How to Promote Your Book Online for Free - 10 Top Tips
There are many ways to promote your book online for free. When deciding your plans to ‘promote my self-published book’, it’s an exciting part of the process to know how to promote your book for free.
Once you’ve worked out where your potential readers are, you can prioritise the most effective method to promote your book.
In this article, I am discussing a strategy that starts from scratch on how to promote your book for free on the internet, and it assumes that you don’t already have access to influencers, a large fan base on social media or an email list of thousands.
Once you’ve worked out where your potential readers are, you can prioritise the most effective method to promote your book.
In this article, I am discussing a strategy that starts from scratch on how to promote your book for free on the internet, and it assumes that you don’t already have access to influencers, a large fan base on social media or an email list of thousands.
This article discusses free book promotion sites, free kindle book promotion, how to promote your book on Amazon, how to engage with readers through free book publicity ideas, and how to promote your kindle book for free as well as other ways to promote your self-published book. So let’s get started, here are 10 top tips to help promote your book online for free.
1. Post on Free Book Promotion Sites
Goodreads
Promoting your book on Goodreads is free. Create an author profile on Goodreads one of the best-known review sites. Here you can link your website/blog so readers can find out about you and your publication/s
A listing for your book/s is automatically generated if you are self-publishing via Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).
List each format of your book (ebook, paperback, audiobook) in the appropriate genre.
Once verified that you have a published book (or a soon-to-be published book) the Goodreads Author Programme allows you to promote your book and engage with readers.
Connect your blog, write reviews and take questions from readers using Ask the Author.
There is a special section for self-published authors.
Bookangel
Bookangel is a smaller, London-based site featuring ebooks from Amazon UK which are temporarily free to UK Kindle users. Both free and discounted books are accepted. Free and paid listings are available.
Ebookaroo
Ebookaroo is a website and newsletter run by author of science fiction and fantasy Patty Jansen. If your book is in this genre, she offers free inclusion on her site and newsletter for free and discounted book offers.
Book Goodies
Book Goodies has a wide readership and fan base. The site offers free and paid advertising options for authors.
Indies Unlimited
Indies Unlimited promotes independent authors. Authors submit their books for various features including Thrifty Thursdays, Print Book Paradise, and Kindle Unlimited Hump Days. It’s free to feature your book, and they accept free and discounted books.
Indie Book Lounge
Indie Book Lounge offers a wide-ranging catalogue of indie-authored books. All books are free to list. Free and discounted books are accepted. They also offer a paid promotion option.
Book Bongo
Book Bongo offers a free book promotion option where they promote your book on Twitter, Facebook and on their site for a set promotional period. There are also three paid book promotions options.
Book Promotion Services with a Fee
Freebooksy
If your book is free for a period, for example during a KDP Select promotion, you can promote it on Freebooksy. If this is your first book, it will help get reviews fast and create momentum.
It isn’t a free service (prices start at $45 for children’s literature) but I’m mentioning it as an example of an established book review site.
Similar sites are popping up which offer free inclusion or promotions for a few pounds. If you do have $45-90 to spare at Freebooksy, their promotional reach is considerable – 300,000+ Facebook fans plus daily newsletters to Kindle readers who have expressed an interest in selected genres.
Use this site to increase your readership base if you have a previous book to give away for free. Time the offer to occur a couple of weeks before the new book is published at full price.
Bargain Booksy
Bargain Booksy is a sister site to Freebooksy and offers a similar service for discounted books. It costs between $25 and $190 to promote a book depending on the genre. Books must be priced between $0.99 and $5.00 to qualify.
Book Doggy
Although not free to advertise on Book Doggy, it is $18 to promote a free ebook or $20 for a discounted ebook. Your ebook will be included in their newsletter which is sent out to thousands of subscribers. They feature your book on the website indefinitely. The site accepts listings for free and almost free ebooks only.
The Lineup
The Lineup is a site for fans of true crime, horror and suspense. It claims to attract over 1 million unique visitors a month and has 180,000 subscribers to its weekly ebook newsletter. It’s an affiliate marketing site for Amazon and costs from $18 to feature your book, although there are free deals for authors who publish through Amazon.
