How to spread the word about a newly self-published book.

[Deana Van Nice]

Hi everyone,

I am new to the site, to blogging, to publishing, and to this whole wonderful and crazy world of the author/reviewer/blogger dynamic.

I am trying to find out how to get reviewers and bloggers interested in free copies to read and review. I have posted a couple offers on book blog, joined Goodreads, BookDaily, Librarything, as well as submitted to a few individual reviewers. 

I have also read articles galore on Google and found a great article on Amazon about contacting their reviewers with offers... but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. 

How much do you have to "Sell" your book and when are you pushing too hard? Obviously, the hope is that content will stand on its own, but if you can't get the content recognized, it has no platform to stand on...

Giveaways seem like a reasonable idea but

1) I have yet to figure our how to 'give away' a book from Amazon without buying it as a gift

2) I see a lot of people giving away other things with their book and that makes me feel uncomfortable. 

All in all, I am just continuing to network with the understanding that I am new to this whole dynamic, but I can't help but wonder if I am doing something wrong. 

Any comments, tips, or recommendations would be helpful and greatly appreciated.

So, how do you spread the word? How do you invite, garner attention, and help your book along? 

[Sara Daniell]

I really recommend doing KDP select for at least the first 90 days.  You don't have to re-enroll into the program after the 90 days.  In my opinion, I would take your books off Barnes and Noble and do KDP select.  You get to list your book for free which puts your book in categories that gets your book noticed.  I did KDP select and it made my sales go up.  Inbox me if you have more questions about it! :)

[Mark Cherrington]

Hi Sara, hope you're well. I just wanted to check how it works with KDP as i'm hoping to publish my first e book novel with amazon.

Any help would be appreciated

 

Thanks and take care.

[R.W. Peake]

Marching With Caesar-Conquest of Gaul is currently the #2 top-selling book in the Ancient Rome category on the U.S and U.K. Amazon site, and is #29 of ALL History books in the U.K. It's received 19 all 5-star reviews, where it's being compared to the best of Scarrow, Sidebottom and Iggulden. 

You can see the trailer here.

[Irina Shapiro]

Hi, Deana.

 

Don't get discouraged.  This process is very involved and it takes a long time to get things going.  As other people have pointed out, keep talking to people, asking questions and researching things.  That's how you get ideas.  As more people purchase your book, it becomes more "visible" on Amazon.  It starts appearing in people who bought this also bought that.  There are people on this site who do blog tours and they can organize one for you.  I wish you much luck with your book (and your sales).

 

Irina Shapiro

www.irinashapiro.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Irina-Shapiro/307374895948375

 

[Rod Hope]

Hi Deana,

How to spread the word; I hear this all the time that's one of the reason's why I'm in this profession. I'm a concept strategist with all the social media platforms available you must have a niche and a strategy to reach the masses therefore utilizing the social platforms to the max. Here's a link to a very popular article I wrote about self-publishing authors marketing tips.

http://tinyurl.com/d2jchn8

[Kalen Cap]

I want to echo the benefits of KDP Select program. 

Today, July 26th, is the final free day for my debut novel, "Tangled Ties to a Manatee," with the 90 day program. I;m getting closer to goal of having 5000 readers choose to download my lone novel from among the 1.5 million kindle ebooks Amazon has available. By far, most of those have come from free days, though I've been fortunate to have some paid kindle sales as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Tangled-Ties-Manatee-ebook/dp/B0080KIAD6

In my opinion, KDP Select is a good option when first launching a book to spread the word.

[Mark Cherrington]

Hi Kalen and everyone else at book blog. I hope you all are well. Could you tell me how I can publish my e book through the kindle as I want to do some free days as well in terms of promotion.

Thanks and look forward to hearing from you

Mark A. Cherrington