Promotion

HOW CAN I PROMOTE MY BOOK?

Self-publishers agree that promoting their book can be the most difficult and time-consuming part of the whole process. This can be made easier if you are able to give lectures, slide shows or demonstrations where you can sell or at least promote your book.

Make sure you mine your local market first. Get the local paper to do a story on you, hold a book launch on a slow night in a local cafe or bookstore, get yourself onto community T.V. and radio. Use social media to target groups or hashtags related to the subject of your book. For instance, if your book is about growing up in Saskatchewan, find Facebook groups related to Saskatchewan and post announcements there about the publication of your book.

Bookstores are often reluctant to carry self-published books unless you have a distributor (see Distribution) so that they are assured of a stable supply source. So don't limit yourself to bookstores—try your local gift shop, health food store, or new age outlet.

One successful self-publisher promotes her trilogy of children's books by making author visits to local elementary schools. Another promotes her series of yachting books by renting a table at boat shows around the world.

Self-publishers can promote and sell their books through Amazon and have Amazon take care of collecting the money and shipping the books. More info is available here. Other bookselling sites may only buy books through a distributor (see Distribution).

Some companies that offer Print On Demand (POD) for order fulfillment (see Printing and Binding) will also promote your book on their website and some will also place the book on the major bookselling websites.

Contact us at info@self-publish.ca
for more information.