Discount Book Man
Discount Book Man promotes books that are on sale. You can submit your book for free or have it featured on their front page for 7 days for $15.
Snicks List
Snicks List is a platform that allows readers to find Free Kindle Books. Book promotion packages start from $1.
My Book Place
My Book Place is a book promotion website covering all genres. It used to be free, but now costs $25 to list your book and have it promoted on the homepage for 7 days, featured in the newsletter and posted to their social media fans.
Book Goodies Kids
Book Goodies Kids is the children’s version of Book Goodies. It is for books aimed at children and teens under 16. You can submit a book for free or promote it through their paid advertising options, ranging from $10 to $229.
Promoting your book on Goodreads is free. Create an author profile on Goodreads one of the best-known review sites. Here you can link your website/blog so readers can find out about you and your publication/s
A listing for your book/s is automatically generated if you are self-publishing via Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).
List each format of your book (ebook, paperback, audiobook) in the appropriate genre.
Once verified that you have a published book (or a soon-to-be published book) the Goodreads Author Programme allows you to promote your book and engage with readers.
Connect your blog, write reviews and take questions from readers using Ask the Author.
There is a special section for self-published authors.
Bookangel
Bookangel is a smaller, London-based site featuring ebooks from Amazon UK which are temporarily free to UK Kindle users. Both free and discounted books are accepted. Free and paid listings are available.
Ebookaroo
Ebookaroo is a website and newsletter run by author of science fiction and fantasy Patty Jansen. If your book is in this genre, she offers free inclusion on her site and newsletter for free and discounted book offers.
Book Goodies
Book Goodies has a wide readership and fan base. The site offers free and paid advertising options for authors.
Indies Unlimited
Indies Unlimited promotes independent authors. Authors submit their books for various features including Thrifty Thursdays, Print Book Paradise, and Kindle Unlimited Hump Days. It’s free to feature your book, and they accept free and discounted books.
Indie Book Lounge
Indie Book Lounge offers a wide-ranging catalogue of indie-authored books. All books are free to list. Free and discounted books are accepted. They also offer a paid promotion option.
Book Bongo
Book Bongo offers a free book promotion option where they promote your book on Twitter, Facebook and on their site for a set promotional period. There are also three paid book promotions options.
Book Promotion Services with a Fee
Freebooksy
If your book is free for a period, for example during a KDP Select promotion, you can promote it on Freebooksy. If this is your first book, it will help get reviews fast and create momentum.
It isn’t a free service (prices start at $45 for children’s literature) but I’m mentioning it as an example of an established book review site.
Similar sites are popping up which offer free inclusion or promotions for a few pounds. If you do have $45-90 to spare at Freebooksy, their promotional reach is considerable – 300,000+ Facebook fans plus daily newsletters to Kindle readers who have expressed an interest in selected genres.
Use this site to increase your readership base if you have a previous book to give away for free. Time the offer to occur a couple of weeks before the new book is published at full price.
Bargain Booksy
Bargain Booksy is a sister site to Freebooksy and offers a similar service for discounted books. It costs between $25 and $190 to promote a book depending on the genre. Books must be priced between $0.99 and $5.00 to qualify.
Book Doggy
Although not free to advertise on Book Doggy, it is $18 to promote a free ebook or $20 for a discounted ebook. Your ebook will be included in their newsletter which is sent out to thousands of subscribers. They feature your book on the website indefinitely. The site accepts listings for free and almost free ebooks only.
The Lineup
The Lineup is a site for fans of true crime, horror and suspense. It claims to attract over 1 million unique visitors a month and has 180,000 subscribers to its weekly ebook newsletter. It’s an affiliate marketing site for Amazon and costs from $18 to feature your book, although there are free deals for authors who publish through Amazon.
Discount Book Man
Discount Book Man promotes books that are on sale. You can submit your book for free or have it featured on their front page for 7 days for $15.
Snicks List
Snicks List is a platform that allows readers to find Free Kindle Books. Book promotion packages start from $1.
