5 ways to promote your book without promoting your book
1. Stake out your area of expertise based on your book (this works for novels as well as non-fiction), then:
a. Identify media outlets that might cover news related to your area of expertise
b. Using key-word Google Alerts, monitor the world for breaking news tied to your expertise
c. When a story breaks, decide how you could put this in perspective for media outlets’ audiences
d. Write and publish a short blog that highlights what you’d say
e. Email pitch media decision makers telling them you can put this news into perspective for their audiences, with a link to your blog indicating what you’d say
2. Conduct low-cost online market research (use a standard platform like Survey Monkey) among your platform and virtual platform (members of topical Facebook Groups)
a. Develop from five to 20 questions that are newsworthy no matter how they’re answered
b. Make your questions fun and thought-provoking
c. Use three email pitches (different pitches) within 72 hours to invite people to take the survey
d. Summarize your findings
e. Blog about your findings
f. Contact the media as noted above for breaking news coverage and pitch your survey (hey, it’s news)
3. Using your book-generated credibility, land speaking gigs at topical conferences, conventions, workshops, etc.
a. Pitch them using your selling bio and your book’s thematic topic
b. For local (within a day’s drive) conferences, let them know you’re available as a last-minute replacement speaker (there is always someone who cancels at the last minute – be the “solution” to that “problem”)
c. Either get the host to buy copies of your books for all attendees (as part of your compensation) or …
d. Get your host to set you up with a place to autograph and sell your books – and – provide a volunteer or staffer to handle the finances of this (taking the money) so you can focus on turning fans into friends into fanatics
4. Consider how your book could be adapted to movie or television format – with all the streaming programming sites out there, Hollywood has a huge demand for new and innovative content
5. Tell buyers that you’ve got a sequel coming out and invite them to use a code (in the back of the book) where they can buy a pre-publication copy at “I’m one of your fans” discounts
6. BONUS: Contact your college alumni association (if any) to write a feature about you and your book, and set up a joint book-sale deal where the alumni association pushes your book and they get a donated percent of the proceeds (from the special offer people have to use) – this will sell books and raise your profile – and let that loser who dumped you in college know just how bad s/he blew it!
Do you need book marketing assistance (from creating a marketing plan to social media assistance)? Consider working with a Path To Publishing Marketing Companion and/or a Social Media Companion. Visit www.pathtopublishing.com/services to learn more.