You finally wrote and published your masterpiece, and now it’s time to promote your book online and get the word out. The digital landscape for book promotions is ever-changing, and it can be hard to stay on top of every channel available to you as an author.
Here we’ve collected 20 ways to promote book online and develop a fan base.
But don’t let these ideas overwhelm you. You don’t need to implement every single one. In fact, the best approach is to do some of these strategies expertly instead of trying to do every one but only haphazardly.
#1 Create a Facebook Page
If readers like your book, they should be able to “like” you, too. If you don’t create your Facebook page, a fan might make one for you, so make sure you take control of your online presence right away.
Facebook pages are a great place for fans and new readers to congregate, discuss your books, and look out for news on upcoming releases. They also provide a way for you to personally connect with readers, so they can feel like they “know” you as an author.
#2 Promote Your Book Online With a Website
Many people have a Facebook account, but not everyone does. You might want to make a site for your book, but best practice is to build an author site that allows you to promote more than a single book. Using your author name for the domain ensures your site shows up on browser searches.
When someone searches for you or your book, you need a robust web presence where they can browse your entire body of work, learn about series you’ve written, and even join mailing lists for promotions and news.
#3 Cultivate an Email List With a Reader Magnet
Email marketing for authors is a great way to connect with readers and let them know about new book releases, upcoming deals, and other news, such as book signings and reader conventions you’ll be attending. But before you can promote your book directly to them, you’ll need to collect their emails.
The best way to do this is with a reader magnet. This is usually something free you offer in exchange for an email signup. For example, you can give away a few chapters of one of your best sellers, or even the entire book. You can include a link to this magnet at the end of your books to capture existing readers. But you can also include it on the front end of your Amazon listing. That way, even if someone doesn’t buy your book, they might still signup for your free reader magnet and become a paying customer later.
#4 Do a Photo Shoot for Your Book
Once you have a physical copy of your book, try a photo shoot where your book is the model. Photograph the cover, your favorite pages, and maybe someone reading it. If you use a high-quality camera, you’ll be able to use these promotional images for the rest of your campaign. Alternatively, you can use services such as Book Brush to create images that feature your book in a variety of settings.
Investing in a quality cover design will pay dividends. Despite the adage not to “judge a book by its cover,” many readers will never give a book a chance if the cover design isn’t up to snuff.
#5 Post Frequent Updates on Social Media
Whether you’re using Facebook, Twitter, Tiktok, Instagram, or a blog on your website, it’s important to stay in touch with your fans. Post frequent updates with quotes from your book, pictures, and dates when you’ll be at book signings. Also don’t be afraid to interact in the comments sections.
While you want to promote your book often, be careful of overdoing it. Readers want to know more about you as a person, so be sure to mix up the topics of your posts so your presence doesn’t feel like it’s just one big sales push. Share pictures and videos of your pets, what you’re reading, favorite things, your writing process, background info about your setting, how you come up with characters…ideas are endless. Show that you’re a real person who readers can relate to and they’ll be more likely to buy from you and even help you promote your book.
Be realistic about what you’re capable of when it comes to your time and energy, but cultivating an organic interaction with your fans from time to time can help boost your brand.
#6 Run Online Ads
Facebook, Reddit, and similar sites allow you to purchase ad space to promote your book. Make sure you know your target audience well and choose the correct demographics, so your ads are shown to people who want to click on them.
There are also retailer site ads, as well as book promotion services, such as CraveBooks, that will help get your book in front of readers who are actively looking for that genre/topic.
#7 Make the Most of Amazon & Retailer Sites
Utilizing Amazon and the other ebook retailers to the best of your abilities will be key in getting your book into the hands of readers. When you’re setting up your book for publishing (or even after), be sure you choose keywords and categories correctly to target the right audience and genre.
#8 Run a Giveaway
Book Giveaways are great for drumming up interest. Everyone who signs up for the contest is a potential reader. Even if they don’t win, they may still end up buying a copy. You can run one on your own or as a collaborative effort with other authors, expanding everyone’s reach. CraveBooks also offers list-building giveaways.
This can also be your reader magnet to capture emails for future marketing campaigns.
#9 Write Guest Blog Posts
Try writing guest posts for blogs with an audience similar to yours. The blogger gets a free post, and you get a link to your book right at the top of the page.
#10 Start an Online Group
Both Goodreads and Facebook let you start a group discussion about your book or a related topic. This can be a great way to connect with readers and create a community centered on your writing. People long for community these days, and everyone wants to feel like they belong to something. An active community will engage readers, turning them into super-fans who love to help you promote your books, talking about them with everyone they meet.
#11 Hold a Virtual Book Signing
Set up a live stream for a specific date, and tell your fans well in advance that you’ll be signing books live on camera. Let readers pre-order books and have extra copies that they can purchase while they’re watching.
#12 Read an Excerpt of Your Book
A live stream is also a good way to hold book readings for online fans. If you don’t want to go live, you can record a video to put on YouTube – and then link to it on social media.
#13 Have an Email Just for Fan Mail
Your fans want to talk to you, so make sure they have a way to do so. To keep your personal email private, make an address like fanmail@bookname.net. There’s no point in receiving fan mail if you never write back. Make sure to respond to Facebook wall posts and direct messages, too. An active presence will help build your community.
#14 Ask for Fan Photos 
Once you have fans, you can ask them to help you promote your book by taking pictures of it “in the wild.” Give a free copy of your next book or a book-related gift to whoever takes the best fan photo of your book. You’ll be surprised at the results.
#15 Start Blogging
Your readers like your writing and will want more of it after they finish your book. Start a blog either about your experience as a writer or about the same topic as your book, and update consistently.
#16 Get Your Book in Other Newsletters
If you subscribe to any newsletters that relate to your field, see if they’ll highlight your book. They already have an audience, and if you read the newsletter, you know others will too. You can also do newsletter swaps with other authors in your genre, sharing each other’s books with an audience you already know is excited to discover more books and authors like the ones they love.
#17 Write a Press Release
A press release contains all the information media members need to write about your book. Have one on your website so other writers can promote for you.
#18 Be a Guest on a Podcast
Podcast listeners are also often readers. Look for a podcast you like that’s relevant to your genre or book topic, and see if they’ll have you on the show as a guest. Most shows allow you time to promote your book and/or anything else you have going on, such as an upcoming event.
Bonus idea: Start your own podcast related to your book’s topic or genre or about writing or books and reading in general.
#19 Record an Audiobook
An audio recording of your book opens up your potential reader base to people who can’t or don’t have time to read physical print. If you have the budget, a professional narrator can make your book sound amazing.
#20 Make a Book Trailer
A book trailer is like a movie trailer, but for your book. Include appropriate theme music, a few lines from the book itself, and plenty of relevant imagery.
If you haven’t signed up for our ebook promotional platform, you can do so by clicking here. After you create an account, your books and author information will be displayed on our Authors List page as well, supporting your book promotion efforts.
