The self publisher can take one of many positions within the publishing market.
Self Publishing can range from the small to the very large. J.K. Rowling the mysterious author of the Harry Potter series recently took up the position of a self publisher in e-format only with the new ‘Pottermore’ series which we blogged about to much hype when announced last year.
The marketing message for a self publisher will therefore vary depending on budget, audience, and scope. What works for J.K. might not necessarily be possible for the hobbyist publisher but certain tactics can bring very positive results. Consider the recent smash hit ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ by E. L. James selling over a million copies a day at launch the work has been open to much criticism but obviously was executed very well something the author has accepted with some surprise.
For this blog post we shall consider the main stream techniques which can be utilized for marketing communications with regard to your manuscript!
Start a Blog
Is your publication a Niché piece of work? Perhaps more mainstream? If you’ve got lots of ideas on a topic why not start your marketing campaign with a blog on your chosen topic. Creating your page is possible via hosted solutions from WordPress or Blogspot. A useful tactic could be to write first and publish later that way your blog will get off to a running start!
Social Media: Facebook and Twitter
Harness the potential of social media by starting with your own network. Maybe your publication is available on one of the major bookstores or hosted on your own website either way share a link to your publication as soon as it is ready or whilst in development. If your group is particularly interested you may consider providing updates as your chapter count grows.
Get Advice
There are numerous service providers out there for ebook preparation. These will take the pain out of the process but remember that these options can prove expensive. Service providers who build e-books can charge up to $500 per manuscript which for the smaller publisher could be quite prohibitive. Levels of service will range from cover design to ISBN numbers. Your publication should have an ISBN which will incur some costs.
Start in a Niché
Niché publications and markets generally will be easier to gain traction in why is this? mainly writers being fewer in number. Note however that a poorly written publication will always fail regardless of size of market.
For more social media marketing strategies for self-publishers, check out this free guide:
