Promoting your book - why & how

Getting published by yourself can be as hard or as easy as you want it to be, we all know that you can quite easily upload your manuscript to a POD publisher and in a matter of several days be ready to sell, a staggering amount of indie authors do take this approach but it does mean that all of your promotion will be up to you.
 
So you have to treat the launch of your new book (to some degree anyway) like the launch of a new business venture, I know that some authors won’t like this approach and may not even feel comfortable in trying to sell their own work, however, with the sheer numbers of new books being launched on a daily basis, whether you like it or not you need to sell to be successful.

As with any plan (be it a business or the promotion of a book) the earlier you can start the better, you should be planning to start your promotional campaign from the moment you put pen to paper. Now this can of course can be easier said than done (especially if your using a working title which may alter over the course of writing the book), but the theme will remain the same and this still gives you great scope for making the public aware.
 
Using social media is now one of the most popular ways to get the message of your book out, from the beginning you should be able to make posts which hint at your new masterpiece and spark interest, however, this is a balancing act at times, too many posts turn off your audience (you become viewed as nothing more than a spammer), so keep it to several per day across your channels.

As with any advertising your posts will need to stand out, most social network feeds move very quickly and as such your time to grab the attention of the viewer will be limited, so you have to become eye-catching and the easiest way to do this is visually. Making a poster which fits the respective feed is paramount, it needs to captivate the viewer into looking further and do so within just a few words, from here you should also embed a link to your own website or blog (the interested reader can learn more about you and your up and coming novel).
 
Posters and visuals for your social feeds will help you sand out online but they can also help at fairs and launches too, getting a small leaflet designed or even adding visuals to a business card will help to spread the word when you go along to author’s fairs, writer’s conferences and publisher events. Making connections with professionals within the industry can be made more memorable when you are able to give them a professional business card or (small) leaflet.

As your book gets closer to completion you should be planning the cover and beginning to increase your promotional campaign, any great book cover designer will able to work with you in preparing your design ready for its edit and possible page count alterations, they should also be able to help in your promotional materials such as banners, posters and 3D product images.
 
Once you have your book cover designed you should start to use this within your promotional posts and online interactions (as well as off line ones), it may be several months before your book is live but you’re still looking at getting the message across on a consistent basis.

Having product images of your book in several guises helps to make it feel more tangible to your viewer, images of the book as a paperback, hardback and even upon the screen of a tablet will help to showcase your work as a professional publication. You can then incorporate these images into posters, business cards, banners and your website or blog.
 
Advertising your book early, professionally and consistently will ensure that more people see your work and that it is taken seriously, more importantly, a well thought out approach to the promotion of your book will ensure success and sales.