Hire a Book Marketing Professional

When it comes to author marketing, it's often helpful to seek expert advice. If funds allow, you can hire a marketing specialist once you've sold your manuscript to a traditional publisher or are planning to self-publish to guide you through your book’s marketing strategy. While a book marketing professional or PR firm can be a powerful marketing ally, this option costs money, and you must consider your available book marketing budget, if any. If hiring an expert is not an option, research and read up on book marketing strategies online, attend webinars, and take relevant courses. Keep learning and applying book marketing best practices to get the best outcomes. A key consideration here is consistency—even if you feel like you’re not yet getting traction, you need to keep posting and engaging until you start to see results.

Set a Book Marketing Budget

Marketing your book can cost anywhere from a few hundred to multiple thousands of dollars, especially if you retain the services of a book marketing or PR firm. I’ve seen pre-launch campaigns reach into the tens of thousands of dollars, depending on services provided and target audience. Creating a book marketing budget that outlines your expenses ensures you stay on track and know whether your money is making an impact. The frustrating thing about book marketing is that you can’t often track a marketing tactic to its results. Unless you are creating specific links to retailers for each opportunity, you don’t know what might lead directly to a sale. Getting newspaper coverage for your book can be great, but you likely won’t be able to measure which sales come from that specific piece of book marketing. Your book marketing budget should cover expenses such as book advertising, swag (bookmarks, postcards, stickers, etc.), social media promotions, book reviews, media interviews, and book launch events. (Unfortunately, unless you are already a notable author or you had a very generous book deal, the publisher will not pay for these activities.)

Experiment with Book Marketing Strategies

There are many ways to market your books, from social media promotions to book launch events to traditional media. There’s also paid advertising, which is becoming increasingly important in today’s crowded book sales marketplace. But it’s very easy to spend a lot of money and see no return with advertising, so you might want to take a class or hire a professional for this part of your book marketing strategy. Experiment with different marketing activities to see which ones work best for you, your book marketing budget, and your specific book. Paid advertising services like Google AdWords, Amazon Ads, or Facebook Ads are helpful when you know the target audience you hope to attract, and want to reach your most likely readers directly.

Free or Cheap Book Promotion Opportunities

You don't have to spend a fortune to market your book, though there’s no arguing that investing in book marketing can help you see better results. Your book marketing budget will go further if you take advantage of free opportunities in addition to any paid strategies. Research platforms that offer free or affordable promotions, such as blog and website author interviews, book reviews, book groups on Goodreads, Facebook, and Amazon, and at your local bookstores. Approach them with your well-researched book marketing plan and a personalized proposal that shows them how they can benefit by promoting your book. Collaborate with, and support your local bookstore or community library, where your audience visits, and offer them your book at a discounted price, if available. While you might not spend actual book marketing budget on some of these opportunities, you still have to consider the cost of discounting copies of your book. There’s also the outlay of your valuable time, but this kind of “sweat equity” is often required if you don’t have cash to spend.

Marketing your book is not something that ends when your book is published. It's a continuous and ever-evolving process, one that requires planning, strategizing, and rigorous execution. It's also vital to set realistic expectations, as any marketing strategy takes time to bear fruit. However, with a well-defined marketing strategy and an appropriate book marketing budget, it's entirely possible to create a buzz around your book and get it in the hands of your target audience. Remember, marketing your book is an investment in yourself, your writing, and your future as a successful author. Plan accordingly.