Marketing
Marketing should begin the day you start writing!
Even if you have a publisher, you will need to promote your own book if you want to get it out to the widest audience.
- Your publisher’s main focus is on publishing and distribution, not marketing.
- Online book markets far exceed the number of physical bookstore markets.
- The library market is constantly expanding, even for ebooks and audiobooks.
If you are a self-publisher, it’s absolutely vital to market your book as soon as you dream of publishing. You’ll find that the work involved in writing and distribution pales in comparison to the work needed to really market a book.
More importantly, you need to identify your target audience(s) before you begin your book. This will affect your content and design. Your choice of editor, POD publisher, and/or designer depends on who you plan to sell your book to.
You also need to know what genre your book belongs to. Is it a trade book? Scholarly book? Specialty book? Children’s book? Each of these genres uses different marketing channels. And each has a different “look and feel” your book needs to emulate.
The most important reason to begin marketing is a well-known rule of thumb in business: word-of-mouth is the best way to sell anything. Spreading the word about your book will take time, lots of time. Start spreading the word even before you sit down to write your book!
Have you finished your book already? Are you just now realizing you need to market your book too? See Wordmaps Author Services.