Selling a
book is utterly challenging, especially for new and old authors. Most times people record poor sales and it can be depressing and frustrating, leading to many writers and authors having seen a writing career as an unprofitable venture.
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On the other hand, some authors are bestsellers because they have adopted powerful strategies. Even in the face of poor reading culture worldwide, some authors sell a million and a thousand copies of their books.
There are two types of audiences when attempting to market your books:
- Existing fans: These are the readers you already have. They email you, follow you on all your social media platforms, and they are on your email list. They are known as warm audiences.
- New readers: These are intending readers we hope to reach. This is what we call a cold audience. Reaching out to them requires different strategies when compared to reaching out to the existing ones.
In this article, we shall examine the top five
marketing strategies to increase book sales.
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Create A “Members Only” Page Where You Engage Warm And Cold Readers
As an author create a “Members Only” page on your website where you can both grow and issue newsletter lists and reward your subscribers. It is a way to engage both cold and warm audiences.
On your “Members Only” page, you can offer several contents such as:
- A free downloadable book.
- Sneak peeks at your new books.
- Puzzles, quizzes, and games.
- Exclusive videos.
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Build An Email List Where You Give Newsletter Contents
Putting the right in your email list can help you engage both cold and warm readers. The best newsletters are those that are personalised and professional. In your newsletter, ensure that is a mixture of images and texts, showing your writing process, insights and inspiration behind your new book. Occasionally, give fresh and exciting.
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Give Away Excerpts Everywhere
Another way to promote your books is by giving free reads of portions of your books to your readers as possible as you can. You can release them on newsletters, social media and other platforms. You can use your old books as teasers to new readers when you are about to release your new book. You can use excerpts of your books as giveaways or preorders.
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Build Personal Connections Through A Reader Group
Build a reader group to engage your fans, especially on social media, especially on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Facebook is often described as the best platform to build a fanbase. Also, use your Facebook page to analyse social and political issues, especially on popular matters.
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Get Into Writing Competitions
One of the ways to build a reputation as a writer is to get and win competitions and get announced. For instance, if you win the Commonwealth Short Stories, the publicity can bring you into the limelight which you can capitalise on to become a bestseller.
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Engage In Submissions
As a writer, having a strong reputation can help you sell your books. One of the ways to build your reputation as a writer is by engaging in submissions in reputable anthologies, journals and webzines, and getting them published and sharing them on your social media platforms. With this, people tend to know and associate with you and your books so that when you’re publishing a new book, people don’t look at you as a greenhorn but a reputable writer.
Featured Image Source: Mental Floss
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This article was first published on 3rd November 2021
nnaemeka-emmanuel
Nnaemeka is an academic scholar with a degree in History and International Studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also a creative writer, content creator, storyteller, and social analyst.
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