Book Promoting -- Part 2 -- 5 Useful and Inexpensive Things You Can Do to Promote Your Books

Now that I've told you about what hasn't worked for me and what does work in the long haul, I'm going to talk about what does work. Some of these cost money, but most are pretty nominal in cost. And almost anyone can do it.

1. Website. If you haven't a website yet, get one. I used to think that websites were worthless; they're not. I've gotten work and sales from my website. My website has led to other promotional venues. Seriously, if you don't have a website, you can't be found.

Have a website that is either your name or your character's name. I chose Shadowhelm because I wanted to promote Prophecy of Swords. I also have the names of many of my books as URLs. Don't have a long path to get there -- that's not good business. Yeah, it'll cost you money to buy the URL of your choosing, but at the most, you'll be paying $5-$30 a name. It's worth it.

A decent website costs money. You can go for a cheap or freebie website but they're annoying with popup ads and spyware. I use Homestead but you can use whatever website host you wish. By putting lots of keywords in your website you can direct people to come to you. Really. You need a website.

You can also become an Amazon or BN affiliate and sell your own books on your website, thereby making it easy for your fans to buy from you. They can also buy through other means, but at least you've given them the link. What's more, you make money through the Amazon affiliates as well. It's a great deal all around.

What do you put on your website? Well, it's up to you. I have my blog from here posted to my website. I have information about me. I have books for sale there. And I have some articles and free samples on the website.

2. Press Releases. I'm not as good as I should be with these, but a press release is one way to present an idea or make an announcement about an upcoming book or appearance. Sending the press releases to local media whenever you have a book coming out or make an appearance is something you can do. Briefly, a press release is a short article telling the media what is happening. At very small papers, press releases work really well when they're pressed on getting content out. Most will print much of the press release as an article.

3. Radio and Podcasting. This has been a big thing for me. I'm lucky in the fact I have friends in radio, but you can find podcasters who handle reviews of your books or interview you or whatever. In fact places like iTunes allow just about anyone with a mic to do a podcast.

Radio and podcasts are huge because even though you're not making direct sales with it, you're entertaining and informing people who wouldn't normally know who you are. If the radio announcers are good, they'll say the title of your book and your name every time you go to break and come off of break. They really are good at this.

I do see bumps in sales whenever I'm on the radio. It's a fact of life. What's more, I do this and it's free.

Getting on the radio is tricky. It helps if you're a known expert in something (and if you're not, become an expert in something). Being an expert and having a book out that even touches on the subject a bit helps incredibly. The radio people will book you on their shows because you're an expert but if you're interesting, they'll mention the book and voila, you've hit a market. People who tune into these shows are most likely your buyers. Send a press release and a copy of your book to the radio personality, c/o the station. There are other ways to meet these people and I'll talk about that later.

Podcasters are a lot more approachable. They're looking for content, for goodness sake, and having an author yammer away with them is damn near close to podcaster heaven. And don't worry about your lack of interview skills -- it isn't live and the podcaster will most likely edit to make everyone sound good.

4. Business cards and bookmarks. These behave almost the same when it comes to fans. I have two types of business cards -- the ones with all my contact info and ones with book promotion info. The first are plain white and may have a picture of pets on it. The second is my book promotion business cards that I give to fans. It has a full color photo of my book cover on a glossy card stock, the name of the book, my name, my website and my publisher's website. I carry both so if I want to give something to fans, I give away those cards so they can find me on the web. Cool, huh?

One pro author taught me the value of pretty bookmarks. Having full color bookmarks with the name of the book, my website, cover art, blurbs on the back and the publishers' website make for a decent SWAG when I'm talking at cons. I've even laminated them on occasion, but that can be expensive. The main thing is that they are heavier stock than just plain paper and that it has information on it that they can use. I'm not sure if I have ever had sales from pretty bookmarks, but they're so cheap (maybe 20 cents a bookmark) that they're really worth doing.

5. Blogs. Yes, yes, I do believe that blogs are eventual money makers and like my website, they're a presence on the internet most people see. Listing with search engines like technorati and others also gives you good presence. I chose to do the paying account but you can do it for free. Free blogs cost you nothing except time.

Look for Book Promoting -- Part 3 -- 5 More Useful and Inexpensive Things You Can Do To Promote Your Books next.