Self-Publishing Marketing Guide for all Indie Authors by BookRix .com (story reading TXT) 📖

There are some great tactics to getting a potential reader hooked on your work. One way is to tease them with some freebies like a short story based on your novel that includes your characters. This gives a taste of your writing style and a peek into the world you have created in your book.

Another way is to create a book series and give away the first book for free. Once you have your readers hooked on the first book, what would stop them from wanting books 2, 3 and 4?

You gotta look at it this way; it’s much easier to promote something when it’s for free. It can mean the difference of selling a few books vs. getting 1000+ downloads. Those free downloads just exposed 1000+ people to your work and this is what leads to fans. This is also about starting off the relationship with your readers on the right foot, risk free.

Something else to keep in mind is not to give away just anything for free. You want to wow your readers from the beginning and show them what you’re made of. Give out your best work so that your readers will know that anything else that comes from you will be great too. You can always offer your books for free for a limited time and then charge for them when you feel that you have gotten the popularity thing down pat.

Other teasers for your books can be book trailers (this can be tricky because you don’t want your little flick to look cheap and make your book look bad). If you have the connections to someone that has great video/audio editing tools, then it doesn’t hurt to invest a little extra to make a professional trailer. This is something that you can use for promotions on your own BookRix profile, Facebook fan page, YouTube or other social media platforms.

It’s very important to stay close to your readers/fans. This way you can always inform them of new work, promotions, campaigns, contests, giveaways, etc.

Let your readers know where they can find you and how they can get more information about you and your work (email address, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, newsletters).

Your BookRix Profile and Facebook account are great places to interact with your readers and allows your readers/fans to interact with each other. Your books are the link between your fans, and Facebook is a great tool that connects fans who otherwise never would have met.

Connecting with your fans on a personal level, such as replying to comments or emails, makes your fans feel special and shows them that you care. Your fans are the people who are reading and buying your books. Keep them close so you don’t lose them.

Stay Active! The key to mastering the social media channels is staying active in all the major venues. If readers can’t find you, chances are they won’t know about your books. These next few chapters are all about learning how to get yourself out there!

Setting up author pages on sites such as Goodreads, Shelfari and Amazon (and any more you can find) will help get your name out there and allow readers to share, review and learn more about you and your books.

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/
With over 10 million registered members and 22 million monthly unique users they are the largest site for readers and book recommendations in the world.

Goodreads offer a variety of advertising options that will help you:
• generate prerelease buzz
• start a dialogue with fans on the site that can continue post campaign
• increase your book's discoverability in a crowded marketplace
• create awareness on the publication date
• drive purchase intent which can lead to sales

They are happy to help you create a book discovery package that meets your budget and marketing goals.

Advertising on Goodreads is a great way to promote yourself to a targeted group of book lovers who will add your book to their "to-read" shelf. Not only will this give your viral marketing efforts a big boost, but it puts your book in the hands of consumers who intend to purchase, read and share it.

It's also a great complement to their FREE Author program that allows you to list giveaways, communicate with fans, syndicate your blog, show video content, and create book widgets for your own site.

You can find more info here:

Author Program:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/program

Author Program How-To:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/how_to

If you have a budget of more than $5,000 per month please email them with more details about your marketing goals so they can help you create a custom integrated package that will meet and beat your marketing expectations.

If you have a budget of less than $5,000 per month they recommend using their self-serve advertising which allows you to target your Pay Per Click ads to your desired audience. Please check out their best practices for more helpful tips.

SIGN UP HERE: http://www.goodreads.com/advertisers/ad_home

Shelfari http://www.shelfari.com/
*Information direct from their website
Shelfari introduces readers to a global community of book lovers and encourages them to share their literary inclinations and passions with peers, friends, and total strangers (for now). Shelfari is a gathering place for authors, aspiring authors, publishers, and readers, and has many tools and features to help these groups connect with each other in a fun and engaging way. Their mission is to enhance the experience of reading by connecting readers in meaningful conversations about the published word.

Shelfari’s members:

Build virtual bookshelves to express themselves to their friends and to the world

Discover books that are popular in their trusted circles of friends

Influence peers by rating and discussing books online

Discover and learn from people with similar reading tastes

Participate in online book groups to further explore literature and share ideas

Interact with and learn from authors

Shelfari is a community-powered encyclopedia and social site for book lovers. There are many ways for authors to get involved with their books and readers on Shelfari. Shelfari has book pages that are editable by the community. You can add memorable quotes, characters, glossary, description and other information to your book’s page. Just click on your book cover or title, which takes you to the book page. Shelfari’s Book Extras are available on the Kindle device and Kindle applications for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. These details are very helpful for readers and we encourage you to help add information to your books. Learn more in the FAQ section on "Shelfari Book Extras on Kindle" 

Shelfari also has author detail pages for all published authors with a book in their catalog. You can find your detail page by clicking your name beneath the title of your book. If your book does not correctly show your name, click on the cover or title which takes you to the book page. On the book page, edit the Authors & Contributors section. Once the change is approved by the Shelfari Librarians then your book will be updated with the correct author information. Click through your name to your author detail page and begin adding and editing biographical and other information that would be interesting to readers. 

Shelfari provides authors who participate on Author Central (see below information on Amazon) with an "Amazon Author" badge on their avatars.

Visit the BookRix Shelfari page for an example of a personal shelf: http://www.shelfari.com/o1514898858

And try Suzanne Collins (author of The Hunger Games) page for an example of an author’s profile and shelf: http://www.shelfari.com/authors/a337403/Suzanne-Collins/

Amazon http://www.amazon.com
*Information direct from their website
If you're an author with a book listed in the Amazon catalog (which you will be when using the BookRix publishing service), you are eligible to join Author Central. At Author Central, you can share the most up-to-date information about yourself and your works with millions of readers. Add your biography, photos, blog, video, and tour events to the Author Page (your homepage on Amazon.com). The Author Page on Amazon.com provides a handy place for customers/readers to learn about you. Helping them get to know you is an effective way to introduce them to—or better educate them about—your books.

You use Author Central to personalize the contents of the Author Page dedicated to your books. Here’s how to start:

Set up your Author Central account if you haven’t already.

In Author Central, click the Profile tab. You’ll see sections for adding or changing your biography, photos, videos, speaking or other events, and blog feeds.

Click the add or edit link next to a section. Instructions appear, along with space to add information.

If you don’t add information to a section, that section does not appear on the Author Page. Sections are always available in Author Central so you can add or change the information later.

The creation process for an Author Page starts as soon as you sign up for Author Central. It can take 3 to 5 days for the Author Page to appear on the Amazon.com site. You can begin adding content to an Author Page as soon as you sign up. Once your Author Central account is set up and approved by a publisher, changes appear on the Author Page within 24 hours of the time you add them in Author Central.

Here is Stephanie Myers’ (author of the Twilight saga) Amazon.com Author Page as an example: http://www.amazon.com/Stephenie-Meyer/e/B001H6GO92/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1357725590&sr=1-1