In response to Jason and Victor’s comments about last week blog post, Introducing an Even Easier Way to Write Your Book, I’d like to share some of the ways you can promote your brand-building ebook or self-published print-on-demand book.
The following ideas are presented with the caution that they are ideas, or options; not a prescription for success. There is no, one, universal path to author profitability.
My goal in presenting the options is simply to help you identify the best mix of ideas and strategies that works for you.
Premise–understanding your publishing goals
The following ideas are based on the premise that you are primarily interested in using your book as a marketing, prospecting, and list-building tool, rather than a source of immediate profits.
In other words, instead of looking to profit directly from sales of your book, your goal in writing and publishing a book is to promote your professional services in order attract new, qualified prospects to your marketing funnel.
Today’s savvy authors view books primarily as marketing tools and positioning tools, rather than profit centers in themselves.
Initial steps
Prepare a PDF. Assuming that you own exclusive rights to your book’s copyright, start by preparing an Adobe Acrobat PDF file of your ebook. The PDF should include both the front and back covers.- Create a SEO-optimized book site. One of the best strategies is to create a simple, blog-based site dedicated to giving away the PDF version of your book as a list-building incentive. For example, visit Bud Bilanich’s www.SuccessTweets.com and download his Success Tweets.
- Publish your book online. In order to gain maximum visibility for your book, publish it as an embedded graphic in your blog or website using free online services like www.issuu.com. Blog or site visitors can immediately view and read your publication at actual size by clicking thumbnails of your publication.
- Put your network to work. Make it easy for your networking partners and affiliates to promote your book. Offer to create customized, “Compliments of…” covers of your PDF, and invite them to blog about your book and give away copies of your ebook. An excellent example is John Fox’s 99 Questions to Jump Start Your Partner Channel Brain.
- Feature your ebook on your home page. If you’re writing a book to position yourself as an expert in your field and to attract prospects, make it the centerpiece of your website, like John Fox’s homepage.
Doesn’t giving your ebook away eliminate sales?
If you’re concerned that free distribution of quality information reduce sales, check out my Author Corner’s blog post I wrote about David Meerman Scott’s debate with Brian Halligan.
Long range strategies
Once you have created the framework for promoting your book on your site, and others, here are some additional strategies you can do to drive traffic to download or read your book online.
Note that none of the following are particularly difficult, or expensive–most are free. All that it takes to implement them is the intention to promote your book based on an action plan–or process–detailing how and when you’re going to take advantage of the free resources.
- Articles. Consider writing a series of articles discussing different aspects of your book for article portals like www.ezineaticles.com. For example, write a general article about your book, then separate articles discussing individual chapters or major topics.
- Podcasts and videos. Create a series of short audios and videos, similar to the above, based on chapters and topics, hosted on www.youtube.com and embed them in your website or blog. Or, prepare use short, free Screenr videos, as described here.
- Presentations. Prepare a series of short presentations about your book, and post them on SlideShare or SlideRocket.
Why you need a plan
The above are just a sampling of the ways you can promote your brand-building ebook or print-on-demand book online, using a variety of free resources. Once you’ve written a book, you’ve done the hard part. Now, all you need to do is to create a program to adapt ideas and content from your book to build awareness about your book. Don’t expect to try all of the above ideas at once! Try out 1 or 2, then add others down the road–and learn to delegate routine tasks as appropriate.
Author:
Discover Roger C. Parker‘s Published & Profitable blog with over 1,000 posts and tips for planning, writing, promoting, & profiting from a brand-building book.
