Marketing Your Book

Developing a marketing plan is one of the most important tasks you need to accomplish in order to successfully promote your book.  Consider it a step-by-step action plan to keep your efforts organized and to plan your finances accordinglyThere are many ways to approach a marketing plan.  But in the field of book promotion, you should not overlook these five basic start-up steps:

1. Identify your target audience.  These are the people most likely to buy your book, and they can be categorized by such aspects as age, gender, geographic location, and so on.

2. Identify your competition. There are probably other books similar to yours.  How are they being marketed? What is the demand like?  Are there techniques you can borrow from your competition that can add to your book’s success? 

3. Determine how best to reach your target audience of readers.  Perhaps they are readers of a particular magazine or regular visitors to a certain Web site.  Once you understand the media habits of your audience, you have the kind of insight that can be used to reach them.

4. Create a “positioning statement” for your book within your target audience. This brief statement highlights what makes your book unique enough to stand out in a crowded marketplace.  

5. Develop a budget for your marketing plan. This is key.  Remember, promoting your book can take a substantial time investment. How much can you afford to spend on marketing efforts over the next year? What if it takes two years?    This is the place to be realistic.  How much is the dream of publishing success worth to you?

Marketing Strategies: The Four “P’s” 

The approach behind your book marketing plan can borrow a page from classic marketing strategy, which breaks the process down into four “P’s”:   product, price, place and promotion.

PRODUCT
In essence, your book is your product.  What are its selling points?  How does it fit when compared to your competition (similar books)?  How will it be packaged (book cover, etc.)? 

PRICE
Consider your pricing strategy for your book. To maximize profits, you’ll want the right balance between royalties and selling cost.

PLACE
What’s the best location to reach your audience, both in terms of cities and the types of selling channels. Big cities, for example, aren’t necessarily always the best places to market.  Maybe your book has a rural theme, or is directed to a more “middle America” demographic.  This is where an understanding of your target audience is essential.

PROMOTION
“Promotion” is the step where you specify the various media formats, advertising platforms, promotional efforts and marketing products you will use to publicize your book. Consider networking with fellow authors in order to find out what promotional platforms work for them.

Putting your plan into action

Once you have completed your marketing plan, give it a second look to make sure your goals are defined and your tasks are clearly outlined.  You should also have some mechanism in place (number of press mentions, book sales, etc.) so you can adequately judge your progress.  Even the best marketing plans are flexible enough to evolve as you learn what’s working—and what isn’t.  Finally, be realistic.  Set goals that you can achieve with the resources and time you have.

Now that you have the basics of how to create a marketing plan, it’s time to get started.  By planning ahead, staying focused and applying all of your energies to promoting what’s best about your book, you’re heading in a direction that could spell success.