20 Easy Marketing Tips That Will Take You Just 5 Mins

Ways to promote a book in only a few minutes

Hey Guys - As you know learning how to market a book is one of the challenging tasks in the publishing process, but it doesn’t need to take hours of your time.

However, it is worth taking a moment to recap and define what it means.

In brief, any action you take to bring your book to the notice of potential readers is of high value. Whether it be an expensive advertising campaign or a simple social media post, the aim is exactly the same.

It is to encourage as many people as possible to consider your book, but importantly, it is not a means of finding people to buy your book.

Think of it this way. Attracting social media followers is all about finding people, connecting, and then communicating. It’s a very slow and time-consuming process.

Online marketing or promoting your book is about getting your book out to the world in as many ways as possible and to as many people and places as possible. The more eyes you can attract to your book, the better your chances of making book sales.

Ideally, the various means you use to do this should be both time and cost-effective, as well as having a long-lasting effect.

With these goals in mind, here are 20 ways to help your book sales that will each only take around ten minutes for you to do. 

Before we offer you the typical ways to market yourself and your book we are going to suggest that you place an add in The Scribe - the Breaking Rules Publishing online and hard copy magazine.

Also - Breaking Rules Publishing is currently accepting manuscript submissions. Breaking Rules works with our authors to help market them and their books. Look to the Breaking Rules Publishing website at www.breakingruleswritingcompetitions.com for additional information.Last

Now for the real work - 

1. Re-Post one of your 5-star book reviews

You can add your review on Facebook and Twitter along with your book cover image and pin it to the top of your feed so every visitor will see it – for weeks.

To get the link to your review on Amazon, go to the review, and click the permalink button. Then copy this address from your browser.

2. Open a Pinterest account

Pinterest helps you to gain image search traffic to your site or blog. It’s an ideal social network for your book covers.

3. Add a comment on a popular book blog

Look for articles on three high traffic book blogs and post a comment.

You’d be surprised how many people click on comment links, which will lead readers to your profile, author website or blog.

It’s a bit like a book tour, but it is much easier and quicker for you.

4. Add a comment to a newspaper article

Look for a major newspaper lifestyle article. Make sure it is a non-topical article though. Avoid politics! Once again, your profile link as a published author will be valuable in gaining some traffic to your blog and books.

5. Check your author bio again on your website - don't have one? GET ONE!

Carefully read your bio or profile on your social media sites. Has it been exactly the same for a very long time? Does it need refreshing to make it more appealing to readers? Can you improve it? I am sure you can.

Authors hate writing bios, and would much prefer to write a book instead. But, it’s a task that has to be done.

If it has been a while since your book launch, perhaps you could check your book trailer again too and improve it.

6. Publish to Medium

Open an account on Medium and re-publish your best-performing blog posts.

It’s a very easy process to import articles from your blog and Medium can help you gain a lot of new readers. Remember to put a link at the end of the article to your author website.

7. Do you have a Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn - Instagram pages?

If not, create one and then invest a little money in gaining Facebook Likes for your page.

On average it costs about 8 to 15 cents per Like. That’s cheap, and also a wise long-term investment to get people to read your book as Facebookers very rarely unlike a page.

8. Open a short URL account

You can open an account on bit.ly and shorten all your commonly used book links so they look far more attractive when you post them on social media or add links to your blog posts or comments.

Tip! You can edit these short links to reflect a little of your book title or author name.

With bit.ly you can change this very ugly book link:
https://www.amazon.com/One-Last-Love-never-late-ebook/dp/B007L5C424/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1499424937&sr=8-16&keywords=one+last+love

To this attractive and meaningful link:
http://bit.ly/onelastlove

Which one do you think will work better and attract more clicks?

 9. Run an ad

You can run ads on Facebook or on Amazon if you are enrolled in KDP Select. But with either, be prudent and stay within your budget.

10. Place an ad on your blog

Find your three best-performing blog articles and place your book cover image as a text-wrapped ad, with a link to Amazon, or use a universal link to all your book retailers.

