So, you have your very first self-published book all ready to unveil to the world? You even have a list of friends, acquaintances and relatives lined up to buy your first copies? That’s great, but what comes next when you have already sold your book to the first group of buyers? To canvass the marketplace in the most effective way and to ensure that your book sells, you need to invest attention in promotions too. Here are a few points you can use.

Everyone is not your audience

It’s true, not everyone is going to want to read your book and thats not bad. In fact, there is probably no book in existence that has universal appeal. However, assuming that your book will appeal to everyone can be a big marketing mistake.

The first step in effectively promoting your book is to understand who your audience is. You have already worked on it when you started to write the book, i.e.: defining your audience. Now, you take this a step further and assess where the audience is likely to congregate so that you can focus your promotions in these areas. For example, if you have a book titled Caring for your newborn, you may want to promote it in forums where new parents tend to interact, or on communities managed by brands that sell products for newborns.

Offer your book free in exchange for reviews

Offering your book for free may seem to be rather counterproductive, but if you get some really good reviews in, the move can pay off in spades. Typically, you should limit the freebie offer to a few days right after launch and encourage the buyers to give reviews. Do not expect all of them to comply with your request, but some of them will surely oblige. If you know the top reviewers or subject matter experts in the niche that your book belongs to, offer them a free copy before launch and get their views on the book. Publish these along with your book listing to give it credibility in the marketplace.

Use social media to the fullest

Thanks to social media, sharing news with the world is easy and you can leverage the advantage to promote your self- published book to the world at large. Include blurbs from the book, pictures, reviews, excerpts to tantalize your social media followers to read the book. If there is any recent news that can be related to your book, refer to it and link it with your book and its contents. It is a great way to make the best of trending news in your promotional strategies.