Have you ever gotten stuck wondering how to promote your book?
Are you worried about how much it might cost?
Let me give you three great ways to promote your book online for free. These won’t cost you a penny except in the effort it takes to create content.
Keep in mind, these are just a few of the hundreds of ways possible. But before you get caught up in all the possibilities there are, let me point out the most important piece in this article: Content. The more you create, the more promotional material you have. The more material you have to share with the world, the more eyeballs you will get on your book sales page (or any offer page for that matter).
Anyway, these are some effective places to put your content.
Guest post (or post on your own blog)
When you’re starting out, you can post 20 articles a day on your new blog and never get a single reader/viewer to find that content. It takes search engines a while to find you and classify your pages. And let’s face it, some content just never seems to get ranked well enough to be seen.
The cure for that is to put some of your best content on a blog or website that does have a lot of readers/ viewers.
Is it easy to get your article included as a guest post? Not always. But it is not impossible either. And since it does take a little relationship building and persistence, 99.9% of writers online don’t do it. That is an opportunity for you.
How do you find guest post opportunities? Just search some related blogs / websites for guest post opportunities or guidelines. And if you don’t see any, just contact the site owner and ask.
Like I said, it does take some relationship building in most cases. There are several ways to build the relationship including commenting on their blog posts. Give to them without expecting to get.
Auctions / gift baskets
One of the fun ways to get the word out about you and your work is to give your book away! Schools, businesses, foundations, non-profits and others hold silent auctions to raise money. By giving your book away (along with some coaching/consulting?), you can help them raise money! And at the same time, you get your book and a little blurb about you as the author out in front of lots of people!
The way to find these opportunities is to look in your newspaper. Check with schools as well. Also, bulletin boards in local coffee shops / libraries are also good places to look. When you find opportunities, simply call the RSVP number and ask if you can speak to the person in charge of acquiring gifts for the event.
*Note* I put this one in because I like it – it works but technically it is not free. I usually have a few printed books laying around so I kind of forget that I did have to pay for them. But it is very low cost and technically you can write off the value of the book at the end of they year on taxes in the U.S. in some situations.
Squidoo lens
I like Squidoo as a place to post articles. Squidoo is a tribe of its own. Some people use it as a place to post articles and monetize them. In your case, it is more important to simply spread the word about your work.
Remember that your book – you as an author – you both have a purpose as it relates to readers. Fiction writers entertain. They tell stories that teach us lessons or let us unwind or be a part of another world. Non fiction writers help. They teach. They educate. As a writer you have purpose. Your book has purpose.
So when you write an article or post – especially for a site like Squidoo – keep your purpose in mind.
I’m telling you all this about purpose because Squidoo will not allow you to write an advertisement. They let you make money from ads on your post, but they don’t want you to basically come out and start preaching about how good you are and how good your book is. They will reject it.
Writing for Squidoo is a good exercise because it helps you get focused on book promotion in a way that is not salesy. You didn’t want to be salesy anyway, right? But it’s how you and I and most other writers can come off sometimes when talking about our books.
All you have to do with Squidoo is set up an account and then go ahead and write your article and post it. They will approve it. Read through their instructions before you post anything.
Summary
You have several options when it comes to promoting your book online – and the ones outlined here are free. Guest posting and Squidoo require that you do some writing in order to promote your book. But the payoff can be huge in either of those places.
Giving your book away in local auctions is another great way to promote your book for next to nothing in cost.
No matter which of these you use, you’ll get some results. And the main reason you will get results is because you will have produced some content that promotes your book!