Guest Post How to Market a New Release

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015

Misty Beller has broken records selling as many as 10,000 books a month of her first book. She is a member of our ACFW-SC Chapter and we are so proud of her. Here are her secrets summarized.-Elva Cobb Martin, Pres. ACFW-SC Chapter

How to Market a New Release

By Misty M Beller @MistyMBeller

One of the questions I receive most often is from authors is, 

"How do I promote my new book?" 

Whether it be your debut release or book #5 (or #105) 

marketing a new release can often be daunting. 

But it doesn't have to be!

Through the months of June, July, and August, I shared all

 the different marketing options available to authors. And there 

are a lot of opportunities! But the list can be intimidating, so 

let me break it down into critical steps for a new release. 


This list is accurate for either indie or traditionally published books

 (although indie authors certainly have a few more steps related to                                  book production). 

Let's get started!

1. Make sure your book is posted on your website, Goodreads, your Amazon Author Central page, and all your social media profiles. In other words, if people are looking for info about the book, make sure they can find it!
2. Choose whether you want to do a blog tour. If yes,                                           get started and enjoy the ride! For more info on the steps                                           and best practices, see this post. 
3. Line up your influencers and early reviewers.                                                       One of the most helpful tools to gain traction with book                                                sales, is to help your book garner reviews early. I've                                                  shared a lot of strategies to gain reviews here.
4. Share the new release to your newsletter list, blog and                                                 
   
   
   social media channels. In other words, get the word out to                                    your people! Get excited and your enthusiasm will be infectious!
5. Schedule paid advertising. This is the step many authors                                       try to skip,but I've very rarely seen a book take off without some                        amount of paid advertising. There are so many choices out there,                              it's easy to waste money. My go-to sites are                                                           ereadernewstoday.com and Facebook Ads. (You may remember,                                I shared the Facebook ad process in detail here.) 

So that's it! Not so hard, is it? 

After you've accomplished these five, you can step back and send 

up a prayer of thanksgiving. Then assess whether you're happy with                                   the book's sales (and rankings) and develop your marketing strategy 

moving forward. 

Now it's your turn! Do you see a critical step I've missed? 

Anything additional on your book release task list? Let's hear

 your thoughts!

Misty M. Beller writes Christian historical romance, 

and is author of the bestselling novels The Lady                     and the Mountain Man and The Lady and the                  Mountain Doctor.

Misty was raised on a farm in South Carolina, so her

 Southern roots run deep. About eleven years ago, 

she made a career change from farm life into                             the business world, where she worked as a                                Senior Manager and Director of Process &                                                                           Training. She's now loving the life 

                                             of a full-time writer, wife, and mother.