Book promotions have to be planned well in advance and an action plan has to be carved out for the pre-sale period, pre-launch and post-launch marketing.

The essential questions that need to be taken into consideration and determine the action plan of how an author is going to market their book are-

• Who your market is?
• What do they want?
• What’s involved?
• What do you as an author want from your book?
• How to utilize time effectively and efficiently?
• Which marketing-related outlets are worth the effort?

Thinks that one should always keep an eye on and stay up-to-date are-

• Doing extensive market research to analyze the competition, recognizing both customers’ needs and demands and how possibly to minimize investment risk and maximize profit from the sales of your book.
• Refreshing Your Book Marketing Strategies and planning according to what is trending in the market.
• How information on social media needs to be circulated and on which platform you have to stay most active on

Free book marketing strategies

1. Postings on free book promotion sites to kickstart your book launch and reach out to new readers.
2. Issue Free Bonus Content time and again such as free printables, extra chapters and free audio versions related to your book as a reward for passionate readers who can’t get enough of your work and want more.
3. Enrolling in Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Select program. A free 90-day program that drives targeted traffic to your book listing helping to reach out to more readers through Amazon and Kindle ebook promotions. All authors and publishers are eligible for enrollment irrespective of where they live.
4. Build an email list and send regular newsletters that are goal-oriented, audience-specific and help in building better author-reader relationships.
5. Create forums, newsletter sign-up forms and members-only services to find new readers. Do not forget to include a link to your book in them. In these, provide personalized offers and discounts, explain to them how to navigate through the content available on social media platforms and attach links to exclusive content not accessible to users that do not subscribe to the author’s page.
6. Pitching articles or blog posts in continuation related to your book for consistency and keeping the readers interested.
7. Spreading the word through Social media channels by making content viral.
8. Engaging influencers in book promotions to build up momentum.
9. Give advance copies and mention sources of free downloads to your audience before the launch of your book.
10. Take part in public events and celebrations for free marketing of your book. Build an Events Section on your website for keeping the audience informed if one is approaching mentioning your presence in advance.
11. Set up your own book channel on which upload youtube videos consistently to become a part of the writers’ community and collect great book recommendations.
12. Creating your personal website -a powerful marketing tool that pivots the base for all online activities. Make it user friendly easier to navigate through
13. Use Op-Ed(opposite the editorial page) to boost your profile and opinions as an author
14. Give out Interviews for increasing the publicity of your book.
15. Connect with Book clubs that are easily accessible to you.
16. Build personal connections through a readers or writers group.
17. Adjusting Keywords making them SEO friendly and including long-tail keywords for best ‘phrase matches’.
18. Researching categories NA(new adult), YA(young adult), novels and non-fiction. Select niche categories and add extra ones too on online selling platforms
19. Assigning genres sci-fi, fantasy, romance, biography, history and mysteries to your books.
20. Arrange cross-book promotions with other authors to gain access to unidentified new potential readers. Moreover, Collaboration increases your fan following and chances to receive more reviews from new reviewers.
21. Speak on an author panel and publish a multi-authored series to acquire exposure to the world.
22. Growing your mailing list improves market visibility and your book’s bestseller status.
23.  With growing Competition Perfect your Product day by day relating to feedback given by readers. Edit, refine and format to polish your work further.
24.  Try to harness all Guest Writing Opportunities you receive.
25.  Organize and Attend Free webinar programs or workshops.
26. Pin your book cover, details of the book, a summary and a link to purchase on Pinterest. A social network with millions of people visiting daily searching for interesting boards category arranged according to the choice of readers.
27. Creating an Author Profile on GoodReads makes it easier for readers to create a review for experience-sharing purposes.
28. Add a synopsis of every Book to Your Email Signature.
29. Tie different versions of a book together.
30. You can also try bundling all your books together for better sales and discount the set for encouraging more people to buy.
31. Run a preordering campaign. Provide some extra benefits to those who order in advance.
