Changing role of authors in marketing a book

What does an author wants? Well, it’s sales, sales and more sales…! Today, authors go an extra mile in marketing their books. Let’s see how.

“Authors vision for the book can do wonders”

Whenever the author publishes through the traditional publishing, the notion that publisher shall take care of everything, is a myth. The publishers do have their entire resources and team working for pushing the book in the market but what really makes a book a bestseller is author’s push in marketing the book. Today when there is a sea of publishing but the readership is not equal, hence to bring the book into readers’ notice it is necessary that the authors promote it. There are many tools available for marketing.

The book launches aren’t very successful unless you have proper footfalls. It’s improving after pandemic as more authors want to be available to readers in the bookstores through book launches or book signing spree across locations. The social media marketing tool by authors has become the biggest contributor in helping in sales of the book.

Most authors are now hiring PR and Marketing firms specialising in getting book reviews, live book discussions, bloggers interviews, media interviews and having attractive and relevant posts on various social media handles. The readers like to interact directly with the authors and not the publishers wherein they can even put their comments, likes and reviews about the book too. When the author talks about her book, there is a direct connection made between the readers and the author and that helps the author in the long run for their next books too.

Writing the book is only half the part of author’s job. The other half should be marketing the book. An author’s vision for the book can do wonders. Authors are lucky that we have professional machinery today to help them. They should make the most of it.

-Dipti Patel, Founder, WordFamous Literary agents

“Book marketing is the joint effort of author and publisher”

Book marketing is a crucial part of book publishing. Even if your book has the potential to become a best seller, no one can expect that once the book is printed, it will sell on its own. There are too many books out there in the market and what makes your book apart from them is marketing. Book marketing is the joint effort of author and publisher. While the publisher carries out a lot of preparations for your book, the author also need to work hard to make his/her name known.

The easiest way to promote a book is through the author’s social media handles. If the author is already active on a handful of popular social media platforms, interacting with readers, it serves as an ideal way of marketing the book. If they are not, they should start building such platforms, because there is no better way to easily access the audience’s opinion and attention. Social media also helps in building a positive image of the author. Readers are more likely to buy the book of an author whom they’ve heard of. If they haven’t, they will search for the author’s name in google. What opens up in front of them largely determines whether they will proceed with the idea of buying your book.

Authors can join organizations that are related to the specific genre they are writing in. They can actively participate in speaking engagements arranged by these organizations, which will provide the authors with an opportunity to share their perspectives, experiences and the milestones they have achieved to complete a book.
Other marketing strategies include arranging book tours, giveaways and contests regarding the genre of the book. Such programs will keep the author in the limelight, frequently reminding the reader the existence of the book.

-Reshma, Editor, Clever Fox Publishing