11. Find three high traffic book, writing or publishing blogs and write an article

Make contact and ask if you can write an article for them.

Many sites have a Write For Us or guest posting page, so keep your eyes open for opportunities to promote your writing to a much wider audience.

Tip! In fact, some writers don’t even bother with having their own blog, because having articles published on popular sites brings far more traffic, readers and importantly, social shares.

12. Set up a free ebook promotion

It’s a lottery, but hopefully, someone will read your free Kindle books and be kind enough to post a review. Online book clubs often use free ebooks, so it’s worth a try.

On this point, I discovered I had a new book review today, which I think came by way of a free Kindle copy of an ebook I last offered for free over a year ago. Now that is long-term book promotion!

13. Is your book cover absolutely fabulous and eye-catching?

Now, be brutally honest with yourself, or better, ask people what they think. If you don’t have a top-shelf killer book cover, take a few minutes to search for a reputable book cover designer and get one.

14. Buy affordable long-term book promotion

Whizbuzz Books offers one year of book promotion for only $49.00. There are many book promotion sites offering different book promotion services.

15. Read an article about SEO

Read an article about SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and put one or two ideas into practice for your blog or website.

Search engine traffic is by far the best way to attract new potential readers and book buyers, day in and day out.

16. Check your book metadata (SEO for books)

Check your keywords and categories for your book on Amazon KDP or any other online retailer you use.

Can you make a few small changes to your categories or keywords that would help readers find your book more easily?

17. Is your book in KDP Select?

If your book in not enrolled in KDP Select, why not try it for 3 months to see if you can attract Kindle Unlimited readers.

Or, if you have been in KDP Select for quite some time, perhaps try open publishing for a while.

18. Change your book price

Is your book too expensive, or even perhaps, too cheap? Try changing the price for a few weeks.

19. Use the Amazon book widget

Add Amazon’s embedded book widget on your website or blog. It looks fantastic and gives visitors a chance to read a preview of your book and buy it, directly on your site. It is one of the best widgets to help you sell books.

20. Create your Amazon author page

Every bestselling author has one. If you haven’t done so yet, create your author page on Amazon Author Central. You can add your blog feed, change and improve the look of your book descriptions, add editorial reviews and much more.

An Amazon Central author page is a must-have promotion tool.

Tip! You can create your author pages on Amazon US, Amazon UK and Amazon Germany.

Bonus Tip – Update your email signature

You use email a lot or have an email list, this is as close to word of mouth advertising as you can get.

Add your, blog, Amazon Author page or even a thumbnail or your book cover to your email signature.

Breaking Rules Publishing Monthly Book Club

Check out the new Breaking Rules Publishing Book Of The Month Club on our website - www.breakingruleswritingcompetitions.com

15 Great Marketing Ideas

Gone Writing ...

Hey Guys -

just a few ideas that we thought would help you in your

 marketing plan.

Read On - 

Identify your audience Let's face it, your book likely won't appeal to everyone. A pre-teen romance novel and a book about political ideologies probably won't have the same readership. Therefore, an important initial step of a book promotion campaign is to identify your audience. Understand your readers, as well as their hobbies, interests and where they spend most of their time so you can employ strategic marketing techniques to target them.

Time your release - If you haven’t already launched your book, then you should time your release to receive maximum impact. Consider the best time of year to release your book, and then allow time for your book to generate buzz before its release.

Think like a journalist - When it comes to marketing your book, the media can be your best friend. Through media coverage, you can get your name out there, reach your audience and establish yourself as a leader within your genre or field. To land great media coverage, think like a journalist. Get creative with your media pitches and make them newsworthy. Your pitches shouldn't simply promote your book. For fiction books, create a pitch on a newsworthy topic related to your book's genre, theme, characters or setting. Non-fiction authors should stay up-to-date on what's trending in the news so they can create an interesting pitch that will grab the media's attention.

Create a media kit Attract media attention by creating a media kit. Your kit should make a strong, lasting impression and make reporters want to contact you for an interview. Stick to a traditional press kit that includes professionally printed business cards with your contact information and photo, a photo of your book cover, a brief author biography, a recent press release and/or media mention, and where to purchase your book.

