Many authors these days believe that writing a book is probably the easiest step of being a published author. Correction, easiest step of being a successful author. Your work doesn’t stop after you have written your book. In fact, the ‘work’ begins now. Assuming that you are either a debut author or you are trying to make your name in the world of Indian literature, this article is just for you. Let’s be honest, your book(s) need marketing. And if you look around, while few authors have already made their name and have a strong PR game, most others don’t get heard about a lot.

What do you suggest you should do? Of course, if you can and wish to shell out big bucks to hire PR, go ahead and do that pronto. The idea is to make a lot of noise about your book and you, and who better than a good PR person? However, if you are not willing to or in the position to shell out big bucks, does it mean your book will remain unheard of? Not at all! Contribute to promoting your book, because who can do it better than you. The other option is to team up with a book marketer, and let them promote your book in consultation with you! How? Here is how –

Firstly, you need an internet presence. And when I say ‘presence’, I don’t mean just create accounts in all possible websites. By presence, I mean active online presence. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc are good mediums to be active on. People should know who you are, that you are writing a book and it is due for release. The power of social media is great and should be exercised.

You’ll need a website. Now, sit back and decide how elaborate your website will be. If it is just about the book, then maybe a simple one page website which talks about your book & you, and provides links to buy the book from. However, it is always advisable to have your blog linked to your website as should links to other websites you have written for. Yes, unless you are already a blogger/writer, this will mean hard work for you. Start writing for websites and your own blog, from the time you start writing your manuscript. Readers would enjoy reading you outside of your book too. Sharing your articles/stories/poems across your social media would not only create a buzz about you as a writer, but all familiarize readers with your name and your style of writing. Your website can and should include your biography, interviews, excerpts, additional information, details about your book, launch photographs, endorsements, etc.

Blog, blog, blog. Don’t be lazy. Keep generating interesting content so that your blog posts get shared over social network regularly. Don’t take this step lightly, it is more crucial than you might gauge in the beginning.

Be regular on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. Share your own thoughts and links to your own writings. Interact with other authors and readers. Share interesting and important articles related to your interest. Befriend/follow people who share similar interests in literature as you do.

Secondly, get in touch with reliable book reviewers and request them to review your book. By following the first step mentioned above, you can find reliable book reviewers yourself and won’t have to rely on someone else’s reference. These reviewers would review your book in their blogs and share the links to their own network. Alongside, request them to share the links on e-commerce sites, social networking sites and GoodReads.

Thirdly, offer these reviewers and/or newspapers/publications, interviews. Nothing brings publicity like an interview does. You not only get to talk about your book in your own words, the message about your book would reach a wider audience than word of mouth would.

So, does that sound difficult? It doesn’t, right! You can easily promote your own book sitting at home, without having to learn something new. If you think you require some handholding or help with the above mentioned steps, don’t hesitate to contact me.

***

If you are reading this post and have reached this part, it is a given that you know I am a professional manuscript editor. If you want your manuscript edited, evaluated, help with ideating or writing, or even a ghost writer – drop me an email to editor@samarpita.in and we can have a conversation. There is so much I want to share about writing, editing, and social media for authors – I have so many informative posts planned for the next few weeks – hope you find them helpful. If you do, or if there are things under these topics that you’d want me to write in detail about, leave me a message in the comment box and I promise I will create that content for you.

You can also hop over to author.to/Samarpita and check out my ebooks on how to write better and make a social media presence before your book hits the market. The books are FREE on Kindle Unlimited.