Is there an inexpensive way to promote/market my book without breaking the bank?

Promotion is the part we writers are dragged into kicking and screaming. After all, we want to write, not spend our days promoting. But promoting is mandatory, whether you’re independently or traditionally published, so take a deep breath and make a plan.

It won’t cost you a cent to do some of the things which begin to get some name recognition for you. Sign up at www.kindleboards.com. This is a place where readers and authors mingle and talk about everything Kindle. When you sign on, spend a few minutes on your profile and then make a signature. There are several “discussion threads” that will step you through how to add your book covers to your signature. Once you’ve done that, visit some “threads” and start replying/commenting. Each time you do, your signature, proudly displaying your book covers, will fall before the eyes of avid readers. Make sure that you link the book covers to the Amazon page where they can buy your book.

Another “must” is www.goodreads.com. There are nearly two million readers on GoodReads, and friends, readers are the ones you want to cultivate. Sign up (it’s free) and flesh out your profile. Make sure your book is in the “library”, and if it’s not, you can pull it into the database for free, as long as it’s currently for sale someplace like BarnesAndNoble.com, etc. At GoodReads readers build “bookshelves” under categories they get to define themselves. You might name your shelves “Favorites”, “Must-Reads”, “Books to Recommend”, etc., whatever works for you. Pull in the titles of books you’ve read or want to read and the book covers will automatically appear. Give the book a star rating, if you’ve already read it, and write a couple of pithy sentences about why the book was good. Be honest, be direct, be passionate, and people will find your reviews interesting. They’ll ask to be your “friend” and will “follow” your reviews, and you’ll be their friend and follow their reviews. Then join some groups. There are thousands of groups on GoodReads, and you’re sure to find a number of groups that exist to talk about exactly the genre of book you are writing. There are very affordable advertising opportunities on GoodReads, too, where your ad will fall before the eyes of readers. Ah, yes. Readers. For an author, that’s better than gold. And you’ll be able to do a giveaway, too. It’s very common to get over a thousand people signing up for a chance to get a free copy of your book.

For a small fee, you can take ads at www.kindlenationdaily.com, www.frugalereader.com, http://thekindlebookreview.blogspot.com, etc. You can use a Tweeting service like http://www.booktweetingservice.com/ to send out tweets announcing your book, or announcing a great review or lowered price, all with links to the place where they can buy your book.

You can advertise on sites that sell books in your particular genre. After all, that’s where readers who like your kind of book will be hanging out.

Publishing went all upside down and backwards this year, so everyone is working to figure out some common paths that will gain exposure for their books. For now, you’ll have to experiment. And when you do, you’ll be better off to “layer” your promotions. Have some ads overlap, and always accompany them with a Twitter campaign.

And here’s a rule of thumb (I have stolen it from several well-known authors): Publish your first book, and don’t do any promotion. Write that second book, publish it, and don’t do any promotion. Write your third book. Now you can promote. It’s tough, I know, but I would have had books two and three out a lot faster if I’d adhered to it.

And last, bite the bullet and blog. Respond to blog posts by authors in your genre, or at blog sites where bloggers talk about books. Get your name known as a generally nice guy or gal who really gets enthused when talking about books and writing. Don’t promote your books when you respond. You’re building name recognition here.

Good luck!

Mary Schwaner
Contributor on Simone's Blog