My Book Place
My Book Place is a book promotion website covering all genres. It used to be free, but now costs $25 to list your book and have it promoted on the homepage for 7 days, featured in the newsletter and posted to their social media fans.
Book Goodies Kids
Book Goodies Kids is the children’s version of Book Goodies. It is for books aimed at children and teens under 16. You can submit a book for free or promote it through their paid advertising options, ranging from $10 to $229.
2. Enrol Your Book in Amazon’s KDP Select Programme – Free Book Promotion
Check out the full list of Amazon’s book promotion tools available on my article How to Promote Your Book on Amazon, most of which are free, to maximise your exposure on Amazon.
Create a profile via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com (or your regional Amazon site by searching 'create author central page'). This is where Amazon readers can read about authors and see their books for sale. You can also sell books via other regions such as Germany, France, and Japan.
Author Central is accessible from one hub as it's now centralised (it used to be a separate author page for the different regions/marketplaces). If you already have an Author Central account, Amazon will have moved your account for you.
Creating and populating your Author Page on Amazon will help to increase your search rankings on both Amazon and Google. You can link your website/blog (Amazon.com only) to increase traffic to your site. You list all your books on your Author Page so it’s easier for readers to see at a glance your complete list of publications. And you can also view your Amazon Author Rank in the genres where your book is listed.
To enrol your book in Amazon’s KDP Select programme. Join KDP Select. After your ebook is enrolled in KDP Select, you can run a Free Book Promotion by offering it for free for up to 5 days out of each 90-day KDP Select enrolment period.
Author Central is accessible from one hub as it's now centralised (it used to be a separate author page for the different regions/marketplaces). If you already have an Author Central account, Amazon will have moved your account for you.
Creating and populating your Author Page on Amazon will help to increase your search rankings on both Amazon and Google. You can link your website/blog (Amazon.com only) to increase traffic to your site. You list all your books on your Author Page so it’s easier for readers to see at a glance your complete list of publications. And you can also view your Amazon Author Rank in the genres where your book is listed.
To enrol your book in Amazon’s KDP Select programme. Join KDP Select. After your ebook is enrolled in KDP Select, you can run a Free Book Promotion by offering it for free for up to 5 days out of each 90-day KDP Select enrolment period.
To schedule:
1. Go to the Marketing tab.
2. In the Run a Price Promotion, select Free Book Promotion.
3. Click Create a Free Book Promotion.
4. Select your book and click Continue.
5. Enter the desired start and end date.
6. Click Save Changes.
You can schedule one or more free promotions, edit or delete a scheduled free promotion, or stop an ongoing free promotion. You have a few of options for running your promotion for the 5 days:
• Run all 5 days at once
• Go one day at a time
• Offer your eBook for free for multiple days in a row
You won't receive royalties for your book while this free book promotion runs.
The more copies you sell during the first 30 days of your book's launch, the more heavily Amazon will help promote your book and send more new readers to check out your book.
This is one of the reasons why building momentum towards a book launch can be crucial to your success.
1. Go to the Marketing tab.
2. In the Run a Price Promotion, select Free Book Promotion.
3. Click Create a Free Book Promotion.
4. Select your book and click Continue.
5. Enter the desired start and end date.
6. Click Save Changes.
You can schedule one or more free promotions, edit or delete a scheduled free promotion, or stop an ongoing free promotion. You have a few of options for running your promotion for the 5 days:
• Run all 5 days at once
• Go one day at a time
• Offer your eBook for free for multiple days in a row
You won't receive royalties for your book while this free book promotion runs.
The more copies you sell during the first 30 days of your book's launch, the more heavily Amazon will help promote your book and send more new readers to check out your book.
This is one of the reasons why building momentum towards a book launch can be crucial to your success.
3. Build an Email List
In your journey to promote your book, capture as many sign-ups to your updates via your website or blog as you can, and don’t ever stop capturing them.
This email list will become extremely valuable, as you are following a long-term approach of continually trying to grow your readership.
Keeping in touch with past and potential readers, fans and influencers by email is far more effective than communicating via social media.