Make an author website - It's essential for authors to have an author website. Your website is the first place readers, reporters, booksellers, book reviewers and publishers will turn to learn more about you and your book. Your website should be simple with a clean design and include links to important pages, including your blog, social media profiles, Amazon profile, online bookstore, and recent media mentions. Be sure to include a brief author biography, a short paragraph from your book to intrigue readers and critics, and information about where they can purchase your book.

Blog regularly - Writing is your area of expertise, so you should have no problem creating interesting blog posts on a frequent basis. Blogs are a simple and efficient way to reach your readership and build up your fan base. Do not write all your blog posts solely about your book. Instead, provide content that's interesting and meaningful to your audience. Use your genre, industry, and characters to come up with interesting topics for posts. Connect your blog to your website, social media profiles and Amazon page where your book can be purchased.

Write guest posts  - Writing a guest blog post for a popular blogger who relates to your book can be a great way to gain exposure. The blogger will already have a wide audience that reads the blog, which will increase your visibility and attract more people to your own blog, website, and bookstore.

Utilize social media Social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, are effective tools for promoting your book. You can engage your audience, media personnel, and fellow writers. Your social media channels are also a great way to spread the word about upcoming media coverage and promotions and share your blog posts.

Run a Facebook ad - Run an ad on Facebook to target your specific audience. You can use an ad to promote a special contest or giveaway. Or, if your book is centered on a specific event or time of year, you can run an ad right beforehand to spark interest in your book.

Post videos Sometimes videos can be more captivating than static content. Create a series of videos to share on your website, blog, social media profiles and YouTube channel. Provide your name, book title, bookstore, and website at the end of the video or in the description.

Generate book reviews - Readers and book reviewers often reference online book reviews before deciding to purchase a book. Amazon is the most popular site for reviews. Increase your rating on Amazon by asking 20 of your friends and colleagues to write an honest review of your book. For those who don't have your book, send them an online copy or even just the first few chapters. You could also offer a free giveaway to readers who write a review of your book to bump up your standing.

Create an e-mail list - Through an e-mail list you can connect with interested readers and keep them updated on your newest promotions, blog posts, media coverage, and public appearances. Use a service like iContact, MailChimp or Benchmark Email so you can easily track your mailing list and its performance.

Use your connections - Connecting with your fellow alumni can help boost your visibility. See if your college or high school has an alumni book listing and add yours to the list. Also, add your former schools to your media pitch and press release distribution list, so your alumni office can notify alumni and/or current students about your upcoming events and appearances. You could also offer to speak at the school or do a book signing.

Never stop promoting - Many authors work tirelessly promoting their book before and during its release but stop once the book is no longer new. Just because it wasn't recently released doesn't mean it's no longer relevant. Never stop promoting your book. Always look for new angles to make your book appear fresh and interesting.

Hold book readings - Establish a personal connection with your readers by holding an in-person book reading. Depending on your audience, you can have a book reading at a local school, hospital, library or bookstore. Set up a table where readers can meet you and purchase a signed book after the reading.

Just some ideas - we hope it help!

New Things Are Happening

Hey Guys -

There are a couple of fantastic things that are happening here at Breaking Rules Publishing.

First up - 

The Breaking Rules Publishing Monthly Book Club.

It's easy to subscribe and only $10 a month. We will be rotating books each month and you will have your choice. You also have the option of keeping the book for yourself or sending it to another for a gift.

Use the link below to start your subscription now.
www.breakingruleswritingcompetitions.com.


Second - 

Our first issue of The Scribe Magazine is finally here. The Scribe will be made available 6 times a year. Inside you'll find some of our new releases - some short stories - poetry - marketing time and advice on writer's block. You'll also find our faithful sponsors as well.

You are able to purchase the magazine for $10 each or $7 an issue with a subscription.

Use this link to start your subscription now.

https://www.breakingruleswritingcompetitions.com/the-scribe-magazine.html

Third - We always have new releases check out a few of the most recent.

