Prize winning books and best sellers would catapult an author’s name to fame. Awards have a big reader drawing factor as the book is expected to be a good read. The same thing is true with best sellers. Readers have the tendency to pick books branded as best sellers as there is a certain surety that the book would have a superior literary quality. Readers have the common notion that money will not be wasted if best sellers are chosen. Not all authors are fortunate to bag awards. Not many authors can have best sellers. Robert Ludlum, Danielle Steel, or Paolo Coelho may not worry about book sales but a budding author would certainly need to promote the book to boost sales. This is where the importance of book magazines comes in. This is one type of book marketing that effectively enhances book exposure thereby pumping up sales.

A reader finds most fulfilling pleasures from a book. Reading widens a person’s horizon and keeps the mind active. An author with a very fertile mind would make the reader enjoy the fantasy. A good book allows the reader to explore new worlds. Books allow people to escape the monotony of daily grind. Failure to give a good book the proper exposure is tantamount to robbing the readers the chance to enjoy its excellent academic value. Additionally, the author is also prevented from generating revenues from book sales. Authors need to give the book maximum exposure to increase books sales. One of the ways to do book marketing is to use book magazines. This type of magazine contains author interviews, book reviews and announcements of book launching.  Book magazines give hints or pointers on the best fantasy, romantic or whodunit books for the season. Avid book readers tend to subscribe to these magazines. The release of the book can be announced in these magazines. An article about the newly launched book submitted to a book magazine would increase the book’s and the author’s visibility.

A Book Trailer

Boosting book sales can be done through book trailers. Publishers have proven that trailers are very effective book marketing tools. Authors have taken book promotion to the next level. Just like movie makers, authors and publishers are making use of book trailers. A gimmicky trailer will titillate the reader’s imagination. This fascination with the trailer will be converted to book sales. Book trailers are advertising tools and therefore can vary in effectiveness. A book trailer is an incredible marketing tool but there are instances when the trailer fails to generate the expected results. An effective book trailer has to entice the viewer not only to make a purchase but also to share the discovery of the book to other book lovers.

A trailer is a promotional video of the book…a movie premier of the book if you will.  As such the story, the visual content, and the auditory elements must be chosen well to hold the viewer’s attention. Remember, visual sells. The imagery is one of the factors that will make the viewer want to continue viewing. Bad visual content can make the viewer decide not to purchase the book. Too much or too little vocalization and sound can be distracting as well. To make the trailer interesting there should be a balance between the visual content and the auditory elements. One thing that must be kept in mind is the fact that the story of the book is the one that is up for sale. The book trailer should entice the viewer to buy by giving interesting information without revealing the entire story of the book.

A Book Campaign

A book campaign is not unlike the marketing aspect of a new product…there is a need to identify and inform the specific target market. Book advertising is imperative. Aside from book trailers and book magazines, a well-planned book advertising campaign has to include press releases. The press release can be sent through email or snail mail. Book magazines and newsletters typically contain press releases as well. Internet fame is at an all-time high. A press release posted online gives the book maximum exposure. A lively discussion of the book’s contents in forums can spur the “word of mouth” phenomenon that will surely increase book sales. People are enchanted by the word “FREE.” A free download of the first few chapters is a no-fail book advertising strategy that will pump up book sales.

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•  License: Creative Commons image source 

William Yatscoff is the founder and marketing manager of Bookkaholic Magazine. Bookkaholic is a book magazine dedicated to helping readers find new books and enjoy literary focused discussions. Come learn how you can submit a book trailer or discover a new book at Bookkaholic Book Magazine.

JimsGotWeb offers promotion and marketing help to indie-authors.  From editing your book to make sure it doesn’t have spelling and grammatical errors, to helping you promote your “Free Days” and “Countdown” promotion, we can help!

Here is a list of promotion and marketing services we offer:

• Kindle “Free Days” and “Countdown” Promotion Help:
  I’ll help you with your Amazon promotion by submitting all of the necessary information to promotion websites and Facebook groups; including your book’s link, cover, description, dates of promotion, promotion price, and your author bio.

• Write a powerful description:
  I will read your book and write a powerful description, with HTML included.

• Request book reviews:
  I will contact reviewers on Amazon and Goodreads to get more reviews for your book.

• Keyword Research:
  After reading your book, I’ll check keywords on Google and Amazon to find keywords that will bring a large amount of traffic to your book.

• Choose Categories:
  After reading your book, I will choose appropriate categories so you’re book can rank in the top 100.

• Manuscript Editing:
  One of the biggest complaints from readers leaving negative reviews is misspelling, incorrect grammar, and improper word usage. Let me proofread your book to make sure there aren’t any problems.

• Book Cover Creation:
  Readers do judge a book by its cover, it’s the first thing they see. I have illustrators that can make you a new cover, if needed, or they will help improve your current cover to make sure it looks professional.

• Social Media:
  If you need help setting up a Twitter, Facebook, or other social media accounts, I can do that for you and help you get “Likes” and “Followers” to your account.

• Author Website Creation:
  I’ll set up a professional looking WordPress website that’s easy to maintain, so you can easily communicate with your readers.

• eBook Conversion:
  I can convert your Word document into PDF, .mobi and .epub formats for all reading devices. This is great for sending out free review copies to readers.

If you have promotion and marketing needs, let JimsGotWeb help.

Thanks,
Jim

About the author

JimsGotWeb

I write short stories, love to travel, install auto glass, and collect Beatles memorabilia.