A well-crafted email is personal and targeted. Unlike a post on social media, which is likely to be seen by 5-16% of all your followers, an email will be delivered to their inbox for sure. The open ratio of subscribed mails is high too. Research suggests 23-30% for the book and hobby industry.
Once you have created a relationship with email subscribers, ask if they can help promote your book by word of mouth. Give them the link to where the book can be ordered. Reward them before and after the launch with bonus content or special offers.
Don’t worry that you might irritate your readers with emails. As long as you share something of interest and stay on their radar by emailing once or twice a month, you shouldn’t get many drop-offs.
When people do unsubscribe, don’t take it personally. We all have zealous moments of cleaning out our inbox.
So, how do you provide value in an email? We’re moving into the extensive subject of content marketing, but a simple newsletter could contain:
At this point, it is important to stress that you will need to change your mindset from author to marketer.
You are about to become a professional marketer with a finely tuned strategy.
In fact, if you are uncomfortable promoting your own work, you could separate your author persona from your marketing persona by using a different email address and a pseudonym.
It feels less personal to chase a speaking engagement, or push for a mention in a magazine, while communicating as the fictional, but efficient, ‘Charlotte Jones, Marketing Assistant to [Author]’.
This email list will become extremely valuable, as you are following a long-term approach of continually trying to grow your readership.
Keeping in touch with past and potential readers, fans and influencers by email is far more effective than communicating via social media.
A well-crafted email is personal and targeted. Unlike a post on social media, which is likely to be seen by 5-16% of all your followers, an email will be delivered to their inbox for sure. The open ratio of subscribed mails is high too. Research suggests 23-30% for the book and hobby industry.
Once you have created a relationship with email subscribers, ask if they can help promote your book by word of mouth. Give them the link to where the book can be ordered. Reward them before and after the launch with bonus content or special offers.
Don’t worry that you might irritate your readers with emails. As long as you share something of interest and stay on their radar by emailing once or twice a month, you shouldn’t get many drop-offs.
When people do unsubscribe, don’t take it personally. We all have zealous moments of cleaning out our inbox.
So, how do you provide value in an email? We’re moving into the extensive subject of content marketing, but a simple newsletter could contain:
- A summary of your favourite news from that week and link to articles. Include your opinion on the news – it’s your voice as an author that makes the email special. Think back to your youth. How pleased would you have been to receive regular insights into the mind of your favourite authors?
- Depending on your genre and expertise, a weekly tips newsletter might be appropriate.
- Have you been anywhere lately, or learnt anything that would be of interest to your readers?
- What are the common questions your audience ask?
At this point, it is important to stress that you will need to change your mindset from author to marketer.
You are about to become a professional marketer with a finely tuned strategy.
In fact, if you are uncomfortable promoting your own work, you could separate your author persona from your marketing persona by using a different email address and a pseudonym.
It feels less personal to chase a speaking engagement, or push for a mention in a magazine, while communicating as the fictional, but efficient, ‘Charlotte Jones, Marketing Assistant to [Author]’.
4. Write Monthly Articles / Blog Posts
If you haven’t already, it’s advisable to set up a website/blog to connect with readers.
This website, for example, was built using Weebly which has a free plan option (you will need to buy your own domain name if you would like a .com or .co.uk extension).
The free account option will have Weebly branding on your site, or you can upgrade to remove ads and use more features. You can see the difference between all the plans available here at websitetooltester.com. Other website builders include Wix and Wordpress amongst many others.
A domain name can sometimes be purchased (or they can be free for the first year) through the company you use to build your website. Or you can buy through a domain registrar such as GoDaddy, NameCheap or 123-reg. Again, there are many others available.
To see examples of other author (and unpublished author) websites and what to include on yours, go to Bryn Donovan’s website to find out more.
Write regular content for your website/blog
Initially, it sounds time-consuming to create content for monthly updates, but compare spending one afternoon per month writing an article/blog post that can be used across all your social media channels with the time it takes to engage with followers on Facebook and across all your social media channels.
