Many writers want their books to become known and popular, but don’t want to travel the world (or even just the United States) to market them. There are many reasons you might not want to have to travel to market your book:
· You might be the primary caregiver for a young child or elderly parent
· You may be concerned about spending the money for travel
· You may have a full-time job that doesn’t allow you to travel for the work you are passionate about
· You may have an illness that doesn’t allow you to travel
Whatever the case, you have options that don’t require you to leave home. In this episode, I’m going to share the four I think will most likely increase awareness of you as a writer and thought leader.
Social Media is the first
On episode 018 of All Things Authorpreneur, I went into detail on ways to expand your reach with social media. If you haven’t listed to that one, I recommend you check it out.
For the purposes of this episode, let’s assume you are already working on those strategies, and now we want to specifically market your book and thought leadership to those who have found you.
I encourage you to take the time to break down the key concepts you write about in your book and develop social posts or even storyboards of social posts for each one.
· Take your followers on a journey with you through each idea.
· Tell them why you focus on your area of interest and expertise.
· Show them your passion for it.
· And of course, in the process remind them that they can find more of your informative and inspiring content in your book
I believe many authors and thought leaders don’t do these things because they fear seaming repetitive. In truth, it is through repetition that you get recognized for your knowledge. Use your social media platform to beat the drum of your knowledge.
Another way to share the message of your book with your audience is to host webinars or workshops on what it teaches.
Select a portion of the contents to highlight during each event.
Depending upon your book, you can teach different workshops or webinars on different sections or chapters, OR, you can do an overview of the overarching concepts.
When you offer these repeatedly, you will become known for sharing this information.
And as I’ve often said, events aren’t just about the events themselves, they are about the promotion and the follow-up. Simply by sharing that you are providing these events, you are marketing your thought leadership and your book.
You never know what opportunities will come from that marketing.
A third way to market your book without leaving your home is guest blogging.
Consider guest-blogging for websites whose target audiences are similar to your own. Traditionally, blogs that accept guest bloggers will have a space for your bio and website details. You’ll want to include the book or books you are the author of there.
Guest blogging gives you an opportunity to promote where and when you’ve written something, and typically garners marketing effort on behalf of the platform owner. It is a win for everyone.
Finally, I want to suggest you do a virtual book tour.
While it is ideal that you might do this right when your book is released, you can always choose to concentrate on publicizing your book. A few ideas for this are:
· Do virtual book signings. You can set a date and time to meet people on zoom and sign book plates to them that can easily be mailed right afterward.
· Connect with book clubs and do Q&A sessions on your book’s concepts and messages.
· Do virtual readings – these could be combined with either of the other ideas.
· Finally, find ways to be interviewed about your book in all kinds of media. This will take some research and effort, but will help you get the word out about your expertise and book.
Everything I’ve spoken about on this episode is something you can do without leaving home. So, if doing so is difficult for you, don’t fret. You can still market your book!