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The best book marketing strategies for authors take planning, organization, and consistent action. Book marketing is hard work. But the good news is that book marketing attracts readers and will help you get more book sales. 

As a book publisher, I have spent the last decade helping authors increase book sales through public relations (PR) and book marketing strategies. The authors I have worked with have become bestsellers, gained financial freedom, been interviewed on national media, and seen their book in bookstores. Based on my experience, I have found there are 7 key book marketing strategies that never fail. 

These 7 key book marketing strategies always produce success for my authors, and now I am sharing them with you. 

In this article I am going to share the best book marketing strategies every author needs to know if they want to become a bestseller and attract more readers. Are you ready?

1. Using PR to get the media to mention your book

Using PR to get your book out there is one of the BEST book marketing strategies every author needs in their life! Media can give you instant trust with your target audience. Why? Because people trust the media. Media exposure will also give you the opportunity to reach thousands of people at once (and possibly millions). 

If you are a new author who has never been interviewed before, don’t start by pitching your book or expertise to national media. Instead, you will have a better chance of being featured if you pitch to local or small-scale media. 

There are hundreds of different PR campaigns that you can use to promote your book – but not all of these campaigns will work for you. Instead, focus on creating a PR strategy that is tailored to your target audience. Remember, just because one campaign worked for another author doesn’t mean it will work for you. 

2. Get book reviews and testimonials

Now, I am not talking about asking people to write a review on your Amazon book page. What I mean by book reviews is getting high-profile influencers, celebrities, journalists, and other people of influence to provide your book with a review or a testimonial. 

A review from a high-profile person gives you credibility. When you get these reviews, you can add them to your website, share them on social media, add them to your Amazon book page (under the book description or your bio) and add them to your book’s back cover or the first few pages in your book. 

If you are a new author, you have no symbolic capital. In other words, you are not yet known to produce quality books that seduce readers. However, book reviews and testimonials will help you build symbolic capital and will help you create trust with your readers. For example, if Oprah recommends your book, who wouldn’t want to read it?! 

But how do you get book reviews? By reaching out. Make a list of people that you would like a testimonial from. These people can be Instagram influencers, professors, fellow authors, politicians, journalists, etc. Once you have a list, send out an email to everyone on that list asking if they would like to review a copy of your book and provide you with a testimonial. Make sure each email you send out is personalized. 

Here’s a sample request for an endorsement from a fellow author that you can send out via email:

Hi <name>,

I loved your book <title> and found it enlightening because…<briefly explain>.

I have a new book coming out this winter: <title>. It is about <brief description, just two or three sentences>. 

I am in the process of gathering endorsements for the jacket. Would you consider providing a testimonial? I would be happy to send you sample chapters or the entire manuscript for review—whatever you prefer.

Thanks very much for your consideration!

Warm wishes,

<your name>

Note that this email begins by complimenting the author’s work. This isn’t sucking up. It demonstrates that you are a fan of their work and creates an instant rapport. Your first sentence should show that you know who they are and that you have done some research about them (flattery will get you everywhere!). 

3. Content marketing for authors

Position your expertise with content marketing. Content marketing is a must-do in today’s industry. Your goal is to create content that offers value to your ideal readers – the more value it offers, the bigger the chance your audience will share it and trust you. When creating content- don’t focus on sharing something of interest to your reader. To do this, you need to get into the mindset of your reader. What questions do they ask, what are their interests, what are their challenges? Then, aim to create content that provides a solution or heightens a gain for your target audience. 

4. Use social media to your advantage

If your author’s website is where you send readers, then social media is where you meet them (online, at least).

The key to using social media well is to start small. Choose one or two of your favorite social media sites and begin rocking the heck out of those sites. Then, really work to make a splash among the reading and writing communities online. 

I know social media can be time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be. Just twenty minutes a day can make a huge difference! 

Social media is an excellent way for you to build visibility organically. Having a solid social media presence will also help you get noticed by the media. Plus, it allows you to engage with your target readers authentically. 

I actually have a complete guidebook to social media (that is over 20 pages). You can access it here. 

5. Grow your email list with new book readers

Once you’ve created your author’s website and mastered your social media schedule, you are going to want to start growing your email list. Each email subscriber you get is a lead, and that lead can be converted into a sale by sending them nurturing emails.

To gain new email subscribers, you’ll want to add a call to action on your website that prompts your website traffic to give you their email address. This call to action can be in the form of offering a newsletter or giving the first few chapters of your book for free in exchange for their email address. Just remember that people will only give you their email address if you can offer them something of value in return.

