25 Outstanding Ways to Promote Your Book & Establish Your Expert-ness

By Jessica Albon

Image by bizior

All too often, an expert slaves over the writing of a book only to deliver it to the publisher and… promptly forget about promoting it ever again. Today, let’s take a look at 25 ways you should be promoting the heck out of your book, whether it’s self-published, or traditionally published. (Haven’t written that book yet? Read this list so you’ll know what to do, and then send me an email so I can connect you with a fabulous resource for packaging your knowledge into a book your readers will love!)

1. Update your biography. Make sure your bio is updated immediately to reflect your new book. Check website About pages, media room bios, and any organizations you’re a member of that make your biography public.

2. Use your home page. Emblazon it with the words, “Author of the newly released: Title!” along with a copy of the cover image and a link to more information.

3. Promote in your blog sidebar. Make sure you put the book’s cover with a link in a really visible place!

4. Write a blog post about the book. Announce the release of the book on your blog and make new posts any time you get a review you’re especially proud of. Also, if you’re doing any events, be sure to post photos of those to your blog as well!

5. Write press releases. Along with actually submitting these releases, also make sure to put them up in the press area of your website.

6. Refresh your newsletter template. Make sure to add a paragraph about the book along with a link to more information to every issue of your newsletter.

7. Print new business cards with the book’s title front and center.

8. Send out postcards. Let everyone on your mailing list know that you’ve written a book!

9. Build a book minisite. Register a domain that’s related to your book title and publish a complete 5-page professional website design just for the book.

10. Write guest articles. Take the title of your book and spin it off into 10 article topics. Submit these to publications (print or online) that reach your audience.

11. Get interviewed. Get in touch with associations and let them know you’re available to be interviewed about the topic of your book. (Remember, deliver valuable content, not a pitch.)

12. Interview others. Interview experts on similar topics–your readers are likely to have a far-reaching interest in your topic, so position yourself as the expert by bringing other great books to the attention of your readers.

13. Start a movement. Create a program around your book and invite people to join in. The program can be free, but it can also be something you charge for built around the book.

14. Speak locally. Offer a talk or two within your community. Even if you don’t find your best readers locally, you’ll build credibility. Get extra points by sharing the photos of your talk (on Facebook, your blog, in your ezine, in your media kit, or on your website).

15. Solicit reviews. Send out promo copies with a twist–reviewers these days get lots of books to read so make yours special. Even just including a small, personal thank you note can make a difference. (Don’t be super gimmicky or send anything extra time-consuming. You want to show your appreciation, not frustrate the reviewer.)

16. Enlist the troops. If you belong to a mastermind group, ask them to ask their local bookstores and libraries to stock your book. (If you don’t, ask far-flung friends and relatives.)

17. Always have something (free) to invite people to. Offer a monthly teleclass or a quarterly in-person group or some other regular event. This way, when someone asks you how they can help you promote your book, you can say, “Invite the people you know to my workshop this weekend,” instead of “I don’t know. I guess you could tell people to buy my book.”

18. Make a video. These days, it’s super easy to create a polished, professional video for your website. So do it! Give viewers a short talk related to your book, or read a chapter that they’ll enjoy and post the video on a free site (like YouTube).

19. Make a discussion guide. If your book is on a topic a group could discuss (and I can’t think of anything a group *couldn’t* discuss), write up a discussion guide. This can be short, say 5 questions, or it could take the form of a workbook. Price it according to value.

20. Sell it elsewhere. Everyone sells their books on Amazon, and that’s great. But where else might you sell the book? On Ebay? What about a local shop that appeals to your target market? Or maybe that trade show convention that’ll be in town next month?

21. Display it on your service pages. Especially if you sell a high-ticket service like one-on-one consulting, make sure you put a copy of the book cover prominently on this page. People may very well only see the consulting page on your site, so you want to make sure that they know you’re the author of a book. That can be just the thing to push them over the edge in getting in touch with you. (Even if your services are moderate in price, like regular landscaping, featuring your book cover will increase the number of people who contact you about hiring you.)

22. Develop a high-ticket program. Assuming your book is good, your readers will want more from you. More support, more exercises, more contact with you. So, give it to them in the form of a long-term program. Using the book as the backbone, elaborate and expand your core message in a way that’ll deliver loads of value to participants.

23. Get some partners. Find people who are willing to spread the word about your book–either as affiliates, or just because they really, really like you. Encourage them to post reviews, share the link, and tell people about the book.

24. Give it away. A book can be a really effective brochure–it’ll introduce you to your audience while positioning you as the foremost expert. So, consider if it might make sense to give copies to your clients or to prospects who meet certain criteria.

25. Bundle it up. What else could you include with the book that’ll give readers even more value? An interview you did a few months ago that was recorded and could now be downloaded? A selection of really relevant case studies that readers will find inspiring? A magnifying glass to remind readers to take a different perspective? Adding something else to the package (whether it’s a download or something tangible; something “professional” or something “personal”) can make it that much more attractive to potential readers.

Remember, you wrote the book. That was the hard part! Now set about promoting it strategically so that you can maximize the work you’ve already put in.

And if you want to put these tips into action but simply don’t have time, I can help. Just get in touch and I’ll be happy to either help you myself or refer you to someone perfectly suited to your needs.