September 23: the twenty-third day of InSeMaMo
Today's challenge explores marketing strategies particularly, but not solely, useful for an e-book launch. Pick one (or two) and try it, even if your e-book has already come out.
1. Create a "Launch Team" of readers excited to help you launch your book. Set up a private FB group for them and ask their opinions when choosing your book's title, cover, etc. Send them a pre-pub draft of your ms. and ask them to post a review of it when your e-book goes live, and to help spread the word.
2. Find 3-5 Amazon top reviewers in your e-book's genre and request that they review it in advance of publication. (See the earlier post on reviews here.)
3. Use Amazon's pre-order option to boost your first-week sales, & let people know. (Check it out here.)
4. Reduce the price of your e-book significantly for the first 2-6 days it goes live to encourage people to buy it then, and boost your early sales. Let people know.
5. Run an e-book review request contest. Ask people to post a review of your e-book on Amazon within a certain time period. Enter all who do in a drawing for prizes. As they'll have already read your e-book, offer a prize such as an Amazon gift card rather than a copy of your book.
6. Run a blog or FB contest. Create one based on some aspect of the e-book, such as the setting, theme, subject matter if it's non-fiction. Have people submit photos, anecdotes from their lives, videos, recipes, etc. You choose the winner and the prize - such as a copy of the book when it comes out.
7. Let people know. Tweet and Facebook interesting tidbits about it, Pinterest the cover or an announcement, put it on Google+, use every social site you're on, and ask everyone you know to do so also. Announce it in your email newsletter, which we discussed here.
8. Use a Pay With a Tweet Campaign to get the word out. Check it out here: http://paywithatweet.com/.
9. Consider paying for advertising. I’ve never used it, but I've heard good things about BookBub.com Subscribe first to see how they operate.
10. Run a blog-hop or blog tour of book bloggers' sites. Tips on running a blog tour can be found here: http://www.writersfunzone.com/blog/2013/06/07/3-essential-tips-to-running-your-own-blog-tour/. Add a give-away of your book or related gift with this.
11. Offer a guest blog on the topic of your book or some related aspect that fits the host's blog, and mention your book and publication date with the URL. Add a give-away of your book to this: invite everyone to leave a comment and choose one of them to receive it.
12. Create a virtual book launch. Check out Karen Dionne's here. Karen ran the party for 3 days and included video clips from authors endorsing her book, or just welcoming people to her party, which she videoed at conferences in advance. Her book included penguins, so she got items with penguins for prizes.
2,700 people visited the website during the party, and 400 posted comments in the guest book for a chance to win prizes.
Most books nowadays come out as both print and e-books, so if you are launching a book, I suggest combining the strategies you liked yesterday and those that you like today to have an on-line and a physical launch of your book.
Would any of these ideas work for you? Try it and let us know!
Today's challenge explores marketing strategies particularly, but not solely, useful for an e-book launch. Pick one (or two) and try it, even if your e-book has already come out.
1. Create a "Launch Team" of readers excited to help you launch your book. Set up a private FB group for them and ask their opinions when choosing your book's title, cover, etc. Send them a pre-pub draft of your ms. and ask them to post a review of it when your e-book goes live, and to help spread the word.
2. Find 3-5 Amazon top reviewers in your e-book's genre and request that they review it in advance of publication. (See the earlier post on reviews here.)
3. Use Amazon's pre-order option to boost your first-week sales, & let people know. (Check it out here.)
4. Reduce the price of your e-book significantly for the first 2-6 days it goes live to encourage people to buy it then, and boost your early sales. Let people know.
5. Run an e-book review request contest. Ask people to post a review of your e-book on Amazon within a certain time period. Enter all who do in a drawing for prizes. As they'll have already read your e-book, offer a prize such as an Amazon gift card rather than a copy of your book.
6. Run a blog or FB contest. Create one based on some aspect of the e-book, such as the setting, theme, subject matter if it's non-fiction. Have people submit photos, anecdotes from their lives, videos, recipes, etc. You choose the winner and the prize - such as a copy of the book when it comes out.
7. Let people know. Tweet and Facebook interesting tidbits about it, Pinterest the cover or an announcement, put it on Google+, use every social site you're on, and ask everyone you know to do so also. Announce it in your email newsletter, which we discussed here.
8. Use a Pay With a Tweet Campaign to get the word out. Check it out here: http://paywithatweet.com/.
9. Consider paying for advertising. I’ve never used it, but I've heard good things about BookBub.com Subscribe first to see how they operate.
10. Run a blog-hop or blog tour of book bloggers' sites. Tips on running a blog tour can be found here: http://www.writersfunzone.com/blog/2013/06/07/3-essential-tips-to-running-your-own-blog-tour/. Add a give-away of your book or related gift with this.
11. Offer a guest blog on the topic of your book or some related aspect that fits the host's blog, and mention your book and publication date with the URL. Add a give-away of your book to this: invite everyone to leave a comment and choose one of them to receive it.
12. Create a virtual book launch. Check out Karen Dionne's here. Karen ran the party for 3 days and included video clips from authors endorsing her book, or just welcoming people to her party, which she videoed at conferences in advance. Her book included penguins, so she got items with penguins for prizes.
2,700 people visited the website during the party, and 400 posted comments in the guest book for a chance to win prizes.
Most books nowadays come out as both print and e-books, so if you are launching a book, I suggest combining the strategies you liked yesterday and those that you like today to have an on-line and a physical launch of your book.
Would any of these ideas work for you? Try it and let us know!
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