Have you published a book, but now the idea of marketing it makes your blood run cold? Don't worry, book marketing doesn't need to be expensive, time consuming or uncomfortable, and it's totally possible to market a book even if you hate marketing!
Why authors dislike book marketing
If you're finding book marketing uncomfortable, let's think about why that might be.
First of all, many writers I know are introverts and introverts hate the idea of self promotion or talking about themselves. Plus the idea of selling sounds shallow.
Secondly, many of the authors I speak to are really afraid of coming across as a sleazy car salesman, trying to push their book on anybody and everybody who's passing by.
If you're wondering how to market a book when you find book marketing uncomfortable and something that you're worried about then you're looking at it all wrong. You're not trying to be the sleazy car salesman. Instead you are trying to connect with your ideal readers.
It's important to really think about who your target readers are. Think about where they're hanging out and how you can get in front of them.
Think long-term
If you intend to be a writer for the long-term, that you want this to be your long-term career, you need to think about long-term book marketing.
Try to avoid those short-term tactics that may be useful when you have a book launch, but are not what you should be doing every single day.
Every single day, you should be connecting with those ideal readers, growing an engaged audience and platform that will support you long-term.
It's not about you
If you're an introvert, then you probably dislike the idea of marketing and self promotion. But here's the thing, it's not about pushing your book, it's not about pushing yourself, it is about connecting with those ideal readers and presenting your book as an ideal offer for them.
If you really want people to read your books, not just buy them, then you want to engage with them. You need to be finding the people that really want to read the books that you write.
It's about your readers
Turn your focus away from your books and towards your readers.
Think about how you can serve them. How can you connect with them? How can you get in front of them?
Learning how to market a book all starts with figuring out who your readers are so that you can work out where they're hanging out and how you can get in front of them.
When you focus on connecting with your readers, rather than trying to sell your book, that really shifts the focus of your marketing.
No more do you need to be trying every single tactic and tool, you just need to be finding a long-term solution that allows you to connect with the people that are interested in your book. And that means you most likely have a shared interest and you will enjoy growing that platform of people who will support your work.
Do what you enjoy
Another reason why a lot of authors that I work with really don't like the idea book marketing is because it's time consuming and there seem to be so many different tactics and activities that they need to do on a daily basis, and quite often they don't even see results from all of the activity.
So what do you need to do instead?
You need to focus on a long-term marketing plan or strategy. That means find something that you enjoy doing, something you can be consistent with, whether that is blogging or starting your own podcast, or even your own YouTube channel. You need to find something that you enjoy, that you can stick with and that you can be consistent with.
For some authors that might mean a Facebook group or an Instagram following. Social media is not brilliant for selling books, but it can be a great starting point for growing your platform. Always keep in mind, however, that you want to be moving your social followers to your email list.
Shift your focus
So in short, if you want book marketing to be more successful for you and more enjoyable, you need to shift your focus from trying to sell your book to connecting with your readers and growing your author platform.
There are lots of ways of growing an author platform and not all of them are quick or easy, they do take time, they do take commitment. However, the payback is fantastic. So if you start growing a list of loyal, engaged readers, they will support you and your author career for the long term.
Now you know the importance of growing a platform and connecting with your readers, be sure to download my free 7-step guide to growing your author platform.