        

Go to Breaking Rules Publishing to see our entire inventory.

www.breakingruleswritingcompetitions.com

Thanks for stopping by.

Social Media Crazed? Here Are Some Social Media Management Tips.

Here are some social media management tips - 

With 2019 almost here, and whether it be eating more vegetables, finally using that overpriced gym membership to get in shape, or finishing your next great novel, you may be in full-blown goal-setting mode. New Year’s is a time for resolutions, that are, in turn, meant to be broken, right?

Perhaps this is true when it comes to personal goals, but for marketing and writing goals, now is the time to jump on your strategy with full-force.

Hopefully, this information will help you to get some of your goals on track.

For most projects - organization is one of the keys to success in marketing, so if you are not managing your social platforms with a social media management tool, that my friend needs to change today!

Not only will using a social media management tool make your life substantially easier, it doesn’t need to go through rounds of budgeting approval – because there are many robust free tools out there to help you accomplish all of your social marketing goals in 2019.

Social management platforms will help you manage multiple social profiles all in one location. You can, schedule posts in advance, run contests, track analytics across platforms, and the list goes on. These tools really are game changers for your social strategy!

And lucky for you, we’ve rounded up a list of the seven best free social media management tools to incorporate into your 2019 strategy, starting with a personal favorite, Hootsuite!

#1: Hootsuite

Hootsuite has a special place in everyone’s heart, likely because it’s the first social media management platform that I used at my very first job as a Marketing Assistant. At the time, I was managing the company’s social strategy before social advertising had really taken off. I can still remember the hours upon hours I would spend putting together a posting content calendar and setting reminders for myself to tweet at certain times. This was until I discovered Hootsuite and my life as a frantic Twitter bird instantly changed.

So what does the Hootsuite free plan include? The free plan is decently robust with the ability to:

• Manage 3 social profiles in one place
• Schedule 30 posts in advance
• Generate leads with social contests

The free plan also includes basic analytics for tracking followers and various growth and content statistics and two RSS feed integrations. Not too shabby!

>>Up your game with our FREE all-star playbook to online advertising. Get it here free<<

#2: Buffer

Next up is Buffer. Similar to Hootsuite, Buffer has been in the social media management space for quite some time, and they are a respectable platform that allows you to manage multiple social profiles with ease.

With many overlapping features to Hootsuite, some of my favorite Buffer features include the ability to easily schedule content while browsing the web with their Chrome extensions. Buffer also suggests the perfect moments to post based on follower activity – pretty neat!

While there are a variety of options for larger organizations and agencies, the free plan just may suit your social media management needs. Buffer’s free plan includes the ability to manage three social profiles, schedule up to ten posts, utilize their browser extensions and mobile apps feature, and create and schedule content using their image creator and GIF/video uploader.

Unfortunately, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan in order to access link shortening and tracking, as well as their RSS Feed feature. Their paid plans range from $10 to $399 per month.

#3: TweetDeck

If Twitter is the bread and butter of your social media strategy, then TweetDeck is likely the best social management platform for you! TweetDeck will allow Twitter birds to use custom timelines, create and manage Twitter lists and searches, and add team accounts. It is also free for Twitter users!

While TweetDeck may not be the all-in-one platform you’re searching for, it is the perfect tool for social marketers managing multiple Twitter accounts where these live conversations are critical for business success.

#4: SocialOomph

Not only do I love the name of SocialOomph, I’m quite impressed by the wide range of features they offer for multiple platforms – ranging from the typical features like scheduling and analytics, to some interesting ones like keeping your DM Twitter Inbox clean to help with increasing followers. They definitely offer a wide variety of unique features for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest management, as well as the ability to manage and schedule blog posts.

While SocialOomph does indeed have a free plan, the features are limited and mostly lean towards Twitter management. On the free plan you can do things like schedule tweets, track keywords, shorten URL’s, and manage up to five Twitter accounts, but some of the more sophisticated features require a paid plan. If you’re looking to manage multiple social platforms aside from Twitter you will need to pay to play.