One of the easiest ways to generate more email subscribers and book sales is to consistently provide valuable content that you know your readers will love (maybe the first chapter of your book?). 

Make sure your valuable content is gated – i.e. it requires an email address to be downloaded. You then will have the contact details of potential readers and can follow them up with an offer or target more sales-focused Facebook ads just for them.

By slowly getting your social media followers’ emails, you will be creating a business network for yourself. One of your main goals should be around building an email list of leads that you can tap into and generate sales from. 

Creating a sign-up form and emailing your list regularly is a great way to remind your readership that 1) you exist and 2) you are awesome.

6. Pitch your book as a holiday gift 

Gifting season is around the corner, and what’s better than receiving a book for the holidays?! Consider pitching your book as a gift to boost sales. Time your price promotions and social media ad campaigns around holiday or relevant events to boost sales and visibility.

7. Continue publishing new books

You’ve successfully published your first book, why stop there?! Effective book marketing strategies are continuous – keep doing what you love and publish more. When working on your next book, make sure you let your audience know on social media. Get your audience involved in the process by asking their thoughts on cover design and keep them updated on your process.

Getting your audience involved in your book will help generate more book sales. Why? Because they are already invested in the book. 

Continually publishing new books will help you garner a wider audience that will be interested in your future books.

Conclusion For The Best Book Promotion Strategies Every Author Needs To Know

Now that you have this great list of book marketing strategies, you are ready to start promoting your book and attracting more readers. With a great book and an effective book marketing strategy, your name on the bestseller list is more than just a dream! With the right amount of planning, organization, and consistent action, these steps are sure to attract more readers and set up a loyal fan base that will have future publications flying off the shelves.  

Using Amazon’s Book Marketing Services to get book sales is one of the easiest and cheapest ways for authors to use. The power of advertising on Amazon is that it gives you the ability to place your book in front of targeted book buyers at a price you determine. Plus, advertising on Amazon is cheaper than using any other social media platform’s ads.

Amazon’s Book Marketing Services allow you to place an advertisement for your book alongside other books on Amazon. This helps you get your book noticed and puts it in front of more Amazon shoppers.

When running Amazon ads, you are only charged when a person clicks on your ad. This is called cost per click (CPC). The benefit of the CPC model of advertising is you only pay when someone is interested enough in your ad to click on it and check out your book further. When creating your ad, you can specify the amount you are willing to pay per click, so everything stays under your control.

Why Authors Need to Use Amazon’s Book Marketing Services

People on Amazon are already ready to make a purchase, which makes Amazon a great place to spend money on ads.

When thinking about what platform you should spend your ad budget on, it is important to know how an audience interacts with that platform. For example, are they on that platform to socialize, to learn, or to buy? Your ad and the messaging around that ad will be different for each platform and should be based on your target audience.

Here is a list of how people engage with the top 4 social media platforms:

• Google: People use it for search and email. 
• Twitter: People use it to engage with quick bits of news and tweet celebrities and politicians. 
• Facebook: People use it to engage and catch up with friends.
• Amazon: People use it to buy products and write reviews on items they have purchased or books they have read.

Amazon is a great place to spend your ad budget. Think about it – people who use Amazon most likely have an account and are logged in – they are ready to shop. Even if they don’t click on your book, they might still remember the name. Usually, a potential buyer needs to see your book and hear about it a few times before they make a purchase.

Amazon’s Book Marketing Services for Authors Made Easy

When using Amazon’s Book Marketing Services, you’ll get the opportunity to place your book in front of targeted book buyers at a price you determine. The first step in using Amazon’s Book Marketing Services is deciding what kind of ads to create.

Types of Amazon’s Book Marketing Services Ads

There are two types of Amazon’s Book Marketing Services ads available: sponsored product ads and product display ads.

1. Sponsored product ads

Sponsored product ads are ads that are placed on the results page of a customer’s search. This means Amazon customers will see your ad when searching for a product similar to yours.

When placing sponsored product ads, you choose particular keywords for which you want your ad to appear. For example, if you select the keyword “grimdark”, your ad will appear on the results page when an Amazon customer searches for that genre of books.

I recommend using a sponsored product ad to help your target readers find your book. You can even use similar books or author names as your keywords for this ad. This way, your book will appear next to books you know your audience already loves. 

