For new writers, it’s difficult to promote their book due to the entry barriers of the book industry. One of the major barriers is letting your intended audience know about your book.
Things might be challenging for beginner authors who need more resources. However, some strategic placements and methods can help you successfully launch, market, and publish your book on a budget.
The cost of publishing can be high if you opt for an expensive marketing campaign.
But here’s the thing. You don’t have to start costly marketing campaigns. In fact, there are several cost-effective ways to market your debut book.
How To Promote Your Book on a Budget
For promotion purposes, the cost to market a book varies depending on the type of campaigns you want, and if you want to promote your book to a large population, yes, you do need to spend some money.
But out of all the options available, we believe the following are the most cost-efficient ways.
1. Use Social Media Effectively
People spend a lot of time on social media sites, and it would be a great way to promote your book on these platforms.
Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram offer various business pages. You can launch a page promoting your book and create exciting posts that will earn other people’s attention.
There are also various online groups of book lovers where you can post about your book to attract more social followers.
2. Create Blog Posts on Different Forums
Many people who read books often visit blog sites to discuss various types of books. You can grab this opportunity and attract the attention of various book lovers. It is an easy and effective way to connect with many people.
Simply get into a good blogging site and start blogging about your book. Discuss some minor plots of your book and why people should give your book a try.
3. Join Podcasts
Podcasts are amazing platforms to talk about all sorts of topics. People listen to podcasts on the go and popular podcast shows can reach millions of people. Most influencers use podcasts to talk about their brands, products, and services all the time.
So, it would be a great way to promote your book by participating in a podcast.
Podcast hosts are also continuously looking for authors of various books, especially new ones. Bringing new authors makes their show more interesting and allows them to discuss new books, topics, and genres.
4. Have Your Own Podcast
Finding the right podcast host can be a challenging task. If luck is not on your side, you will have a hard time finding the right host who can understand your book, your perception, targeted audience and discuss it to make it interesting for the shows’ listeners.
If that’s the case, then try hosting your own podcast and record your show over your phone or any other recording device. Make sure you have the right sound gears when setting up your podcast.
You can upload your recording to various platforms such as Spotify so that it can reach a lot of people. But to use this service and host your podcasts regularly, you might need to spend around USD 15-50 per month.
5. Share Videos on YouTube
YouTube has been one of the most famous video-sharing platforms for a long time. Millions of users actively use YouTube and spend a very long time there. And wherever there are a lot of people, there is a good chance that you can promote your book.
Make a video about your book. Use any cool animation if you can. Make the video as lucrative as possible. Then, create your own YouTube channel and upload a video that discusses your book. Views will slowly pile in, and people will learn about your book.
The best part about YouTube is that if you are lucky and your videos get a lot of views, YouTube can monetize your videos, and you will get paid in return. Instead of costing you money, it can help you gain some as you promote your book.
6. Create a Mailing List
If you do not have a mailing list, you need to get one and get people to sign up. Of course, people would not sign up for free, so offer a preview or synopsis of the book to get people interested in signing up.
Once they sign up, you can mail them about your book, what work you are currently doing, what is your future plan, what type of books you might publish, and so on. This will not only promote your book, but also promote you as an author.
7. Cross-Promotion with Other Authors
Having a few friends in the writing industry can get you far ahead. If you have friends who are also trying to publish a book or someone who has already published a few books, then you can get them to promote your book to their readers.
You also need to return the favor as well. Once people start to know you and your book, you need to promote your friend’s books. If you know people who write books of the same genre as you, it would help you a lot.
8. Use Ebook Sites
E-book sites such as Prolific, formerly Instafreebie, that provide free E-books to those who want them. Although you need to spend at least USD 20 per month, the price is fairly low when considering the benefits.
You can participate in group promotions where other authors of the same genre promote their books. You can also create your mailing list here by checking the mailing address of people visiting books of similar genres.
Final Thoughts
A book’s publication is by no means a simple task. But if it is not advertised correctly, it will all be for nothing. Making readers want to read your work may depend on a good marketing plan. This is why you must formulate appropriately to market your book on a budget.
All the methods mentioned above work extremely well once you combine them. You won’t gain much traction from one platform, so try to mix and match. Join social media forums, create blog posts, join podcasts, create a Facebook page and make videos for both Facebook and Youtube. Plan beforehand and use all the available platforms to market your first book effectively.