on Amazon. Of course, I always send them the Amazon link. Make it as easy as possible for them to click and post the review.

Marketing Plan

An author needs a strategic plan to promote their book. My plan consisted of publishing a magazine article, guest blog post, and being interviewed on a podcast or radio show every month for the first year of the book’s publication. At Christian writer conferences I met magazine editors and pitched different topics that may be of interest to their readers. I also asked conferees if they had a blog or podcast. If the answer was yes, I asked if they would be interested in having me write a guest blog or be interviewed on their podcast. When someone on social media sent me a friend request, I checked to see if they hosted a relevant blog or podcast. If yes, I reached out through the app’s direct messaging and asked if I could be interviewed or write a guest blog post. 

Media Kit

Developing a media kit is another important marketing tactic. A professionally created media kit (one sheet) includes the book cover, description, bio, headshot, book review comment, press release quote, and interview questions and answers. Sending a media kit to local and regional newspapers works well. I placed my media kit in Dropbox and attached the link to my emails. This eliminates the risk of a newspaper opening a document with a virus. My local paper wrote a front page article about my books and a regional one ran a feature story of my local Scripture Yoga™ class. I also include my media kit when asking to be interviewed on a podcast.

Social Media

In addition to regular updates on your social media channels, ask readers who benefited from your book to post on their social media networks too. It can’t hurt to ask. I specifically requested they post a photo of them holding my book along with how they benefited from it. Penetrate your target market through any available channel. 

Summary

Develop a book marketing plan that includes: 

• Create a book review team 
• Make social media book promotion memes for your team
• Ask readers who provide positive feedback to write a book review and post on their social media
• Set goals for the number of articles, guest blog posts, and podcasts you will do
• Develop a media kit and send it to local and regional newspapers via Dropbox

The goal is to let more people know about your book so you will obtain higher sales. I sold one thousand books in three months because I had an intentional book development and marketing plan. Marketing should comprise a large part of an author’s work. Are you doing enough to market your book? No one will promote your masterpiece as passionately as you.

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Susan U. Neal, RN, MBA, MHS

Susan’s mission is to improve the health of the body of Christ. She has her RN and MBA degrees, as well as a master’s in health science. She is a CERTIFIED HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACH with the American Association of Christian Counselors. She published five books, the Selah award winner 7 STEPS TO GET OFF SUGAR AND CARBOHYDRATES, CHRISTIAN STUDY GUIDE FOR 7 STEPS TO GET OFF SUGAR AND CARBOHYDRATES, HEALTHY LIVING JOURNAL, SCRIPTURE YOGA a #1 Amazon best-selling yoga book, and YOGA FOR BEGINNERS which ranked #3. She published two sets of Christian Yoga Card Decks and two Christian Yoga DVDs that are available at CHRISTINAYOGA.COM. Her digital product HOW TO PREVENT, IMPROVE, AND REVERSE ALZHEIMER’S AND DEMENTIA is a great resource. To learn more about Susan visit her website SUSANUNEAL.COM You can also connect with Susan on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and INSTAGRAM.