2. Product display ads

Product display ads allow your ad to show up alongside a specific product or a group of products that you have targeted. For example, imagine you are promoting your memoir with Amazon’s Book Marketing Services. By choosing a product display ad, you can ensure your own memoir shows up alongside other memoirs. This way, you are targeting readers who love other memoirs similar to yours. 

Now that you understand the basic concept of Amazon’s two types of ads, let’s take a look at how to create your first ad. 

How to Create Your First Amazon Advertising Campaign

You can get started with building your first Amazon advertising campaign once you have a book published through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Here are 3 steps to follow to begin your first campaign:

1. Log into your KDP account
2. Select the book you wish to create an ad for
3. Click the “advertise” button

Following these steps will allow you to create either a sponsored product ad, a product display ad, or both. Now that you know how to create your first campaign, the next step is creating the actual ad. Below you will find the exact step-by-step process to creating a sponsored product ad and a product display ad.

How to Set Up a Sponsored Product Ad

1. Come up with a name for your sponsored product ad campaign. You might benefit from having a specific naming system for your Amazon’s Book Marketing Services campaigns, particularly if you intend to run multiple campaigns.
2. Choose the maximum daily expenditure for your campaign. You won’t always be charged the full limit, and you will never be charged more than the maximum daily expenditure on any given day. Starting with a lower daily budget at first and scaling it up based on positive results is a good approach to take.
3. Choose your campaign length – you can either run your campaign for a defined period of time or indefinitely. It’s sensible to pick a specified time as a test when first starting to advertise on Amazon.
4. Choose between automatic targeting and manual targeting for your ad. Automatic targeting leaves the choice of the sponsored product up to Amazon, while manual targeting allows for your input into how your book will be advertised.
5. Select the search engine keywords that you want your ad to appear on. You can choose from either selecting keywords suggested by Amazon or inputting your own choices. A good approach is to go broad and target a large number of keywords. Many authors make the mistake of only selecting a limited number of keywords, and see limited results accordingly.
6. Specify the default amount you are willing to pay when someone clicks on your ad. This will act as a flat rate for all keywords at first, but you can tweak and specify this rate further down the line.
7. Write 150 characters of custom ad text. This should be intriguing, convincing, and able to persuade a potential book buyer to click on your ad and check it out further.
8. Select a debit or credit card to which the cost of your Amazon ad campaign will be billed. If you haven’t previously added a card to your Amazon account, you can do so here.
9. Click “launch campaign” to send your campaign to Amazon for their review. It takes 1-3 days for the review to be carried out. As soon as Amazon verifies that your campaign meets their requirements, it goes live and customers begin seeing your ads.

How to Set Up a Product Display Ad

1. After clicking “advertise” on the book you want to create a campaign for, select “product display ad” from the screen displaying your campaign type choices.
2. Your product display ad will be shown to Amazon customers either “by product” or “by interest.” Choosing “by product” allows you to dig deep and choose precisely which products your ad will appear alongside, while “by interest” allows you to choose a wider category, with your ad appearing next to all products in that category.
3. Select whether Amazon can automatically place your ad next to similar products to those you have chosen. This is a good way of gaining exposure through relevant products that you don’t know well enough to personally choose.
4. Pick a campaign title.
5. Specify a maximum overall budget for your campaign and select your CPC bid.
6. Write the headline and text for your ad. There is a 50-character limit for the headline, and 150 characters for the text, so be sure to focus on grabbing attention and encouraging Amazon shoppers to click on your ad.
7. Clicking “submit your campaign for review” begins the 1-3 day review process to ensure your campaign meets Amazon’s guidelines. As soon as it’s approved, your campaign will go live.

Amazon’s Book Marketing Services platform is a great opportunity for indie authors to get more visibility on Amazon and pull in more readers. So go ahead and spread the word about your book!

How do you start writing a nonfiction book? An Outline Method For Your Nonfiction Book is the way to start! No matter what nonfiction book genre you are writing under or whether you are an entrepreneur, CEO, businessperson, mom, or just a regular person with an amazing story, you need a book outline. Or you can always hire a writing coach or ghostwriter to help get your story on paper. 

This article is designed to help you find the best outline method for your nonfiction book. 

Match An Outline Method To Your Nonfiction Book 

The book outline you choose depends on what type of business book you plan on writing. This might sound obvious; however, it can be hard to see which book outline will help you finish writing your business book or nonfiction book when you are lost in the details. So, let’s take a step back and look at the four main types of nonfiction structures: 

1. Transformational Memoir
2. Chapter-by-Chapter Book Outline
3. Thought Leadership 
4. Collection Of Interviews

Transformational Memoir

The type of nonfiction or business book that uses this outline is based on the author’s story. Here, the author tells their own story of personal transformation, where they walk readers through their experience. The goal here is for readers to relate to the story and learn something from it. This structure can be a powerful way to get your message across.  

