Increase Visibility for Your Book, Part I & II
During 2016, I decided to explore ways to increase visibility for our books. I looked at different marketing options and chose four to try: presentations, Facebook ads, e-mail lists, and contests. I’d like to address these options in more than one post as there is so much to share!
Presentations. First, I did presentations in a local store and at a writer’s group. I spoke about self-publishing (the topic of my book), and had books available for purchase at both venues.
At the local store, publicity included a small article in the newspaper and an appearance on the early morning news hour. I gave a half-hour presentation on the basic steps of self-publishing. Unfortunately, the presentation was the week before the Fourth of July weekend and attendance was lower than desired. However, books were purchased and the store ordered more copies.
At the writer’s group, publicity was targeted to their e-mail list and included details about the book and my credentials. I gave a two-hour presentation on self-publishing expanding each of the basic 13 steps of self-publishing. As a result, in spite of the poor winter weather, a large group gathered and many books were sold.
Conclusion: Presentations are a great way to engage with an interested audience and let them see your expertise and personality first-hand. Most writers will agree that if readers can meet the author, they are more likely to buy the book than if it’s just sitting on a shelf.
Facebook Ads. I tried Facebook ads for books in two different genres. I took the time to broaden the audience scope to include both readers specific to the genres and those in the periphery of the topics.
I experimented with placing the ads on different days of the week, and found during the work week to be slow in views or responses; Friday night through Sunday are more active Facebook times for someone likely to read a book.
I used a basic photo of the book with a brief comment and a link to the book’s website.
I did not use testimonials or reviews.
I did not spend more than $25 per ad campaign, and found the results less than rewarding.
Conclusion: After viewing and clicking through on several Facebook ads, I found the ads that ran for at least 7 days and repeated after a couple of weeks were more successful. The current consensus from publishing experts about Facebook ads is mixed.
Next week’s post will talk about E-mail Lists followed by Contests the following week. See you then!
♥pm