When publishing your article/posts, don’t forget to add links to your website, books, all social media profiles and other platforms where your book is listed so they can all be easily accessed and provide maximum exposure when shared by readers.
By the way, while we're discussing your website, be sure to have a tempting offer to capture new email addresses. Yes, those pop-ups are irritating, but if you offer tempting bonus content (like the first chapter for free), free access to podcasts or early access to subsequent books, they can work.
Schedule your posts
Months before your book launch, set up an attractive template in an email marketing platform such as Mailchimp. Mailchimp is free up to 2,000 subscribers. Once you reach 2,000, you could create a free plan with another service and continue to store and segment your lists in Excel or Google Sheets. It’s easy to schedule emails ahead of time based around your workload.
This website, for example, was built using Weebly which has a free plan option (you will need to buy your own domain name if you would like a .com or .co.uk extension).
The free account option will have Weebly branding on your site, or you can upgrade to remove ads and use more features. You can see the difference between all the plans available here at websitetooltester.com. Other website builders include Wix and Wordpress amongst many others.
A domain name can sometimes be purchased (or they can be free for the first year) through the company you use to build your website. Or you can buy through a domain registrar such as GoDaddy, NameCheap or 123-reg. Again, there are many others available.
To see examples of other author (and unpublished author) websites and what to include on yours, go to Bryn Donovan’s website to find out more.
Write regular content for your website/blog
Initially, it sounds time-consuming to create content for monthly updates, but compare spending one afternoon per month writing an article/blog post that can be used across all your social media channels with the time it takes to engage with followers on Facebook and across all your social media channels.
When publishing your article/posts, don’t forget to add links to your website, books, all social media profiles and other platforms where your book is listed so they can all be easily accessed and provide maximum exposure when shared by readers.
By the way, while we're discussing your website, be sure to have a tempting offer to capture new email addresses. Yes, those pop-ups are irritating, but if you offer tempting bonus content (like the first chapter for free), free access to podcasts or early access to subsequent books, they can work.
Schedule your posts
Months before your book launch, set up an attractive template in an email marketing platform such as Mailchimp. Mailchimp is free up to 2,000 subscribers. Once you reach 2,000, you could create a free plan with another service and continue to store and segment your lists in Excel or Google Sheets. It’s easy to schedule emails ahead of time based around your workload.
5. Use Social Media to Spread the Word
It may not be apparent straight away how to promote a book on social media other than pushing links where people can buy your book on your feed.
Always use hashtags on your posts so those not following you can see your content. Check out these hashtags for #authors so you can apply the most appropriate to your posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Also, make a note of the hashtags used by other authors you follow so you can incorporate these also. There are always new hashtags being created, so keep up to date and try to be as niche as you can to your genre and the purpose of your post so you stand out more against the crowd.
For example, your book could be lost amongst the masses when using #fiction; whereas, using #contemporaryromance, there is a lot less competition.
Be aware from the outset that while social media is worth using to promote books, extending your reach will take up a lot of your time. Once you have a following, be sure to devise ways to capture their email addresses.
Social media is a fickle mistress and your preferred platform could lose popularity or change their algorithm at any time. For example, it was once possible to reach all followers on Facebook with a free post.
Now, Facebook allows you to reach around 16% of them per post, and to reach all of them you must pay. Imagine spending years building up a following and just as you launch a new book, the platform closes or limits access to followers.
Tactics for promoting your book across all social media channels
Social media works better if you don’t ask your followers to buy the book, but instead ask them to help spread the word. It keeps it social, rather than commercial.
Asking 200 followers to buy the book might result in one or two sales. Asking 200 followers to help promote the book to their 200 friends results in exponential sales.
You can switch to your marketing assistant persona if you find it difficult to ask for help.
Remove any emotion and ask for help spreading the word with a light hand and genuine enthusiasm.
Do you ever recommend books on social media? If you do, it’s because you think your friends will like it.
Always use hashtags on your posts so those not following you can see your content. Check out these hashtags for #authors so you can apply the most appropriate to your posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Also, make a note of the hashtags used by other authors you follow so you can incorporate these also. There are always new hashtags being created, so keep up to date and try to be as niche as you can to your genre and the purpose of your post so you stand out more against the crowd.