If you plan to write a transformational memoir, then the best type of book outline to follow is a “Simple Book Outline”.

For this outline, you will want to begin by taking a piece of paper and listing out the main points in your story along with the lessons you learned from each of them. Next, you will want to organize that list. You can either organize it chronologically or split it up into themes and ideas. Both these routes are valid and depend on the subject matter. 

Step-by-Step Change Guide

The type of nonfiction or business book that uses this outline often centers around coaching. It is where the author helps readers make their own transformation. I find this structure to work best if you turn your signature coaching or consulting program into a book. This nonfiction book is excellent and will help you gain a whole new audience and customer base while also helping you gain more credibility.

The outline that works best for the “Step-by-Step Change Guide” nonfiction book structure is the ‘Chapter-by-Chapter Book Outline”. The “Chapter-by-Chapter Book Outline” is a more detailed version of the “Simple Book Outline”. For this book outline method, you will first create a complete chapter list, with titles of each chapter, and then write down each chapter’s key points. 

Thought Leadership Book Outline

You have probably read a few Thought Leadership articles in the media. I have also written a few for Huffington Post and my authors have had Thought Leadership articles published in Forbes, Inc., and others. A Thought Leadership book is slightly different from the article version as it is a much longer format. A Thought Leadership book is where the author describes what they know and their opinions around it. The goal is to get readers to take action after finishing the book. 

I find that a Thought- Leadership-structured book is a bit more difficult to plan outlines for, as the structure is more varied. For this structure, I would recommend picking a book outline based on your writing style instead. Feel free to reach out if you would like more guidance on structuring a Thought Leadership book- as these types of books need a more custom approach. 

Collection Of Interviews Outline

The type of nonfiction or business book that uses this outline uses interviews to support its ideas to give more explanations. This structure for a nonfiction book is great if you love talking to and meeting new people. The best book outline for this book structure is one in which you create a new chapter for each interview or theme. For instance, if your book is about animals and you are interviewing various zookeepers, you might want to take a theme approach. However if you are interviewing people who have different areas of expertise around a theme, such as medical professionals talking about cancer, then a chapter-per-interviewee approach would work better. 

Each of these four nonfiction or business book structures have overlap. However, rarely does a business book fit into more than one of these categories. 

How To Prepare To Outline Your Nonfiction Book

Once you know which outline method for your nonfiction book you want to go with, it is time to fill in that outline. To make filling out the book outline feel less daunting, imagine giving out a brief face-to-face presentation or workshop to your targeted reader. Your outline should then derive naturally from that imaginary presentation. 

To deliver that imaginary presentation, here’s what you need to nail down:

• How can you set the stage in 60 seconds?
• What are the 5 to 10 most important high-level key points you want to make?
• What are the 5 to 10 best examples and/or case studies for each point you’re making?
• How can you wrap everything up in 2 minutes so that the client (aka reader) is ready and willing to take action right now?

Preparing For Success As A Nonfiction Writer

When writing and creating an outline for your nonfiction book, it is vital to understand the “why” behind it. Why do you want to write your book? What is the objective? What does success look like for you?

Here is a list of reasons why people write nonfiction books:

• To leave a legacy:

Some future authors want to publish a book to check it off from their bucket list and leave a lifelong treasure and memory for future generations. 

• To inspire or help others:

This is where a future author has a great story and wants to use their experience to teach and guide people towards success. 

•  To improve credibility and authority:

Writing a book is an excellent way of showcasing your knowledge. In a nonfiction book, you can include case studies, research, and your own thoughts. 

• To generate new leads:

Books are great marketing tools to generate new leads and sales. Think of a nonfiction book as a business card. 

• To win speaking events:

Being an author increases your chances of getting paid speaking gigs. Plus, speaking gigs are a great way to engage with your target reader and sell more books. 

• To make money: 

Making money from your nonfiction book requires long-term marketing and can help grow your overall business. 

Take some time and decide which of the above reasons apply to you before you start writing your full book. Maybe your goal is to achieve all of the reasons listed, or maybe you are writing for just one of those reasons. No matter, it is important to understand what your goal is before you start writing. Remember, knowing what you want to achieve makes it easier to achieve it. 

