How To Advertise Your Book Successfully

 

Authors, to establish their brand and sell books, should explore buying ads at a variety of online sites. Print, however, is a losing space for most authors. Avoid expensive magazine and newspaper ads at all costs.   

Digital ads can be: 

·         Targeted to your reader.

·         Less expensive than print.

·         Measurable and results-oriented.

·         Great for someone on a limited budget.

·         A good place to experiment.  

Print ads, unfortunately, are not cost-effective to most authors. Best-selling authors that want to merely announce their latest book, without having to explain who they are or even what their book is about, may benefit from an awareness ad in a big publication’s book review section. The author’s loyal fans, already familiar with his or her work, are merely being notified or reminded of the new release. But authors seeking to establish who they are or to sell their first book are not going to sell enough books to pay for even a small ad.   

If you want to reach people, other than consumers, a print ad might make sense. For instance, if you seek to showcase yourself to publishers or literary agents, try an ad in Publishers Weekly. Seeking to hit libraries, try Library Journal. Want to hit bookstores and other publishing professionals, try Kirkus Reviews. Hoping to see your book turned into a movie? Maybe The Hollywood Reporter. However, the internet is a much better playground.   

Consider advertising via: 

·         Amazon

·         Bookbub

·         Booktrib

·         Twitter

·         Facebook

·         Google 

·         ReadingDeals  

If your book serves a specific type of readership, try ads on sites where those group members gather.  For instance, if your book was about house buying, try sites that sell real estate. If your book is about health and fitness, try sites that cover gyms, doctors, or health.   

The only ad worth doing is pay-per-click. You don’t care how many people might have seen your ad or how many did but took no action step as a result. Go with the clicks. 

Of course, fraudulent marketing practices could easily yield fake clicks -- from competitors seeking to run your ad costs up to an ad provider who wants you to think people are clicking. But if you trust the process, pay-per-click is the tool of choice.  

The big factors include: 

·         Where will your link take them?

·         What will you say to get people to click? To buy?

·         What SEO words will be used to draw qualified readers and book buyers to your ad?

·         What will you pay per click -- and how many clicks will lead into a sale?

·         What will you make per click?

·         Do you want to advertise a free item to increase your branding?

·         Will you measure your results and adjust budgets? 

Advertising may work well on one site, not another. A campaign may be a hit one day, then a dud the next day. It’s okay. Experiment. Diversify your ad spends on different platforms, rotating the ad copy, and SEO words or key terms. Find what works for you. 

However successful your ad campaign is -- if it’s successful -- it doesn’t mean you should ignore other facets of your book marketing plan. Still pursue speaking engagements, do lots of social media, and pursue getting interviews, stories and byline articles with the news media. Keep networking, applying for awards, and doing what you can to sell, sell, sell.   

Ads are a piece of the book marketing puzzle but not a complete solution by themselves. 

Please Contact Me For Help

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres.

 

 Happy Holidays! A gift for you!

  Free 2022 Bestselling Book Marketing & PR E-Book For Writers

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2021. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.