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(Growth Hacking for the D.I.Y. Author)
I was working on some Marketing / Growth Hacking ideas the other day for some "Author" friends of mine who were looking to get their books back out in front of the public after they had taken a brief sabbatical from writing.
So I figured why not share with everyone some of the things I came up with. Hopefully if you are an author and you are looking for some ideas on how to get your work out in front of people a few of these ideas will help you as well.
If any of these ideas do help you please let me know which ones you tried, and which one worked for you.
Twitter: Setup an Author account and this will be a way to distribute your content to the masses. It will also allow you a way to have real-time conversations with your fans.
Facebook: Setup a VIP or Author page and this will allow you to start building your community and to start to tell your story. With the latest statistic of 71% of everyone on the Internet is using Facebook this is a great place to tell your story.
If your at a lost of how to get started you might want to talk about, Why you decided to write, What inspires you to write, What style of writing you do, etc... This is the place to start telling "Your" story.
Amazon: Setup an account and make sure your have your Author page, picture, and bio all updated. Once that is done, then you can start using Amazon to sell your Paperback, (Hardcover if you choose to do this.), Audio books, and E-Books.
Also this is a great for you because you don't have to keep any inventory or stock on hand personally. Amazon will take care of all the purchasing, printing (if needed), and shipping of your product if you choose to go with this option.
Blog or Website: Setup a blog (for free) or a website (for minimal cost) so that you can have a central place to put all of your writings and to keep up with all of your fans.
It's always good to have a hub where everyone can come to find you and all of your latest updates on your next best seller.
Medium: This is a fairly new site to some and others know it has been around for about two years now. If you are a writer this is another great place to get some exposure for your work and to work collaboratively with other writers.
I like that you can work with others on the site to make your writing better before you ever publish it to the world. What a great asset that is to any writer.
It kind of reminds me of the old school writing cafe where writers use to meet and chat and help each other write but this is the 2015 online version of that.
Great site, if you haven't checked it out yet and you want to write it is well worth your time to check out.
Podcast Interviews: I know for some, podcasts are an up and coming thing, but for the rest of us we have been listening to podcasts for years. I love podcasts and listen to them almost daily. If you haven't ever checked out a podcast as of yet you should.
As a writer this is a great way to be heard and also a great way to get some free publicity. Remember also that a podcast is something you can link to from your website, so it's another medium you can use to promote you and your writing.
Writing "Guest" Posts: This one probably should go without saying but I'll say it anyway, write as many "Guest" posts as you can on as many other authors sites that are in your same genre of writing as possible.
Not only will this get your name out there, and your writing, but it will also give you exposure to the other author's community.
With that being said if this author is writing the same kind of things you are currently then you know that his community, one loves to read, and two it's probably a pretty good bet they are going to like your writing as well.
This is a Win/Win for both you and the other author. First it gives you exposure, and second for the other author it's one less post they have to write, plus it also shows that they are willing to help an up an coming writer, now what could be better than that?
Mini-(Self)-Book Tour: I broke this down into three different types of mini-tours.
1. (Local) - Setup an Author signing in all of the local library's within a 60 mile radius of where you currently live. This way you can get some local exposure, and you can get some book sales under your belt.
Another benefit for you is that it's not to far to drive back and forth for the signings.
2. (Regional) - Setup book signings at all of the Barnes and Nobles, Books a Million, or other large retail chains within the state (and surrounding states) in which you live.
While you are doing your regional tour why not donate some books at every place you do a signing. Just a little added extra perk for the businesses that are helping you out on your way to becoming a New York Times Best Seller.
3. (National) - Hit up your major book distributors and major book stores that are national chains or global chains and see what you need to do to get your books in their stores.
Also what can you do to get a book signing in any of their stores in any major city through out the U.S. and the world? Each chain probably has different requirements so prepare to take some time and jump through some hoops to accomplish this task.
Again be prepared to donate some books to the businesses that work with you.
Pick out (10) people you'd like to send your book to for "Free" and ask them to read it. If they choose to comment on Social Media or on your Amazon page that is up to them but these 10 peoples feed back will be invaluable to you as you continue to write more books in the future.
Remember word of mouth recommendations has never hurt anyone, so don't be afraid, send it out and ask them for their thoughts and comments. (Tweet This)
Give them a "Call To Action" if you want to, but the important thing to remember is that everyone today is very busy. Don't be offended if for some reason they don't respond or give you a review.
Nothing wrong with taking a few of your books and leaving them places for people to find. Some places maybe you hadn't thought of could be:
- Your doctors office waiting room.
- Your local library.
- A local dance school.
- The DMV.
- Your local hospital waiting room.
- Surgery center waiting room.
- Mechanic shop.
So those are just a few ideas I came up with to help out some Author friends of mine. What ideas do you have?
Anything maybe you've done in the past to help promote yourself?, a product?, or service you've offered?
If so, please share it in the comments sections so we can all learn from each other.
* Last but not least "Thank You" for taking the time to read this post, and for letting me share some of my thoughts and ideas with you. I would appreciate any comments or thoughts you'd like to share.
I've often thought about applying growth hacking to author/book marketing—and then you went ahead and did it for me. Excellent summary!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Chris!! Anything else you think I should add? Or anything that maybe you have tried that has worked for you in the past?
DeleteOne thing I always encourage authors to do is to set up their account on AuthorCentral.com. It's an Amazon feature that a lot of authors don't know about. It gives you a lot more options for both your author page and for each book page. You can upload up to 8 videos, link your Twitter account, add several images, and more.
DeleteGreat Tip Chris!! Thank You for sharing that. I'll add this to my list. :)
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