No matter how good your book may be, if you're not getting the recognition you deserve, your potential sales may end up sitting on a shelf collecting dust. To follow are 17 tips for gaining the recognition you deserve to help generate activity and greater sales for your book. Take every opportunity to claim your title as an expert in your field and 2017 may just be a banner year for you and your book!
1) Brand your Facebook cover photo. Include images of any awards you may have won. According to BookBub 69% of readers use Facebook to find information about their favorite author and 88% follow their favorite author on Facebook.
2) Create a discussion on Quora. Get involved. Ask questions, engage users, don’t make it all about pitching your book. Use keywords in your post title and content to increase promotional returns.
3) Have experience with public speaking? Give a talk at an event. Pitch your subject to a writers’ conference, such as The Great American Book Festival.
4) Start a podcast or reach out to see if you can participate on someone else’s podcast. The more exposure the better. Take every opportunity to reach out to others who may benefit from your expertise.
5) Submit your book as an award contender. According to BookBub, including an author’s awards in their blurbs increases clicks an average of 6.7%. Try for established and reputable award programs such as Literary Classics book Awards or the CLC Top Honors Awards
6) Comment on relevant threads in Facebook groups or on other people’s threads to help build your reputation as an expert.
7) Write an in-depth blog post on a topic related to or covered in your book, then reference and link to your book within the post as well as at the end as part of your bio.
8) Contribute advice and ideas to a LinkedIn group. Make sure your profile includes a link where people can purchase your book.
9) Write a press release for PRWeb. It’s a great way to get some backlinks to your site and maybe even some press interest!
10) Use discussion forums on your topic including places like yahoo answers, to get in front of people who want to know what you know. Make sure you provide a link to your author page.
11) Sign up as a HARO source (HARO: Help a Reporter Out) and be seen as an expert in your field.
12) Become active on HubPages, and publish valuable content that will establish you as an expert while providing greater exposure for you and your book. Be sure to include a link to your site.
13) Post free content or excerpts from your book on Scribd. (You may also sell your book on this site.)
14) Create short presentations about topics related to your book and put them on SlideShare.
15) Share your knowledge. Have you learned a special technique for promoting your book? Offer an article for submission with Author.Pub
16) Offer speaking topics at local schools which the schools will find beneficial for their students. If possible, tie this in to the subject or theme of your book.
17) Make a series of videos for YouTube related to your book content. With nonfiction books you can include a series of how-to videos. For fiction books, you can do this by including thematic topics.
Whatever you do, resolve to make 2017 the best year yet for you and your book. By presenting yourself as an expert in your field you will establish greater credibility while increasing your exposure. Here's to making it great in 2017!
