A recurring theme with many of our clients, and most authors it seems, is the dread of social media. It makes sense too! Most authors aren’t in love with the idea of the marketing side of the job, and social media can seem overwhelming and confusing. Luckily, marketing your book without social media is totally possible. How, you ask? Well, there are a few tested and proven ideas. See if any of them are workable for you and give them a try.
Marketing Your Book Without Social Media Takes Getting Creative
It seems like social media marketing is sort of the default when it comes to online presence and promoting your book. But you don’t have to spend all of your time and energy on social media to market your book. You just need to get creative! And maybe put yourself out there in other ways. With everything from email newsletters to book signings at a local bookstore at your disposal, there’s a world of options out there for marketing your book without social media. And you may even find you have more time and creative energy when you’re spending less of it on your social media platforms. Besides, everything seems to be shifting and social media is becoming far less important than in the past. It’s not the end all, be all of self-promotion.
You May Have to Spend a Little Money
Alright, we need to get this one out of the way. You absolutely don’t have to run any paid ads, but they can be especially useful and effective to promote your book prior to, and directly after, its release. It’s something to consider, especially if you’re looking for that big boost everyone expects from marketing their book on social media.
We’ve realized that setting a budget and sticking to it and creating a really savvy set of ads really can pay off. The good news is that Facebook and Amazon ads allow you to stay within your budget and get results if you do them right.
We don’t recommend this as your only strategy, and certainly not for the long term, but a well-planned ad set to supplement your other efforts may be worth it to you.
Marketing Your Book Without Social Media Still Requires a Plan
Just because you’re marketing your book without social media doesn’t mean you don’t have to have a strategy. You’ll also have to still put in the time. It’s just a matter of choosing to use that time differently, and possibly, more effectively. There will be some planning involved, whether you want to run ads sets or promote your book in other ways.
Here are some alternative marketing strategies that other authors have used successfully:
Newsletters
Believe it or not, newsletters are still pretty popular. And they can be invaluable to authors, especially if you’re able to grow your mailing list. You can send these out to subscribers as a blog feed, or a regular newsletter. You can also sign up for newsletter platforms outside of your own website, like Substack.
Your Website
A really good author website is the foundation of your author marketing efforts. It’s where you have total control over your brand and the center for all things you!
Your Blog
Having your own blog through your website is one of the best ways to increase traffic to your website. It’s also where you can update your audience on all the important stuff, like your book release! You can get creative with blogs too. Did you know that images boost your SEO and add interest to your posts? Luckily there are a whole host of free image sources out there for this purpose.
Guest Blogging
If you can get a guest blog spot, this can be an opportunity to promote your book to a larger audience. As long as your audience and the audience of the blog you guest on intersect, this can be an incredibly valuable marketing tool.
Some Other Book Marketing Ideas That Don’t Require Social Media
Here’s the thing, if you don’t like marketing your book or yourself on social media because of the time it takes, or because you’re a bit shy about putting yourself out there, then marketing your book without social media may not work for you either. But if it’s just the pressure of it and the low returns for the effort that you dislike, then putting your energy into other things will pay off! There are plenty of other things you can try, especially if you like being involved and creating personal experiences and building community—you know, those things that social media was supposed to do…
Reaching Your Audience Directly, Even in Person
If you have a big network of friends, colleagues and family, encourage them to check out your book. They in turn can promote your book to the people they know. You don’t even have to be pushy about it because most people are happy to help the people in their circle.
Podcasts and Local Media
Marketing your book without social media doesn’t mean you need the reach of the New York Times or other national media outlets. Smaller scale media is effective too. Doing a press release or getting an appearance on a podcast focused on your niche can be a big help.
Local Bookstores
If you have a favorite local bookstore, strike up a conversation. Make it easy for them to order your book. See if there’s a possibility of holding an event there. Again, make this easy for them to help you out!
Events, Clubs and Conferences
Speaking of events, you can take advantage of them to promote your book. If you know of any clubs, conferences or other events that draw in your potential audience, start there. You can do giveaways at local clubs, rent a booth at a conference, or just mingle and network.
Pre-Orders
Making your book available for pre-order and promoting it before it ever comes out can really be effective in getting that first big boost in your sales. This makes a difference because those first few weeks are crucial. Remember, book marketing should begin long before the publication date!
Marketing Your Book Without Social Media Platforms Traditionally Used for Book Promotion
It should be noted that although we’re here promoting marketing your book without social media, there are some smaller alternative social platforms that we think may be of use. Why is that? Well, these aren’t typically platforms where you’re building your brand, or where posting frequency and engagement rate matter. This takes the pressure off you!
After doing a lot of sleuthing on Reddit to find out what self-published authors are talking about with each other and the kind questions they’re asking in order to create more valuable content ourselves, we found out a few things.
Reddit is notoriously anti-self promotion. But! It’s also an incredibly supportive platform with built in communities. And possibly, an audience. For this reason we suggest that you give this platform a look if you’re up to it. Granted, the users skew younger and pretty niche, but there are a few subreddit where on certain days of the week, they are all about self-promotion.
- These two subreddits have special self-promo days: r/selfpublish and r/writing
Overall, we think there are plenty of opportunities for marketing your book without social media.
There are also alternatives like GoodReads, Tumbler, and even Etsy. Your community may be waiting there. There’s less pressure to perform and engage and you’re just as likely to see conversions there as you are on traditional social media platforms, so it may be worth a try!
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