How does an outline help you finish writing your nonfiction book faster

Well, creating a book outline will help keep your writing more focused and consistent. The book outline will prevent you from getting writer’s block and will stop you from going on any tangents. 

An outline for your nonfiction book allows you to have one place where you have everything you want to say, in the order in which you want to say it, and reminds you where you are in your story. The book outline is also the perfect place to move ideas around until you are happy with the flow and order. It is a lot easier to shift an outline around than a finished book. 

The conclusion To How to Choose An Outline Method For Your Nonfiction Book

I have found that the best reason to use a writing outline for your nonfiction book is that you will finish your book faster. Why? Well, just like starting a business, you need a plan first. So, you need to treat your nonfiction book like a business. Remember, the book itself is a product and needs a plan before you start building it. 

Before I share the top10 Facebook Tips to increase book sales that EVERY author needs to know, let me begin by explaining why every author needs to be on Facebook.

So, Do Authors Need Facebook?

The quick answer is YES! As an author, you can choose if you want to be on other social media platform (like Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram), but you need to be on Facebook. With 2.7 billion users, Facebook is the only social media platform where every author’s audience is on. Other social media networks don’t cater to every industry or audience segment.

It is important to know who your target audience is before you create profiles on other social media networks. You only want to be on social media networks that your audience is also apart of. For example, Pinterest’s users are mostly moms, lifestyle bloggers, beauty gurus.

Facebook Tactics For Authors

There was once a time when authors could just write their book, hand it to an agent and let the publisher do the rest of the work. Now we are in the 21st century, and everything has changed. Authors today must also market their book and build an author platform where they can engage with their readers. One of the most facebook tactics for authors and ways to get more book sales is by engaging with targeted readers through Facebook. In this article, I will be sharing the top 10 Facebook tips to increase book sales. These Facebook tips for authors will help you build a tribe of loyal readers who help you further promote your book.

Here are the top 10 Facebook Tips To Increase Book Sales You Need

1. Create A Vanity URL

When you first create your Facebook author page, you’ll be assigned a random URL, consisting of a lot of numbers. To make your page easier to find and your links more recognizable, you should turn this link into a vanity URL aka your book title or author name. This will transform your URL from something like facebook.com/pages/123456789 to the much clearer facebook.com/yourbooktitle.

2. Setting Up Your Facebook Tabs

Once you’ve chosen your template, a system of default tabs will appear below it. You should reorder these tabs to put the ‘Shop Tab’ first, and the ‘Events Tab’ second. Rearranging the tabs is easy, just click n drag.

3. Setting Up Facebook Shop

To begin setting up your shop, click on the “Shop” tab from the left-hand column. A pop-up box will appear asking you to agree to the Seller’s Terms and Policies. Check the box and click continue. You will then be asked to choose a checkout method. Select “checkout on another website” so that you can direct readers to the Amazon page for your book.

When you’re done, click save. After that, you’ll be able to add books to your store!

4. Adding a Book To Your Store

Once your Facebook shop is set up, you will need to add some products aka books to it. To add a book, you will need an image that is square and with a resolution of 1024 pixels by 1024 pixels. This image should contain the book cover and cannot include any promotional material or text, or else Facebook may remove it.

You may be thinking, “book covers are rectangular, how do I make them square?” If you upload a book cover as is, the image will be distorted, and readers will not be able to see the cover properly. You will have to use an image editing program like Photoshop or Canva to create the square image.

Once you have the image, go to your author page and click on the Shop tab. Next, click on ‘Add Product.’ Fill out the form with the book title, price, book description, and URL. The URL should take the reader directly to a place they can purchase the book, i.e., Amazon. You should make sure your book is ‘Featured.’ To do this, check the “Feature This Product” box.

5. Set Your Facebook Button

At the top right side of every Facebook business page is a big blue button that says ‘Shop Now.’ Make sure you add the URL that will take readers to a place where they can purchase your book. But if you want to push email signups instead of sales, you may want to change the button to say ‘Learn More’ or ‘Sign Up Now.’

6. Use Facebook Stories

This tool was created to help you! Use it! Facebook stories don’t take up much time. Plus when you publish a new story, your audience will receive an alert!

Facebook stories don’t involve any editing and don’t need to be perfect. Just pick up your phone and start vlogging! The stories are also there for only 24 hrs then poof they disappear!

7. Use Facebook Advertising To Boost Your Audience

Yes, this may be at an additional fee, but it’s more than worth it. This step guarantees that you will have an audience. Those eyeballs don’t come cheap!

8. Use Facebook Audience Insights to find new interest audiences to target

Expand your audience targeting by finding other authors and readers through Facebook Audience Insights tool. Plug in your best-performing audience and see which pages it has an active crossover.

9. Improve Your Organic Reach With Tagging

Want to maximize your organic reach and start gaining followers organically? Try tagging your readers, other authors, businesses, or Facebook pages. Or when you share an article from a publication on your Facebook page, always tag the media outlet and journalist.

10. Try Boosting A Post

Boosting a post is available to anyone with a business page. Boosting a post on Facebook means paying to get your content seen by more people. Creating an Ad on Facebook is very different from boosting a post. With a Facebook ad, you are creating an entirely new targeted ad. With boosting a post, you are boosting an already published post. Make sure you’re boosting a post that is already doing well, and that has a high ROI (return on investment) value.

Benefits of boosting a Facebook post:

• Make up for declining organic reach.
• Reach a wider targeted audience.
• Access to analytics.

Conclusion: Facebook Tips To Increase Book Sales Every

Following these 10 Facebook tips to increase book sales will dramatically help you gain traction on Facebook. I used these same Facebook strategies for authors to help them grow their readership.

There is one facebook tip for authors that will always get you the most results. That tip is investing in Facebook Ads. Just because it’s free to use Facebook for promoting your book doesn’t mean it’s free to become successful.

A common misconception is that successful authors don’t invest money in their brand is false. There are plenty of things you can do to grow your Facebook account organically, but once you get to a particular stage, it pays to pay. I actually have a secret facebook strategy that I have used to help authors build a credible and highly engaged audience from zero to one thousand overnight. Want to know? Join my newsletter, and I will email you the secret.)

I hope this article helped inspire you to start growing your readership on Facebook! Looking for more social media advice? Join my Authors only Facebook group where I will answer any of your marketing or publishing questions. Plus I am giving away my free 20 page social media guidebook that has over 100 tips for authors in it!

Are you an author who is struggling to promote your book on Twitter? You want more followers, more engagement, and of course, more book sales. You see other authors killing it on Twitter, and you want some success yourself. So where do you start? Well, don’t panic. I have you covered in promoting your book with these Twitter tips for authors. I use these same Twitter strategies to promote my client’s book on Twitter.

Twitter can be a very much underestimated platform. Twitter doesn’t have the same kind of targeting that Facebook has. Instead, it’s a very open social media platform, where anyone can find your content through immense viral potential. You may have an audience of 50 people, but one retweet from one popular person can give your tweet a reach into tens of thousands of people or more.

Every author needs a Twitter account. However, you don’t need to tweet every day or every week to gain success on Twitter.

What Makes Twitter Good For Book Promotion?

Tweeting your way to book sales can be a thing. But it takes a strategy and time. Instant success is rarely a thing. One of the marketing advantages that Twitter has over other social media platforms is anyone interested in a subject can easily search for information. That means, if you tweet your topic well and use the right hashtags, people will be able to find you better. Tweets that are on topic and use relevant hashtags work with Twitter’s search functionality- making those tweets a potential audience magnet for you and your book.

How To Promote Your Book On Twitter

Powerful book promotion on Twitter can take less than 2 hours a week for authors.

Two hours a week is not that much time if it can result is successful book sales. Just think of you tweeting your book towards bestseller status. Sounds good right? But how? It is all about using the right social media tools and having a Twitter strategy for your book in place.

There is only one social media tool you need for promoting your book on Twitter. The tool is just for monitoring and scheduling tweets in the Twitterverse. The tool I recommend is either Hootsuite or TweetDeck. Both these tools essentially let you schedule tweets, monitor your book and author brand, and see who is talking about the things that matter to you.

For example, if you are a GrimDark writer, then you would use TweetDeck to help find other GrimDark writers on Twitter and monitor all of their conversations. It might sound creepy. However, your goal is to insert yourself into the current discussion and connect with other readers and authors who love GrimDark as well.

To further help you promote your book on Twitter, here are my top 5 Twitter tips for authors.

Top 5 Twitter Tips For Author

1. Smart Use Of Hashtags On Twitter

Twitter is the birthplace of hashtags, so make sure to be smart about it. According to research, two hashtags per tweet is the optimal amount!

2. Keep Your Messages Short On Twitter

Research shows that the best length for a tweet is around 103 characters. Keep it short and sweet!

