If you’re struggling with book marketing, you need simple tactics which work. Why simple? Because complicated promotions take time away from your writing.
Self-publishing is a balancing act. You need to create books to self-publish, plus you need to market those books.
Back in 2020, we posted Book Marketing Ideas: 10 Savvy Ways To Sell More Books. They’re the marketing tactics I use because they’re not only simple, they’re ideal for authors without an advertising budget.
When you try the tactics, do remember the 30-day rule:
This rule states that the marketing you do over the next 30 days will pay off over the next 90 days.
Book marketing without an advertising budget
With some five million books in the Kindle Store, spending money on advertising seems inevitable. However, you can do a lot without an advertising budget.
Use the tactics in Book Marketing Ideas: 10 Savvy Ways To Sell More Books; they work over the longterm.
Although Amazon helps you to market your books too, do remember that you need to promote your promotions. Freebies abound on Amazon; you need to attract readers’ attention.
Book marketing in KDP Select: remember to promote your free promotions
If you enroll a book in KDP Select, you can offer it for free for five days in each 90-day enrollment. Although free downloads aren’t the sure thing to increase your Amazon rankings that they once were, they do help to make your books more visible to readers.
However, before you use your free days, remember the tenth tip in our blog post:
… your books’ front and back matter are prime advertising real estate.
Edit your books before you use your free days if necessary to add your advertising. Add a preview to another of your books, as well as links to your website and mailing list.
I created a worksheet for myself and my students. It helps you to track your book marketing activities.
Download the free 3-page PDF worksheet
Download a free 3-page PDF worksheet in A4 and US Letter sizes. Print the PDF. Alternatively, use your phone or tablet to annotate the PDF.
Use your annotations to track your activities with the tactics. Add a date to each activity, with the 30-day rule in mind.
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Copywriter and marketing pro Angela Booth maintains a busy copywriting and ghostwriting practice. Fascinated by online marketing, she wrote one of the first business books for internet marketing, published by Allen & Unwin. She’s been an enthusiastic blogger since the late 1990s.
