Many
authors hit a roadblock when it comes to putting together and
implementing a
book marketing plan. You know you
need to have one, you have a vague idea of what it needs to include,
but pulling it all together into a step-by-step plan of attack is
not nearly as easy as it sounds.
A good starting point is
to break your plan up into major categories. From there, you can
further define and set up strategies for each area of your
book
marketing plan.
The first
thing that comes to mind for most authors and self publishers is
book store sales. Makes sense doesn't it? That's where people
buy books don't they? It's true that making your book available
to the general public through bookstores is a very vital
component of your marketing plan. However, it is just that --
one single component of your plan. There are many
elements that will make up your book marketing plan and
arranging to have your book available in bookstores is just one
of them. Let's call that component #1:
Book
Marketing Plan Component #1
Making Books Available
in Bookstores
Now, it's one thing to
secure placement for your book on the bookstore shelves, but now how
are people going to know it's there? Customers can't (and won't) buy
something they've never heard of. This is where the publicity
component of your Book Marketing Plan comes into play. Setting up
and ongoing publicity campaign is the number one way to drive
customers to the bookstore to buy your book. We'll call this
component #2:
Book Marketing Plan Component #2
Setting up and Implementing a
Successful Publicity Campaign
Besides book stores,
you can also sell your books to nontraditional book buyers like display retailers, book clubs, catalogs, gift retailers, volume buyers (think Costco and Price Club), corporations, foundations and foreign markets.
We sell thousands of self published books to buyers like these
all the time and targeting these buyers should make up a good
portion of your book marketing plan (for more about our
Book Marketing
services click here:
Book Marketing Kit).
This will be component #3:
Book Marketing Plan Component #3
Non-traditional Markets
In this day and age, you
would be making a big mistake if you didn't include the internet as
a vital component of your Book Marketing Plan. The internet is the
best way to directly reach your target customers. It is also the
best way to sell to them since you cut out any third parties and
retain 100% of the profits. There are many ways to research the
internet to ensure that there is a demand for your book and the best
ways to fill that demand.
Book Marketing Plan Component #4
The Internet - Your Book Website
These are the four most important components
of your Book Marketing Plan. Now you must research each
component individually to customize the approach you take for
your book.
(We can help you with this... see below...)
© Copyright 2004 Ink Tree Ltd.
Ink Tree Ltd. helps authors publish, market and sell books.
We have all the tools you need to succeed in book publishing. Let us help you make your book a success. http://www.inktreemarketing.com
The Ultimate Book
Marketing Kit
The
Beginner's Guide to Publicity
Sell More Books Online by Optimizing Your Site (coming soon...)
