If you're searching the internet for tips for how to sell your book, then I'll bet you're making at least one of my top three book marketing mistakes.
This post is for you if you want to know what these mistakes are and how to avoid them.
Book Marketing Mistake #1: Not Targeting Readers
Are you using some kind of spray and pray technique? That is, trying to catch anyone and everyone that's passing by in the hope that they will buy your book?
When you try to market your book to everyone, you end up appealing to no one. That's because you water down your message, so as not to put anyone off.
That's like saying this book is the perfect book for moms of toddlers. But if you have older kids, you'll likely enjoy it too. And actually, if you only have a baby then you'll also enjoy it. And in fact, dads will get something out of this book as well, it's not really just for moms. Even though the title says moms, dads will enjoy this book too. And also maybe even if you don't have children, you would still learn something from this book.
Suddenly no one knows who your book is for and no one cares. They switch off because they're not hearing that it's for them. If you stand by the fact that your book is perfect for moms of toddlers, you will generate a lot more interest.
Know your readers
The problem with how to sell your book comes when you don't know who your target readers are. If you've written a book called Toddler Taming For Single Moms, it's clear your book is for single mothers of toddlers.
But when you write fiction, it can be much harder to know who your book is for. I'm going to be completely honest and say, there's no quick and easy way of figuring this out. You need to take some time to do your research and you need to recognize that this is an ongoing process.
Knowing who your target readers are means that you know how to sell your book. That's because you know what marketing messages are going to work. You also know where to put those messages so that your target readers will see them. I created my target reader checklist to help get you started, so make sure you grab it.
FREE Target Reader Checklist
Identify your readers for more effective book marketing!
Book Marketing Mistake #2: Doing Too Much
The biggest barrier for how to sell your book is doing too many things, but none of them very well.
Let's face it, there are a lot of things that you could be doing to market your book. And there are an awful lot of people online telling you how to sell your book. There's no end of advice.
So having ideas about how to sell your book is not the problem. There are too many ideas. And there are too many people giving you advice and telling you what to do.
But if you try to do it all, you are going to drive yourself slightly insane and you're going to be ineffective. Nobody can be everywhere at once. You cannot do 101 things and do them well.
It's easy to think that if you try doing more things that you will sell more books. Or perhaps you've seen another author doing something over here, so you think you ought to jump onto that as well. You're seeing them have success, so you think that you will have success if you do the same thing. But it doesn't work like that.
You don't know their background. You don't know what other things they're doing. So it's ineffective to copy someone else and think you'll have the same success. You need to find your own path.
Book Marketing Mistake #3: Not Being Consistent
It could be because you're doing too much or it could be another reason but if you do not commit to book marketing, it will not work for you.
When I say book marketing, I'm talking about improving your exposure and growing your readership.
If you want to learn how to sell your book, you need to show up for your readers consistently, ideally every day. That might be on social media. But certainly every week, which could be creating new content, or emailing your subscribers.
It should also mean getting in front of new audiences and inviting them back to your world. That means enticing them with your reader magnet and getting them to sign up for your mailing list.
You do not need to be on every single social media platform. You do not need to be using every single tool and you don't need to jump on every new thing that pops up. But you do need to be showing up consistently for your readers and consistently growing your audience.
Keep things simple
Keep things as simple and as minimal as possible, but keep showing up, keep being consistent and you will see rewards, I guarantee it.
Remember, you're in this for the long game. So it's not about using tactics sporadically. It's not about the spray and pray. And it's not about throwing some money at ads or promos now and again. It's simply about showing up consistently.
So they're my top three book marketing mistakes: not targeting readers, doing too much, and not being consistent. If you need help with that first one, don't forget to download my free target reader checklist.
