I’m on a roll with marketing related posts lately. For this post, let’s get back to books specifically.
Sometimes, when it comes to marketing, it’s helpful to have some big goals and then break things down into smaller, easier to manage, tasks. With that in mind, here are three ways you can step up your book marketing.
1. Spruce up your book sales page
Especially your Amazon page. Make use of your allotted character count, and bold and italicize words to stand out.
But more importantly, add editorial reviews to your page. Jane Friedman has a post that goes over how exactly to add these reviews. These are reviews that you can add, and they work like testimonials for your book. You can get your reviews from a review service, Goodreads, quotes from other authors, etc.
Here’s an example of what it looks like for my book, 50 Dinosaur Tales.
If you can, try to have at least 5 reviews (one of these days I’ll add more to my book). If you’re using a review from a site like Goodreads, try to choose a 5-star review. Don’t forget to format your review, and make it clear who the reviewer is.
You can also add a link to the first page of your ebook, that takes people to a landing page where they can claim a freebie from you, such as a free book or chapter. If you add this to the beginning of your ebook, it will show up in Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature on your sales page.
For examples of landing pages and author freebies, see this post.
2. Offer a bonus with your book
This works great if you’re launching your book or running a special promo. One to do it is to ask people to join your mailing list and email you a receipt of your book that they purchased. Once they do, you can give them access to a bonus, such as:
- A recorded webinar with Q&A
- A workbook
- A mini online course
- A half hour of consulting time
Whatever you decide to offer, make sure the bonus is something your readers will find very valuable.
3. Send readers to your opt-in page
Set up a landing page where readers can join your mailing list in exchange for a free copy of your ebook or some other type of bonus.
You can choose to only offer your book for free during a specific window of time. One way to do this is set up a 5-day free campaign on Amazon.
Then, drive readers to that page. Ways to do this include:
- Speaking at summits and sharing the link (make sure it’s a short link)
- Getting interviewed on podcasts and sharing the link
To expand your reach, you can also send your freebie Amazon link (during the 5 day window) to sites such as Free Booksy or Bargain Booksy.
Editor’s note: Originally published in November 2022.