32. Offer Free Review Copies & giveaways to involve bloggers in marketing strategy. Blogging indirectly leads to getting books to reach more hands.
33. Talk to Top Book Reviewers and ask them to review your book.
34. Live-stream on social media platforms whenever you have time.
35. Seek out podcast slots. You can start your own podcast or you can join others as guest speakers
36. Try broadcasting your book on local radio and Television
37. Contact local bookstores,  shop owners that take up consignments and librarians to sell your book
38. Put together a street team of near and dear ones and ask them to spread information about your book.
39. Reach out to your known connections to receive some testimonials
40. Speak at conferences and events.
41. Attend book festivals and conventions to increase your network
42. Write an engaging book description.
43. Design an eye-catching, genre-friendly cover for your fan base
44. As an author, answer relevant questions on Quora.
45. Hosting live author Q&A sessions with readers to pique their interest in the book
46. Participate in relevant interviews.
47. Organize a press release and inform press release distributions for confirming the authenticity of facts and figures according to the guidelines laid. Distribute it to all your online outlets.
48. Email and update all social media handles about the book launch.
49. Upload a PDF sample to your website and Scribd.
50. Pin important updates on your feed
51. Make all postings visible to all and easily shareable across platforms.
52. Donate copies of your book to admissible organizations.
53. Create a Google+ Account to interact with readers and book publishing industry leaders.
54. Use Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter in every way to promote your book. Do optimize them for increasing traffic.
55. Do Book Readings at local meeting spots and organizations, in potential clubs and non-profit groups.
56. Reach Out To Your Past Schools and Colleges.  They might include your released book information in the alumni newsletter.
57. If you can’t afford it, propose an Affiliate Program to increase sales at the starting of book promotions.
58. Carry a Business Card that reflects our specifications and easily allows you to exchange your contact info quickly with distinguished personalities.
59. Use free services such as Google Analytics to analyze the conversion rate of the sales.
60. Manually submit to the best online directories for getting listed wherever possible.
61. Optimize Your Website for Search Purposes.
62. Contact Local Newspapers and Magazines to reach out to your local community.
63. Organize Sip and Reading Events with other authors. Ask them to bring their booze of choice along to enjoy long conversations about books in detail.
64. Set up a store online with themed print related to your book on-demand merchandise. The best way to carry this activity is by hosting contests where fans can summit entries for designs they like.
65. Create visual quotes from the book and start using them on social media platforms.
66. Use excerpts from reviewers, phrases, particular designs related to your work for book promotion purposes.
67.  Strike up meaningful conversations, answer queries, organize contests, games and fun quizzes at random with your readers.
68. Approach Coffee Shops and get into candid conversations about your book.
69. Sign copies of books and hand them out yourself.
70. Apply and send your Books in nominations for prestigious Book Awards.
71. Be ready with an elevator speech to quickly sum up your book in a minute
72. Create the facility of scanning QR Codes on your materials so that readers get direct access to your website and the information they are searching for.
73. Meet people and join forces with organizations that work in the context or are related to your book. Find ways to network and engage with these people for better marketing of your book.
74. Make Presentations for SlideShare – A slideshow featuring a sort of trailer of the book giving a broad outline about it helps reach the masses and shows up in their search engines.
75. Generate ideas from useful comments and implement them using your creativity.
76.  Identify your readers and establish a substantial audience community interested in your genre of books.
77. Consider joining Reddit and Library Thing.
78. Build A Big Buzz after every new release and continue publishing new books.
79. Ask partner websites to share your content and promote books on their sites as well
80. Provide fans with a Unique hashtag for promotions of your book across all platforms and don’t forget to incorporate common keywords that will interlink your book’s listings.

Final Thoughts

To increase the visibility of your book to the general audience, spreading the news and increasing your sphere of influence resorting to book marketing strategies is extremely important.

A well-planned marketing strategy helps in engaging and identifying the target audience thus optimizing the book for their readers. This also ensures effective distribution of the book by determining optimal prices for selling allowing the author to reap profits at minimal bargains.