Amazon’s Kindle has caused an explosion of do-it-yourself authors getting out there and writing their books. Anyone can be an author with global reach. The only trouble is that unless your name is John Grisham, you’ve got to know a bit about marketing as well as writing.
Marketing is actually half (often more than half) the battle. For marketers, Kindle eBooks offer a fast track to expert status, an excellent credential for your author bio, and serious profits. Here are some ideas for promoting your Kindle eBook.
Your Book Description
Before you start promoting your book, spend some time writing a killer description. The description should tell readers what they can expect from the book and how it will help them. Make it keyword-optimized and take advantage of tabs. Also, make sure it has a good cover that’s attention grabbing.
Social Media
One of the best methods is to promote the heck out of your book on social media. You can promote your book and have a link that goes directly to your Amazon page right there on your Facebook Fan Page. But don’t stop there. Use every social media network you can as a way to broadcast to readers that you have a book out.
Joining Book Sites
Ideally, you want to promote your book in places where you’ve got potential readers. What better place than social media sites centered around books and reading?
Here is a list of these sites:
Author Marketing Club – http://authormarketingclub.com/members/submit-your-book/
Good Kindles – http://www.goodkindles.net/p/why-should-i-submit-my-book-here.html
Free Kindle Books and Tips – http://www.fkbooksandtips.com/for-authors/
Good Reads – http://www.goodreads.com/advertisers
This is a VERY short list. There are tons of other sites out there. Search for more and remember that the more sites you submit to, the more exposure you can get.
Write a Press Release
A good way to get the word out about your book is to write a press release. You can submit press releases to traditional media outlets or one of the many press release directories. It will be searchable by search engines, so make sure it’s keyword-optimized. The press release should be another version of your description, telling people how they’ll benefit from your book.
Get Reviews
Nothing works better than reviews. Social proof works. Solicit reviews by offering free copies for feedback. When they give you feedback that’s positive, ask them if they wouldn’t mind submitting the review to the Amazon site. Submit to book review sites as well. You can also ask bloggers and other marketers in your niche if they’ll write a review for you.
Work on Your Amazon Profile
If you have a good, active profile on Amazon, this will help sell your books. Make sure it’s fully filled out and get involved on all of the site’s features. Write reviews of other products and this will increase your visibility.
Kindle and Amazon make all of this easy. Just get out there and let everybody know. And remember that the people who really make money on Kindle do it by releasing title after title.
Tony
PS check out my own Kindle books
