One of the most popular way to advertise your books these days is to create lots and lots of short, fun, quirky videos and post them all over the internet. Are you having fun with your videos? Because if you are not then you will not be consistent in posting. That, unfortunately, translates into not reaching your ideal reader. And, that converts into you not making any book sales.
Step One
The process can be quite simple if you let it. If you have a smart phone with a decent camera then you can try on the current trends for that program. Pick a platform – TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and even YouTube. Make sure to dress your profile all out with your basic information, current pictures and links to your website. That’s right I said your website. You want to send people to your place as often as possible. It will be where you shine the brightest. You do not have to pay for one in the beginning. You can start with a Free one (more on that later).
Why You Need a Website
At the end of each video you will want to ask the viewers to visit your website. Each platform will have different ways you can do that either through words in the captions, the descriptions or even saying the ever popular, “Link in my Bio”. The most important thing is that you own that internet space. It is not subject to algorithms, downtime (well not most of the time), lock outs, etc. It will have information about your books, where to buy them and what you are currently working on. Ideally, you will be either posting articles weekly that automatically get sent to all your subscribers every time you post or you have an email listing for a monthly (or more) newsletter that you put together. Either one will work because those emails (subscribers) belong to you. It will be up to you to keep them updated and interested with giveaways, announcement sales, etc. You can even sell your books directly from your site (again, more on this later).
About the Videos
Now, I know you are asking yourself, “What do I video about?” Well, put simply, anything and everything, in the beginning. You want to take short videos of your writing space, tell us what you are currently working on, go outside and read from one of your published books for 30 seconds, film you pets doing something silly preventing you from working, and every now and then throw in your book cover and tell people where they can get their own copies today. You can even do quick book reviews for your favorite stories. People like to connect to their authors and showing them the books you like to read, your writing process, your pets, etc. allows them to feel a connection.
Support Other Writers
When you can, make sure to write book reviews on ALL the books you have read. It wouldn’t hurt to create a short video and upload it to your social media page(s) and even the Amazon selling page where that book is sold. Yes, Amazon allows you to upload short video review of products even books! I have uploaded a couple myself. A few were rejected because it had company’s logo (TikTok, Barnes and Noble, etc) on it. Check out Amazon’s requirements for sizes.
If nothing else join GOODREADS – fill out your profile with a short bio, link to your website, (You can connect your blog feed) and connect your books to your profile. Start typing in reviews. Once you have published each one there is an embed widget code that you can copy and paste to add to your website page. Those are pretty sweet. I try to remember to add those to at least one of my website’s articles. The widget brings over your review, the picture of the book cover and is clickable to your profile. Nice, right!
Final words for today
I know I have been rambling on but these are some pretty great tips. If you have any questions or suggestions for future articles please go over to my contact form and send me a note. AND, please subscribe to my blog. That way you will receive a copy of each new articles at the beginning of each month. Yes, I have already set that up using MailPoet. I’m sure the POP-UP form has been appearing here and there. I am giving their free version a try to see how it goes.
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Till next time – Get out there and start recording!
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