For example, your book could be lost amongst the masses when using #fiction; whereas, using #contemporaryromance, there is a lot less competition.
Be aware from the outset that while social media is worth using to promote books, extending your reach will take up a lot of your time. Once you have a following, be sure to devise ways to capture their email addresses.
Social media is a fickle mistress and your preferred platform could lose popularity or change their algorithm at any time. For example, it was once possible to reach all followers on Facebook with a free post.
Now, Facebook allows you to reach around 16% of them per post, and to reach all of them you must pay. Imagine spending years building up a following and just as you launch a new book, the platform closes or limits access to followers.
Tactics for promoting your book across all social media channels
Social media works better if you don’t ask your followers to buy the book, but instead ask them to help spread the word. It keeps it social, rather than commercial.
Asking 200 followers to buy the book might result in one or two sales. Asking 200 followers to help promote the book to their 200 friends results in exponential sales.
You can switch to your marketing assistant persona if you find it difficult to ask for help.
Remove any emotion and ask for help spreading the word with a light hand and genuine enthusiasm.
Do you ever recommend books on social media? If you do, it’s because you think your friends will like it.
6. Engage with Influencers
Influencers can be found on all social media channels. How do you get them on side?
It takes time and persistence, but you are playing the long game. Follow them, promote their posts and books. If you are a keen podcaster, offer to interview them.
Once they know who you are, try to get them excited about your next book so that they return the favour.
Is it worth pursuing influencers given that they might not respond for years, if ever?
When an influencer talks about a book, interviews an author, or recommends that people make a purchase, a huge volume of sales can occur in days.
When you combine the power of a large email list with carefully selected influencers into a well-timed campaign, your book can hit the bestseller lists.
Plus, it builds momentum for additional word-of-mouth sales that continue long-term.
It takes time and persistence, but you are playing the long game. Follow them, promote their posts and books. If you are a keen podcaster, offer to interview them.
Once they know who you are, try to get them excited about your next book so that they return the favour.
Is it worth pursuing influencers given that they might not respond for years, if ever?
When an influencer talks about a book, interviews an author, or recommends that people make a purchase, a huge volume of sales can occur in days.
When you combine the power of a large email list with carefully selected influencers into a well-timed campaign, your book can hit the bestseller lists.
Plus, it builds momentum for additional word-of-mouth sales that continue long-term.
7. Give Advance Copies
Giving advance copies, or free copies if your book is already published, to your most ardent fans can help spread the word and provide reviews to help give your book publicity. Be clear about what you want them to do and provide the sales link.
This can be to family and friends, your social media followers, and those on your mailing list.
This can be to family and friends, your social media followers, and those on your mailing list.
8. Speak at Events / Set up a YouTube Channel
If you enjoy public speaking, reach out to organisers of events which are related to your genre. Speakers for panels and keynotes are usually selected 4-6 months ahead of the event, so make contact early.
Send a one-page author bio PDF with a separate headshot. If you have video clips of previous speaking engagements, link to your showreel on your website or YouTube/Vimeo channel.
Speaking engagements at this level are usually unpaid, although some organisers may offer accommodation vouchers.
Maximise your author exposure in the online and printed event programme by supplying details of your website, Instagram and social media handles, plus the hashtag for your new book. They may not use it all, but it won’t hurt to promote strongly.
On the day of the event, bring business cards and flyers that promote your book. Some events let you put flyers on the seats or include them in the official goodie bag. Ask in advance what is permitted.
Networking with other speakers is a great opportunity to extend your influencer community.
An alternative to speaking at events is setting up a YouTube channel
If you’re not ready to stand up in front of a room full of people talking about your masterpiece just yet, a YouTube channel may be the answer. You don’t even have to show your face; you can just use your voice if that’s more within your comfort zone.
It doesn’t cost anything to set up a YouTube account. Check out this article showing How to Set up a YouTube Channel. If you already have a Gmail email address, you will automatically have access to setting up your YouTube channel.