#5: Friends+Me

Friends+Me is another prime player in the social media management tools family. While Friends+Me puts the highest emphasis on Google Plus features, many other social platforms are supported. Friends+Me appears to get rave reviews from users, and has a beautifully designed website with plans available based on the size of your business. And yes, there is a free plan!

While the free plan is not super robust, it still allows for two queues (which is a destination to publish posts), the ability to schedule three posts per queue, link shortening, browser extensions, an integration with Zapier, as well as standard support. The free plan can also be used for a variety of social platforms like Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Tumblr. 

Pinterest and Instagram are supported as well, but you will need to upgrade. Plans range from $7.50 to $259 depending on if you decide to utilize monthly or annual billing.

#6: Social Pilot

If you’re an agency in need of tools for social media management, Social Pilot may be your best bet! This social media management tool will allow you to do manage multiple client social media profiles at once and do things such as bulk schedule posts in various queues, collaborate with team members, manage clients, utilize browser extensions, etc. Their free plan includes 3 connected profiles, 10 posts per day, and 30 posts per queue.

If this doesn’t sound like enough for your agency, start a 14-day free trial with one of their more robust plans, which range between $10 to $100 per month.

#7: Zoho Social

Whether you’re a growing business or an agency, Zoho Social will help you manage multiple profiles, research relevant keywords, work with team members, and of course schedule posts from one dashboard.

Zoho Social has many of the same tools and features that the other platforms have, but they also have Facebook lead ads, advanced reporting features, a SocialShare browser plugin, and CRM integrations. Zoho Social caters to agencies as well so marketers have the choice of choosing between the business or agency plans. Pricing for the paid plans ranges from $8.33 to $125+ for larger agencies. Zoho Social’s free plan allows you to manage your brand, and includes the URL shortener and SocialShare browser plugin.

I know, and you’re right, there are a lot of options here! Luckily, they all have free plans so you can experiment and find the platform that works best for you. Basically what we’re saying is that you can’t go wrong moving onto a social media management tool – it will no doubt save you time, grow your social presence, and possibly even make you some money! All great for your bottom line.

So social media maniac’s  - take a look the tools that we’ve shown you, find one that works for you and start posting. 

Gone Writing ...

Breaking Rules Publishing continues to accept new manuscript submissions - please email us at breakingrulespublishing@gmail.com

www.breakingruleswritingcompetitions.com

Guest Blogger Karina Evans

Spelled [blawg, blog] noun, verb, blogged, blog·ging.

Noun. Weblog. Example: The blogger blogged about his blogs.

Let us remember the days when our opinions were wasted on our peers, and our poetry was destined never to see the light of day; a pencil scrawl in a diary. The days when we transported music on a cassette that held only fourteen tracks and waited for hours outside Woolies for a friend to turn up because we had no means of sending a message asking ‘WHR R U? IM COLD N ALONE. LOL.’ Now look at us, typing our every incidental thought and contemplation onto a web log, for the world to peruse.

According to blogging.org, in 2016 there were over THREE HUNDRED MILLION people blogging their wares online. Imagine. This is just slightly less than the entire population of the United States of America hollering the contents of their 1989 diaries really loudly, perhaps traveling the planet with a megaphone in tow. Nonetheless, blogging is now considered to be an art in itself, with the kings and queens of blogging (and vlogging) rewarded with cold, hard cash.

From an author’s perspective, the internet has certainly made engagement with readers real and easier to accomplish; far easier than traveling the entire world donning a sandwich board emblazoned with literary musings.

So, does a writing blog or book blog make a writer more accessible, or less exclusive? A combination of the two, I would suggest. If a writer is in a fortunate enough position to not HAVE to give away words for free; to hole themselves away, knowing that the public wants to read their words so much that they don’t care that they must pay for them, must be a wonderful position to be in. But, for the rest of us, a blog is an effective means of transporting our ideas to the populous. And far, far easier than wandering the world barefoot with a megaphone and some hastily photocopied diary pages.

https://medium.com/@karinaevans/why-writing-a-blog-is-better-than-carrying-a-megaphone-47621662dc8d