You’ve created a powerful book with an eye-grabbing cover, an attention-arresting title and an intriguing description. People can “Look Inside” and you’ve carefully priced it and placed it within your best Amazon category.
You know your audience, inside out. But this is no “Field of Dreams”. You’ve built it – but now you have to actively and proactively let them know your Amazon book is ready and waiting to become the next best seller.
It’s important to realize there is no specific “best” way to promote your book – just a handful of best ways for your particular audience.
These five ideas should help you come up with a winning formula all your own.
Proof your eBook thoroughly – before and after formatting.
You want the professional aura you’ve built up to continue – not break down – when people finally access your book.
And “proofing” doesn’t just mean a quick read-through. It means checking for:
- Spelling mistakes
- Syntax and grammar
- Inconsistencies
- Formatting
- Flow
- Image placement
Be sure to include a “Look Inside” sample of your book’s contents.
You can learn more about this in Amazon’s Help section. It is fairly sparse, so if you have specific questions, scroll down to the very bottom of that page and click the tiny “Contact Us” link. (In spite of being hard to find, Amazon’s support team is very helpful with simple questions.)
Make a Marketing Plan.
Don’t just leave it to chance. Choose your methods with your target reader and the platforms they use in mind. Make a plan for:
Pre-launch – getting reviews and feedback; tweaking anything that needs to be edited
Launch – Plan to build up excitement and do your best to make your book launch news go viral
Post-launch – Don’t just let your book sit there, once the initial excitement has waned. Plan promotions throughout the year and take full advantage of your five give-the-book-away-for-free days, if you’ve enrolled in KDP Select.
Tie promotions in with seasonal holidays, if appropriate.
Educate your audience about Kindle’s Cloud Reader.
Many people ignore Kindle because they don’t own a device – and they don’t realize they can still download eBooks and read them right in their own browsers by installing the free Kindle Cloud Reader.
Write a “How to get it” post on your blog
Upload a “How to get it” video on YouTube
(Remember to include a link to your book in your signature, sidebar, ad, link, description or anywhere else you can put it in a way that feels logical and natural.)
Research and contact top Amazon reviewers.
Look for those who post honest, critically valid, point-specific reviews. Make a list of the top one hundred, including contact information provided.
Contact each one to query whether or not they would be interested in reviewing your book. (This is one of the quickest and best ways to accumulate valuable reviews – and you’ll have your list for next time, perhaps with only a few minor tweaks if you go outside your current niche.)
Keep your contact low-key and simple, and try to provide one single compelling reason why they might want to review your book.
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