Lots of our ICAP members have published books, whether that is through a traditional book publisher or self-published. Today we can go even further and skip the printed page and publish solely in an e-book format. Regardless of the format you use, marketing is key. Yes, if you use a traditional book publisher, you are paying for their marketing expertise. To ensure the highest level of success for your book, you will need to do marketing on your own. Here are tips to market your book.

1. Call your local quilt, art supplies and book shops and ask if they will host a book signing for you. Look for unusual places to do signings. For example, maybe your book features quilts with dessert names. Try a signing at a local bakery. I remember talking with a novelist who was doing signings at the airport. Talk about a captive audience. Do not forget to promote the signing with news releases.
2. Sponsor a contest. If your book is about adding embellishments, have entrants post photos of their work on your website and award a prize. You could even have viewers vote to get more people involved.
3. Set up a blog hop to promote your book. You approach several other bloggers and ask them to review your book or to interview you about your book on their blogs. Blog hops remain a good way to reach an extended audience that you might not reach otherwise.
4. Print bookmarks that include the cover image, details about the book and a link to your website. Leave these on tables at shows, and ask your local shop owner if she will put them out with other literature. Be sure to include a link to your site on the bookmark in case someone wants more information.
5. Look for opportunities where you can be interviewed about your book. I can think of two right off the top of my head: American Patchwork & Quilting Radio Show with Pat Sloan and Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski.
6. Get others to sell your book for you. Many other teachers or lecturers offer books to their students. If your book compliments their topic, ask if they would consider carrying your book. Several years ago I sold books in the our booth at Quilt Festival for one of our members who gave a “Meet the Teacher” talk on the show floor. She did not have a booth and wanted to offer her students a place to purchase the book. As soon as her talk ended, I was inundated with buyers. This was definitely win-win for both of us.
7. Create a Fan Page on Facebook just for your book. This lets you promote the book and encourage conversation among the book’s fans. Encourage sharing of photos of quilts made from the book. Share your tips for success with the projects.

What has worked for you to market your book? Do you have other ideas to share on marketing books?
– – – – –

photo credit: rickbucich via photopin cc

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2014 at 10:15 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.