101+ Strategies to Promote, Market and Sell Your Book

Congratulations! You've just become a published author. You hold in your hand the first copy of the book that has taken months, even years to write. It is the most beautiful book you have ever seen.

Now that you are a published author, you'll become an overnight sensation. Your book will make you one of the rich and famous. It will appear on the New York Times Bestseller List, at number one of course, for many months. By the time it drops to number two, you will have written and published another one to hold up spot one on the Bestseller's List.

There's just one problem. Nobody or very few people know the book exists. The masses can't buy what they've never heard about. There's no guarantee they'll buy when they know about your book. In 2008, there were 275,232 books published. That doesn't count the books that were published without an ISBN barcode. If your book fell in rank and file of almost 300,000 books, what would the chances be that it will become the New York Times Bestseller?

Chances are if the author's first book is going to sell, it will depend primarily on his marketing skills. If the author used a Print On Demand format to publish, he must have the ability to eat, sleep, dream and eat book promotion and marketing. That's what it's going to take to sell the book. But it can happen.

Before we get into the 101+ strategies to promote and sell your book, you should prepare yourself by:

Defining your audience. What group or groups of people would enjoy your book more than any other groups?

Targeting your audience. The list below needs your personal tweaking in order for it to target the groups that will want to read your books. You wouldn't necessarily go to a church to promote a book on casino gambling, now would you?

Going for it! Once you start promoting and marketing your book, use good record keeping software. If you're not a people person, get some help. Either way, set a goal of how many books you want to sell, and work until you reach a realistic goal. If it is a non-fiction book, it may contain time sensitive information that won't be worth much in a year. That being said, the advantage of time- sensitive books is their value at the time.

101 Strategies to Promote, Market and Sell Your Book

Start at home: family, friends, stories in newspapers, on television and radio, classifieds ads, graphic ads, clubs, organizations, schools, churches, book signings at libraries and bookstores, family gatherings, office parties, neighborhood gatherings, museums, universities, colleges

In local businesses: chamber of commerce, office lobbies of doctors, dentists, veterinarians, lawyers, accountants, insurance agencies, tourism centers, bankers; shops, of hair stylists and barbers, drug stores, hospitals, clinics, boutiques, florists, antique shops, hotel lobbies

Marketing material: press releases flyers, brochures, business cards, letters, postcards, signs, banners, electronic billboards, book jackets, sample book page or section

Mass marketing venues: tables at festivals, flea markets, trade shows, conferences, speaking engagements, mailings

Nearby towns and cities: All of the above

State agencies: All state funded libraries (a database listing is available through your local library), the state library, department of archives and history

Cities where you once lived: All of the above

States where you once lived: All of the above

Cities where other relatives live: All of the above

Trip down memory lane: book signings at every school you attended, including elementary, middle, high school and college

Internet: your own website, social networking sites (did you know there are over 200 major active social networking sites worldwide?), especially those in the book lovers category, Google, Yahoo, Bing, online newsletters, links on other web pages, online book clubs, writing websites, reading websites, free websites, writing sites blogs, email marketing, internet radio, YouTube,

There are 54 promotion strategies listed down through Nearby Towns and Cities. Once you've worked your city, and move on to nearby towns and cities, you will duplicate your work, which increases your reach to 108 promotion and marketing strategies. You must use well put together, professionally designed marketing materials in the list to increase the chances of someone purchasing your book.

Good luck!

Sources: Author's personal knowledgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites