5 Tips for Marketing your Book

As some of you may already know, my second book, "Conquering your Goliaths--A Parable of the Five Stones" is due out soon.

Look for it on Amazon mid-February!

What you may not realize (yet) is all of the work it takes to get a book in print; especially if you are doing most of the work yourself like I am.

Although I have already published another book, "A River of Stones," the wait has been 10 years! The reasons for the wait would take you into my mind further than you'd want to travel, just know this, certain poignant parts of my life had to be lived--first--before this book could come to fruition.

Much has changed in marketing from 10 years ago, much more marketing is done online and many more opportunities are given to writers to publish their own books. Here are some new things I have learned about marketing this time around:

• Speak up wherever and whenever you can. I love twitter! I have made some great new friends and speaking about my book is easy! If you're not on facebook or LinkedIn, now is the time to build your friend lists. I also have a separate page for each of my books on both of these networking sites. 
• Be a real person! When your book comes out, walk over a sample copy to places where you'd like it distributed. I mailed most of my copies the first time around. I think you lose a lot of connection with others when you think they'll be interested in your work without meeting you first.
• Listen to comments from others. Ask questions of your friends, write your questions on message boards, get feedback from others before you begin marketing. You may just find out that an idea you had is trumped by another one that is better. It happened to me!
• Don't be discouraged if someone isn't interested in your book. Keep talking! Speak at schools. Have a writer's workshop. Check out the book, "1001 Ways to Market your Books," by John Kremer.
• Start within your home town. Contact libraries, bookstores, grocery stories, places you believe your book should have a home. I am considering placing my book at garden centers because of the stones/sunflower theme.

The most important thing about marketing is that you get out there. Do what you're afraid to do!