Marketing Essentials 2009 is here! Are you looking to grow your book sales this year? Or maybe you are just exploring the world of book marketing and want to learn more.

This comprehensive guide will teach you the essentials to become a successful self-published author. You will learn the ins and outs of marketing your book effectively, from deciding which platforms to use to gaining the most from your efforts. This is for experienced marketers and authors who know what they are doing. So, if you are looking to effectively market a book, you have come to the right place.

Marketing Plan

Deciding to write a book is an exciting moment; deciding to publish it is even more so. You have the world at your fingertips, the ability to share your story with potentially millions of people, and the opportunity to change the course of history.

But while great news, it also comes with monumental pressure. You have to follow a certain plan if you want to ensure that your book reaches the largest audience possible. This plan will form the blueprint for your book’s entire marketing campaign.

A book’s marketing plan should include a series of goals and objectives; it should reflect your overarching objectives and should be measurable (i.e., you should be able to quantify the results of your efforts).

It is essential that you write your book’s sales pitch (i.e., the synopsis of the book and the targeted audience’s guide) before you write a single word of it. Having a clear idea of what the book is about and who the target audience is before you start writing will make your job much easier and ensure that your book is written correctly. You can also use this pitch to query agents and publishers without having to worry about the manuscript wandering off course.

The following sections will guide you in creating a solid marketing plan for your book:

Book’s Sales Pitch

This is the most important part of your plan because it will dictate the structure and tone of your entire marketing campaign. You need to write this pitch (also known as the synopsis) last, but it should be one of your first priorities once you have finished writing the manuscript. (The reason for this is that publishers and agents usually have stacks of unsolicited manuscripts in their slush pile and it can be difficult for them to find the time to read and respond to every one of them. Having a pitch to send them will save you time and ensure that you do not waste your valuable writing time on something useless.)

Book’s sales pitch is basically a short story told in a few pages. It should include all of the following:

• A hook (opening sentence, or line, that draws the reader in and makes them want to continue reading)
• A quick overview of the story (for those who have not read the book yet – this should provide them with the main idea of what it is about)
• Key words or phrases that describe the book (e.g., mystery, adventure, thriller, or whodunit)
• A brief summary of the main character(s)
• The main conflict
• The resolution

You should not underestimate the importance of this part of your plan. It can be tricky to find a publisher or agent for your book if you do not have a clear and concise pitch. This is why it is crucial to take your time with this part of the plan and ensure that you have written something that will engage potential readers. Your pitch should be concise but comprehensive enough to include all of the necessary information for the reader to know what it is about – you do not want to miss out on any potential sales because you did not have the time to write a proper pitch.

Platforms For Marketing

There are several digital platforms available for book marketing; however, not all of them will generate valuable results. For instance, when used incorrectly or without a clear strategy, social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter can quickly become time-consuming and distracting while also offering little in the way of immediate sales.

To reach your audience and potential customers, you will need to consider a variety of platforms and decide which one will be the best fit for your book. To help you reach your decision, you will need to think about what you are trying to achieve; is it brand awareness, generating in-demand keywords, or simply gaining new readers?

Once you have decided which platform you will use to disseminate your book’s content, you can begin to develop content for each platform and determine what works best for your book. If you are just getting started, you may not know which platform will be the best fit for your book. So, it is essential that you test and learn as you go along. (Remember: you can always change your platform or tactic as soon as you determine that it is not working for you. )

Keywords For SEO

If you have been reading our blog articles, you will know that we often advise our readers to focus on the most popular and in-demand keywords when creating their content strategy – after all, content targeted at a popular topic will generally attract more traffic and increase the likelihood of a successful campaign. (NOTE: We always recommend using the keyword planner tool to find the most popular and in-demand keywords for your niche – using this tool makes creating content much easier and ensures that you are using the right keywords in the right places.)

To find the right keywords, you will need to consider a number of factors. For instance, you may want to focus on branded keywords (i.e., keywords that include the words ‘brand’ or ‘company name’) rather than general keywords (such as ‘SEO’ or ‘keywords’), as these tend to attract more traffic but do not always translate to valuable sales.

The following are some of the things you should consider: