Rapid digitization may have affected the selling of printed books across the world, but they still remain to be the most consumed format of books in the US. Even though digitization is often held responsible for the declining readership, it is actually the poor promotional strategy that is costing the authors and the publishers a large number of valuable readers.
Now that the digital format of books (e-books and audio-books) have become quite popular among the readers, blaming digitization for the declining sales figures no longer seems justified. However, if you are still using some outdated strategies to promote your book, you may find it difficult to thrive in the market.
Here are 6 book promotion strategies you must avoid at all cost:
1. Spamming people to buy the book:
In today’s digital world, there is nothing more annoying than the spam messages and emails that try to sell you something. I’m sure you must have encountered the same in the recent past. So, when you have been on this end of the spectrum, why are you even considering spamming others to buy your book? Do not spam the inboxes of others as it only adds to negative publicity.
2. Targeting a wide range of people:
Unless you are a renowned author or publishing the book under a big banner (like Macmillan or Oxford), targeting a large number of audiences may not be fruitful. First, you need to find an audience group which is most likely to buy your book. The ideal way to find the target audience is by identifying the genre of the book. You may also need to identify the sub-genres to learn the right buyers for the book.
3. Trying to impress the media by sending flashy press kits:
Gone are the days when eye-catching and flashy printed media kits were used by organizations to get the attention of media for events like a book launch. If you are doing the same in 2018, you are actually making a fool out of yourself. All you need to do is send the press a mail. You can attach the press release in the mail. You can even prompt them to visit the website or the social media profile for more information.
4. Starting the promotion after the book launch:
If you are holding back your promotional activities until the book launches, you are actually wasting the opportunity to grab the attention of the readers. Nowadays, people start sharing the cover of their first draft on their social media accounts to let the followers know about his/her next project. If you are active on Twitter, which you should, you can use it to promote the book before it goes for the press.
5. Not having an online presence:
As mentioned in the previous point, it has become a trend among most of the new-age writers to tease the followers with an image of their on-going project on the social media accounts. If you do not have any social media account or any form of online presence where you can share some updates regarding your new book, you are actually missing out on a lot of things.
The social media platforms are the best ways to reach a larger audience without spending too much. You can not only promote your book on social media but also interact with the audiences. This may not be rewarding at first, but if you have a certain readership in the market, having an online presence is only going to amplify it.
6. Playing the emotional card for publicity:
Begging, pleading and bemoaning how difficult your life has been one of the lamest ways to earn publicity in the market. It may work for the politicians, but if you are an author or a publisher, those tricks are not going to work in your favor.
Whether you acknowledge this or not, readers are only interested in the books you write. So, unless you are a celebrity writer, pulling the emotional card is not going to help you sell any book. Besides, people are smart. If you are faking things to get their attention, they will realize it anyway, which is, to say the least, not going to be good for your reputation.
There are several ways to promote your book in today’s market, and rapid digitization has only made it easier for authors and publishers to advertise their work to a larger audience. Just focus on innovative marketing strategies that offer positive results in today’s date and steer clear of the ones that we just discussed above.
About Author:
Alice Davison is a marketing expert who is currently employed at a reputed publication house. He is also associated with MyAssignmentHelp, where he helps students on book report writing on their requests.
