You Wrote a Book? Here's a Quick and Dirty Book Marketing Plan You Can Use Right Now

You've poured your heart and soul into publishing your book. Now you might be wondering if you'll need to empty your wallet to promote it.

It doesn't have to be so. Here is a quick and dirty book marketing plan you can use right now. This doesn't cover all the bases by any means, but following these steps will get you started in the right direction. And they might even inspire some ideas of your own!

You start by creating your business cards. Make sure you include your contact information, the URL of your website or blog, and the name of your book. For your title, you can say something like, "Author of..." If you have a quality printer, you can print your own business cards, but if possible, I do recommend having them professionally printed.

You could also have bookmarks made instead of regular business cards. While we might be tempted to throw away a business card when we're cleaning out our wallets, your bookmark has a practical purpose, so we'll probably hold onto it a little longer. Again, a professional print job is worth the extra expense here.

Now that you have your business cards or your bookmarks, it's time to start giving them away. You can post them on public bulletin boards, leave them inside library books, give them to people you meet in your every day life or at networking functions.

You're also ready to hold an event to celebrate the launch of your new book. Arrange a speaking engagement on the topic of your book, then invite the public. Once the event is arranged, send out press releases and announcements to your local media.

Most cities have a way to broadcast free events, so be sure to take advantage of those. In your press release, focus on the benefits people will receive when they attend your event... not the fact that they'll be able to buy your book.

At the event, have your bookmarks or business cards on hand to give out. You can also hold a draw for a few copies of your books.

One way to hold a draw is to invite people to sign up for your newsletter, then draw names of the winners from the list. Also have copies of your book on hand to sell.

And now that you have subscribers for your newsletter, it's time to send one out! The people who signed up for your newsletter are interested in staying in touch with you and learning more about your topic. You can help them by writing articles on your topic and sending them out in your newsletters. Make sure you include a link where they can purchase your book too.

Want to get more subscribers? It's easy. You know the articles you wrote for your newsletter? Now submit them to the websites, blogs, newsletters, even magazines your target market reads.

by Denise Willms