At Alexander’s, we print all kinds of books. We fill orders from publishing houses, but we also assist a lot of self-published authors.

We’ve found that the customers who are proactive about marketing their book have much more success selling their books and building their own personal brand. Sounds obvious, right?

We’ve also found that many self-published authors struggle marketing their books. If budget and time allows, we can help them build and implement a cross-media marketing campaign, but in case resources don’t allow for that, here are a few DIY book marketing tips.

1. Utilize social media

Social media is the best way for authors to build an online presence. You want to make sure that your readers can find you online. You should create pages on Facebook, set up a Twitter account, and use Instagram. Posting content about your book regularly will serve as a great advertising tactic, but you also want to interact with your followers and readers. Treat social media as a way not just to promote your book, but to connect and engage with your audience.

Additionally, social media can help you build a network that is crucial to spreading the word about your book. Connect with other authors on LinkedIn, read their literature, and establish friendly relationships with those who are writing in your genre. Creating a bank of goodwill with others in your audience demographic will help you out when you release your book and want to spread the word.

2. Build a personal website and/or a book website

Building a website seems like a daunting task, but there are loads of platforms with pre-designed templates that make posting content simple and easy. We recommend buying a domain, paying for hosting, installing WordPress and updating content on your site to advertise the release of your book, as well as tell your audience about yourself as an author. (We have a service that’ll get you up and running with a WordPress website for $998.)

3. Guest post on other blogs

If you aren’t connected with other bloggers and authors like yourself, start reaching out to them and solicit opportunities to guest post on their blogs. Bloggers are always looking for valuable content contributors and if you’re book or standing as an author is relevant to their blog audience, they may love for you to write a guest post.

4. Create an event

An event is a great option for book marketing, especially if you already have a group of followers. This might be something like a book release part in the evening, or a book signing at a local bookstore. Create hype around the event through other channels such as email and social media.

If you would like help publishing a book, or creating a marketing plan for your book, contact us. We’d love to help.