We look at the pros and cons of places to promote your book.
Where to promote your book? That is a question on every indie author’s mind. You did all this work, but how do you get people to actually see what you’ve written? There are many marketers out there that claim to be able to make your “sales soar”, but many of them are only scams. Here is our list of where to promote your book, as well as what to look out for.
Social Media
This one is not the quick-success guarantee many people make it out to be. Unless you’re someone that likes to stir up a lot of drama, you’re likely not going to build a huge following online. Cultivating a social media presence to promote your book will be a long-term, daily effort. And books aren’t exactly the type of quick entertainment content that reads well on things like Instagram and the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Pros: Access to a large audience, able to post multiple times a day, able to capitalize on trending hashtags to get noticed, free
Cons: Slow to build followers, book marketing isn’t a “quick laugh”, posts can easily read like ads
Be aware of: You can pay for ad campaigns that let you reach a lot of people.
Be wary of: People pretending to be influencers that just want a quick sell promising they can get your book out to thousands of people.
Book Review & Reader Websites
There are many websites out there run by a single individual or group that will review books, post about their favorites, and allow you to promote your book on their site. Some of these are good, some not so much. It is a good way to get your book in front of people that are currently looking for something new to read. The problem is that a lot of these people tend to be “free book collectors” that are just waiting for a free sale period to stock up. They don’t always turn around on reviews and revenue for you.
Pros: Targeted audience, good visibility
Cons: Sometimes can cost money, no guarantee of any actual sale
Be aware of: Some websites offer packages to promote and review your book. On the right site, this can give you great outreach.
Be wary of: Just because a lot of people are signed up for their newsletter doesn’t mean they have good engagement.
Amazon Ads
Most indie authors choose to publish on Amazon’s KDP because of the ease of it (most of the time, haha). Amazon may market their advertising as an easy way to get sales, but it is a lot more complicated than that. If you go into it without knowing anything about their system, you can quickly get overwhelmed. Make sure you do some research first so you understand what you are filling out. I recommend reading this. While these ads can get your book many, many views, it’s not always a good ROI. Where you market it, what keywords you use, who you target, and when you run your ad can result in lots of sales, or no sales at all.
Pros: Marketed directly to people shopping for a book, easy click to buy the book
Cons: Not user friendly, costs lots of money for a good campaign
Be aware of: The more you invest in your ad, the more outreach you will get.
Be wary of: Books with few reviews, bad reviews, or uninteresting descriptions might not perform well and you will be out the money.