Also watch this complete tutorial video below showing How to Film, Edit and Upload a YouTube video from start to finish:
Send a one-page author bio PDF with a separate headshot. If you have video clips of previous speaking engagements, link to your showreel on your website or YouTube/Vimeo channel.
Speaking engagements at this level are usually unpaid, although some organisers may offer accommodation vouchers.
Maximise your author exposure in the online and printed event programme by supplying details of your website, Instagram and social media handles, plus the hashtag for your new book. They may not use it all, but it won’t hurt to promote strongly.
On the day of the event, bring business cards and flyers that promote your book. Some events let you put flyers on the seats or include them in the official goodie bag. Ask in advance what is permitted.
Networking with other speakers is a great opportunity to extend your influencer community.
An alternative to speaking at events is setting up a YouTube channel
If you’re not ready to stand up in front of a room full of people talking about your masterpiece just yet, a YouTube channel may be the answer. You don’t even have to show your face; you can just use your voice if that’s more within your comfort zone.
It doesn’t cost anything to set up a YouTube account. Check out this article showing How to Set up a YouTube Channel. If you already have a Gmail email address, you will automatically have access to setting up your YouTube channel.
Also watch this complete tutorial video below showing How to Film, Edit and Upload a YouTube video from start to finish:
You can talk about your book, answer questions from followers, read out the first couple of chapters from your book, talk about your favourite authors and books, your next book – anything you can think of!
If you’re happier to just narrate (not show your face), you could show a PowerPoint slideshow to accompany your video, or images of your book, a piece of text written about yourself or your book, a screenshot of your website, or anything else that reflects you and/or your work.
In the description text of your video, always add links to your website, social media profiles and links where your book can be bought.
Try to make videos between 7-15 minutes (as discussed on the article 15 Tips for Growing Your YouTube Channel at socialmediaexaminer.com) as a guide because these tend to perform best.
If you achieve 1,000 plus subscribers to your channel, you can monetize it by running ads, which is another income stream authors can utilise.
9. Use Op-Ed (Opposite the Editorial Page) Pieces to Boost Your Profile as an Author
(This is an article written to express the author’s opinion)
Sites such as Medium, where authors hang out, and BuzzFeed, which attracts a young audience, allow you to create a free profile (with a link to your website) and post articles on any subject – including articles about how wonderful your new book is.
Take the time to understand the site before jumping in with too many self-promoting articles. Traffic to your articles will be low unless they are noticed by an influencer, or you can cross-promote them from social media.
Scribd is a subscription site for readers allowing access to unlimited books and audiobooks for $9.99 per month. It accepts free content from authors without compensating them, but they also have agreements with distributors for the book to feature in their library with remuneration. A list of approved distributors is featured on their Author’s Page.
Sites such as Medium, where authors hang out, and BuzzFeed, which attracts a young audience, allow you to create a free profile (with a link to your website) and post articles on any subject – including articles about how wonderful your new book is.
Take the time to understand the site before jumping in with too many self-promoting articles. Traffic to your articles will be low unless they are noticed by an influencer, or you can cross-promote them from social media.
Scribd is a subscription site for readers allowing access to unlimited books and audiobooks for $9.99 per month. It accepts free content from authors without compensating them, but they also have agreements with distributors for the book to feature in their library with remuneration. A list of approved distributors is featured on their Author’s Page.
10. Create Your Book Promotion Action Plan
- Choose a hashtag for your book, add it to your email signature, all author profiles and use it in social media posts. For example, using #[titleofyourbook] or #[titleofyourseries] or #booksby[insert your name]
- Capture the email addresses of visitors to your website with a tempting offer of bonus content or access to an exclusive webinar.
- Jump straight into communicating with your email list. Build a relationship with regular, quality newsletters.
- Create a separate email account (and perhaps use a pseudonym) for your outreach communication. For example: [email protected] or [email protected]
- Ensure all your profiles on social media contain a link to your website, your other social media handles and the hashtag for your new book.
- Follow up every opportunity to network with potential influencers.
