You are about to or almost ready to publish your print, eBook or audio book, feels good right? Now what? Have you decided on how you'll get your book out there in front of all the others? With so many book marketing tools out there it can be tricky to know which ones to test out first. 
Have you tried the new Instagram stories? According to Market Zen, Instagram has 10 times more engagement than Facebook and over 83 times more engagement than Twitter!
Rather than make your audience follow you over to yet another social media forum, why not harness their attention in one place? If you're already using Instagram, adding stories to your marketing schedule will give them something extra to look forward to, but will also be a great way to directly tell your audience what you want them to do... Which is ultimately buy your book!
Tips to get you started marketing with Instagram stories
1. Try the 3:1 ratio. Try posting 3 IG pics of either your characters or relating to a topic in your book. Each post should include a lead in to an upcoming story. Now create 1 IG story to support those pictures or talk about their character development. Fans have reported that "wish they were there" experience fulfilled with video stories. Alternatively, post a question to your followers asking what characters they want to see featured in your IG stories.
2. Post IG stories that offer an incentive to buy at the end. If yoga and pilates teachers can post IG stories about the retreats they're hosting with incentives, you can definitely mirrior this. For a limited time feature a special on your book that leads back to a link. Or, with the new feature you can post a video with text that you write onto the frame or type. This will allow you to tell a story and offer a marketing incentive in one place.
3. Post stories that accompany real-life activities. Fans may be more apt to purchase when you post about something happening during a particular time of day. If you post a breakfast and coffee excerpt during the breakfast hour on the weekend, fans may be more inclined to buy. Same goes for dinner time. If you can create a real-life scenario your audience identifies with, they're more likely to follow along and convert to a paying customer. This type of interaction can be regarded as online-offline conversions.
4. Host short "live" readings in different cities virtually. Record videos ahead of time and post to IG stories at other-city local times to gain more exposure. Something to remember though- if you record ahead of time, IG only lets you post videos you've recorded within 24 hours to your phone.
Already using Instagram stories to engage your audio book listeners even further? What types of stories or experiments are working for you?
Looking for another way to get your audio book out there? Participate with and grow your audience through the new Instagram stories feature.
Keep the Faith and May the Force be with You!