3. Post At The Best Time On Twitter

On average, a Twitter post lasts for around 18 minutes. You want to use these 18 minutes to your advantage. Post when traffic is at its heaviest. These times usually are around 5-6pm, 12 pm sharp and 3 pm.

4. Use Twitter Lists To Curate Content

‘Twitter Lists’ is a curated group of Twitter accounts. You can create your own Lists or subscribe to Lists created by others.

• Follow these steps to create a List:
• Visit your Lists page via the gear icon drop-down menu or by clicking Lists on your profile page.
• Click Create List.
• Name the List & provide a description.
• Designate the List as Public or Private.
• Save the List.

5. Use Images To Gather People’s Interest On Twitter

Twitter isn’t just about sharing short messages. Use this platform to share quick informational images such as infographics. People are visual, and your tweet will pop out more if it has an image along with it.

Advanced Twitter Strategies For Authors

If you are seasoned Tweeter, then this section is for you. The only way to gain success on Twitter is to get better at it and to provide excellent content that offers value to your readers. To help you become better at Twitter here are some advanced tips.

Here are six advanced Twitter Tips for authors.

1. Find Your Target Reader On Twitter And Connect With Them

Following your target reader and commenting on their tweet will help you get noticed. You want your readers to connect with you on Twitter…well guess what they want the same thing. Why not be the first to make that connection. Third party tools like TweetDeck can help you find your target reader on Twitter.

2. Keep Track Of Public Opinion

Twitter is the best social media platform to track public opinions. Different social media tools can help your author brand monitor the surrounding change of public opinion and steer your Twitter campaign in the right direction.

3. Find, Follow, And Connect With Key Twitter Influencers

I love all types of influencer marketing. Twitter influencer marketing is actually underused- making it an excellent opportunity for authors to connect and work with Twitter influencers. Influencers on Twitter are key individuals that have influence over others and can drive their opinion and liking activities around a brand, event, or book. Influencers are mostly industry specific. So, make sure you connect with Influencer who are relevant to your book and brand.

4. Ensure Your Followers Stay Interested

The contents of your Tweet can make a difference in engaging your followers or making them click the unfollow button. The trick to making sure your Twitter followers stay engaged is to tweet your readers what they want.

Here are some key points to keep in mind while writing a tweet:

• The tweet should be either highly informative or extremely attractive
• Always include images, gifs or videos
• Tag top industry influencers in the image
• Include popular hashtags to increase the reach
• Create quizzes and contests to better engage with your readership

5. Use Direct Messages Wisely

You don’t want to excessively advertise your book when sending a direct message to any Twitter user. Instead, be polite and send messages that are personalized to each contact.

6. Build Trust By Staying Transparent

Transparency builds trust, which will automatically help you grow your following and book sales. It is essential to be real by not over-promising what you cannot deliver.

I don’t suggest doing ALL of the Twitter tips for authors. Instead, I recommend adding a few of these author tips into your strategy. Once you feel more confident, you can start using more and more of these Twitter tips for authors. Remember, an active Twitter network can help you power up your book promotion and sales.

Looking for more social media advice? Join my Authors only Facebook group where I will answer any of your marketing or publishing questions. Plus I am giving away my free 20 page social media guidebook that has over 100 tips for authors in it!

An active and engaging social media profile can be the difference between no book sales and bestseller status. Books don’t sell themselves. Writing and publishing a book is only 30% of the work. You need to promote your book too. If you don’t, no one will find it. So, if you want to get your book baby out there and read, you are going to have to be active in promoting your book. In this article, I am sharing the top 17 social media tips for authors. These tips are going to help you sell more books. So read closely!

Looking for more ways to promote your book? Head over to our blog where we share PR and more Book Marketing advice for authors.

The 17 Top Social Media Tips For Authors Who Want To Sell More Books Successfully

1. Encourage Reviews

Always encourage others to review your book. Ask people to write you a review on your Facebook page and Amazon book page.

If you get a negative review, don’t take it to heart. Instead, turn that negative review around by responding with empathy and courtesy. A sincere acknowledgment of a negative review will show new readers that your brand is committed to addressing issues and engaging with all types of readers.

Every author will receive positive and negative reviews. It is normal, and the person who wrote that negative review is probably not your target reader anyways.

2. Piggyback On What’s Trending

Whether it be a meme or a popular product, try and relate your book to what is trending. Relating to what is trending is a great opportunity not only to build off of the buzz but also shows off your brand’s personality.

