The Essential Book Marketing Guide for 2015

A lot of good books die at the feet of marketing, or rather the lack of it. There are hundreds or even thousands of great writers out there who have poured their heart and souls into page after page only to have their books gather dust on the shelf (or in today’s times, a link left unclicked). On the other hand, there are plenty of average writers with a knack for marketing that seem to have found at least financial success in writing and publishing electronic books online. That’s not to say that the content, the actual value of the book, doesn’t have much say on how well it does; but people today are used to lightning quick perceptions, decisions, and consumption. They can decide in a split second whether they’re going to buy one book or the other based on a hundred different details. Understanding and identifying those details can make or break your book, how well it sells, and how far its reach can go. That’s why marketing your book is equally important as the quality of its content; the content of the book can only do your customer good if he can get as far as actually buying and reading it.
But what exactly are your goals in marketing? Most people will answer ‘to sell’ and they would be partly right. Our goal in marketing your book is to sell as many copies as possible online, but that’s not the be-all and end-all of what we want from our efforts. Our aim is not just to create customers but also to keep them. We want return customers, regulars so to speak, who will not just buy a copy of your book but would also recommend them to friends, share a post about them online, and buy other copies you may have written or may write.
It’s not easy finding a customer which is why it’s important to hold on to them once you’ve got them. If you do a quick study on which writers have the most success, it is always the ones who have already earned a following. When they publish their books, they know they have a waiting and loyal audience who have gotten to know them, who trust them and their work, and who value the content that they offer. These ‘regulars’ are not just your golden geese; they are also your best brand ambassadors in a market saturated by gimmicky marketing schemes.