- Contact organisers of events in your sector/genre to propose yourself as an expert speaker on panels, or as a keynote speaker if you are a confident and experienced public speaker.
- List your site with free book review websites. See section 1 above.
- Boost your profile as an author by creating a free profile and posting articles on sites such as Medium and BuzzFeed.
- Share advance book copies, or bonus content, with fans who you think will spread the word.
- Create competitions for free books or advance copies on Amazon and social media.
- Join HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and respond to daily requests for help from journalists and bloggers.
- Send out a press release via a free service such as PressBox and PR Log.
- Join Facebook groups where your target audience hang out and build your reputation as an expert.
- Ask your Facebook fans to tag you in their posts about the book. It amplifies the number of people who see the post. Likewise, tag readers when you respond to them so their friends see your post.
- Create a LinkedIn profile that includes a link to your website and the hashtag of your new book. Make useful connections with fellow authors and influencers. Repurpose your newsletter content to LinkedIn with appropriate hashtags for your genre/industry. Engage with your connections by sharing and commenting on their articles. LinkedIn is a good place to promote podcasts, webinars and videos. You may not sell many books, but you could be invited to speak at events or be interviewed.
- Create a free profile page on Goodreads. A giveaway promotion on Goodreads isn’t free (entry package is $119), but it may be something you want to do in the future.
- Run a KDP free book promotion (Amazon Kindle authors) as discussed in item 2 above.
- Create a Facebook Business Page. Your first post should be about your new book and you can pin it at the top.
- Publish content on www.scribd.com. Self-published authors can also sign up to one of their partner distributors who publish the entire book to Scribd with remuneration to the author.
- Chase opportunities for more reviews. Good reviews boost sales. Check out this article Book Marketing: 10 Ways to Get Reviews for Your Book on thecreativepenn.com which details how to get reviews, especially when you are a new self-published author.
- Use the URL of the site where your book is for sale in all communications. Listing website addresses can look ugly in text, but you can hyperlink them to an image of the book or to a button icon.
- If you have published ebooks before, discount them to £0.99 in the months prior to the launch of your new book to extend your fan base. If they like your work, they’ll come back for more, including the latest release at full price.
- Start your own podcast series or offer to be interviewed on podcasts by other people. Gin Stevens, author of two best-selling books on intermittent fasting has created over 100 podcast interviews with doctors, researchers and successful fasters. She has confirmed in interviews that a large proportion of her book sales came from people who found her podcast first.
- Consider getting your book translated into widely spoken languages such as Spanish and French to increase sales.
- Include your website and social media details under the copyright section of your book when you publish on Amazon or other self-publishing platform.
- Webinars work well for the promotion of non-fiction books. Host one for free by setting up an account on YouTube or by using a free 30-day trial with services such as GoToWebinar or VimeoLivestream.
- Research videos on YouTube featuring the work of authors you admire. What would work for your book? A reading in an unusual location or an interview with someone your readers would love to know about?
- If you have a large Facebook community by the time you launch, run a 10-minute event using Facebook Live Video on the day of your launch. Practise using the video feature in advance and choose a time when you know your supporters will join.
- When you submit your book to recommendation sites, such as Goodreads and Book Doggy, use their logo at the bottom of your website in a ‘Recommended by’ or ‘As featured in’ section.
- Consider if your book naturally ties in with any charitable organisations or community groups. If so, join and develop a mutually beneficial relationship.
If you take away only one piece of advice from this article covering book promotion ideas and how to promote your book online for free, to achieve volume sales of a new book it is essential that promotion begins months in advance of publishing and that promoting your book will take more time than you ever imagined.
But if your book is already published, there are many options discussed in this article showing how to promote your book for free.
That’s it! Plenty to do. You thought that writing was time consuming, by the end of this book launch you’ll be a seasoned promoter.
But if your book is already published, there are many options discussed in this article showing how to promote your book for free.
That’s it! Plenty to do. You thought that writing was time consuming, by the end of this book launch you’ll be a seasoned promoter.
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How to Promote Your Book Online for Free - 10 Top Tips by www.bookeditingservices.co.uk
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