3. Create More Videos

Videos do take more time to create than a photo or a blog post. But, more people may be interested in seeing what your book is about in a quick video. Plus Facebook and Instagram automatically play all videos on people’s feeds.

Pro Tip: Make sure to include captions in your videos. 89% of people watch videos without sound because Facebook and Instagram play the video automatically in your feed with no sound.

4. Give GIFs a Chance

The GIF format is more appealing than photos. GIFs are actually shared more than either JPEG or PNG formats and are more cost and time effective than producing videos. With research showing more people watch to the end of videos that are 15 seconds or less, learning how to create and post a GIF should be mandatory for your marketing strategy.

5. Tell Stories

With storytelling at its heart, social media is the perfect place to share your stories. Share a story about how someone else interacted with your book. Or the story about how it felt to hold your finished book in your hands for the first time. Or the story behind why you wanted to write a book. People love stories, plus it makes you more real and relatable!

6. Run A Contest

What’s better than free things? If your readers are skeptical to purchase your new book than consider hosting a contest for them to receive the book for free. This marketing idea can help you gain exposure with readers that aren’t too sure and can help you generate word of mouth publicity.

7. Address FAQs

Your audience will most definitely have frequently asked questions for you. Make sure you address these questions publically as well so that every reader can get to know you better!

8. Re-post Content

Always look to re-post popular content that your followers have created. This will encourage others to tag you in their content as well. Plus it will boost traffic to your profile.

9. Collaborations

Find an influencer that has a similar niche as you and ask them to collaborate. Why? Because their audience base is going to be very similar to yours and you can gain more exposure. If you don’t know how to approach an influencer, try just sending them a polite email asking to connect. Usually, they will be more than happy to hear from you and will want to work with you!

10. Promote And Collaborate With Other Authors

Other authors are not your competition. Instead, they are your companion. Look for opportunities where you can collaborate with and promote other authors. Try to promote books written by different authors and share their voice. By doing this, other authors will be more likely to support and promote you to their audience in return.

When authors band together they can have greater reach and noise than a single voice. Try collaborating with others by writing articles and creating content with them!

11. Live Streams

Live streaming can be a vast audience grabber! Try doing a live stream with you sharing information about your editing process or structural editing process. You’ll be surprised at how many people are interested in the process and not the end result.

12. Have Fun With Holidays

Know those random holidays like Happy National Coffee Day? There are plenty out there that suit your niche for sure! Use those as an idea to create content on days where you really can’t think of anything to post! Plus who doesn’t love reading a great book with a cup of steaming coffee?

13. Run a fan art contest

Hold a contest where you ask fans to share fan art of a character or scene in your book. Ask readers to share their art by using one of your branded hashtag on social media. Choose a winner to receive a prize and then get permission to use that fan art in your marketing.

14. Reach Out

Many online book blogs are more than happy to review your newest book. Email relevant media sites a pitch for your book and offer a free copy. Be sure to use a catchy subject line and opening sentence. Follow up by sending a press release and personalized letter with the book.

Pro Tip: When reaching out to online book blogs, make sure you also engage with them on social media.

15. Share The Playlists For A Book Or Character

Music can be inspirational, and readers often want to know what authors (aka you!) listen to while crafting specific scenes, or what songs influenced the creation of your characters. Or readers may be interested to hear what type of playlist one of your characters listens too.

When creating a playlist to share on social media, try to include local artists who don’t have a massive following. Why? Because if the local artist sees that you promoted them, they might be more inclined to read your book and support you too.

16. Share Good News By Thanking Others

Accomplishing a literary feat like topping a bestseller list, winning an award, or landing a new book deal is something authors want to shout from the rooftops. But thanking readers for their role in your accomplishments is a more humble way to share the good news. Always look to recognize readers for their involvement in that success on social media.

17. Share a quote from one of your books

To drive exposure for a book, create an image of a notable, inspiring, or funny quote from your book. You can use tools like Canva to turn quotes into eye-catching graphics quickly.

Conclusion: Get More Readers With These 17 Social Media Tips For Authors

By following this article and using some of the tips listed, you will be able to get more readers on social media. You don’t need to do all of the 17 social media tips for authors listed. Instead, choose one, to begin with, that is aligned with your marketing goals and objectives. After you see some success choose another tip to implement.

Are you looking for more social media advice? Join my Authors only Facebook group, where I will answer any of your marketing or publishing questions. Plus I am giving away my free 20-page social media guidebook that has over 100 tips for authors in it!