You've used all the usual book marketing methods: Facebook pages, GoodReads account, Twitter, and even Pinterest. Your book is selling, but you could do a lot better. It's time to kick your marketing into another gear. People are bored with the same old ads, but something funny, outrageous, or strange will always catch their eyes. Raise your book sales (and your royalty check) by spinning a strange web of unusual marketing designed to snare readers with your creative talent.
Work With Your Street Team
Every successful writer has a group of fans who email regularly and who buy every new book as soon as it goes live. This group can become your fanatical, unpaid publicity machine, a street team. Street teams spread the word about your books to all their social media friends, often posting the word on blogs and websites. Assemble a street team from your email list or most familiar fans and offer them inside information about all upcoming books. Reward your team with ARCs, swag like bookmarks and stickers, virtual treats like badges for their website, and even the occasional t-shirt. They'll be loyal, being a special part of a group, and be motivated to push your books every time you release a new one.
Video Testimonial A La You
Book commercials are becoming more common, with even bestselling authors jumping on the bandwagon. Take this idea and run with it, jumping it up to the next level for maximum interest. Do a personalized testimonial about your book and some insider secrets. Create a clever or funny clip and spread it around your Facebook and Pinterest pages, encouraging your friends to share with others. Dress up as your main character and act out a scene in your book or try a visual mashup of dozens of clips to express the feeling behind your book. The more unusual the better, because memorable videos are the ones shared over and over again.
Create a New Identity
From rough draft to final product, you've lived with your book so long that the main character feels like a real person. Why not take this a step further and give him/her a personality and presence that anyone can see online? Set up a gmail account in your main character's name, then sign up for Facebook and Twitter using this account. Log onto the social media sites a couple times a week to make friends and share information. Post and respond exactly as your character would do, creating a living picture of your book's most important detail. Spread the word about your character's social media accounts to every reader, either through email or by posting the information in the back of the book. Readers will get caught up in the further adventures of your character, reinforcing their interest and creating a ready-made market for the next book in the series.
These are but a few ideas to perk things up a bit. Now.....go do it!
Keep the Faith and may the Force be with You!
