Can I interest you in this shiny book?

Posted by Suzy Vitello Soulé on May 4th, 2011 at 04:20 AM | | Tweet

Used to be, an author wrote a book, handed it over to an agent, the agent handed it to the publisher, and the machine took care of the rest. Those days, like the 5¢ candy bar, are in the long ago past. More and more, authors are diy-ing it with interfaces like lulu and CreateSpace. But after you’ve created your book, what next? How do you get it into the hands of readers?

Well, in most cases, you need to roll up sleeves and start pounding your keyboard. A recent Amazon-via-Galleycat article illuminated some promo tips worth looking at. In summary, to increase readership, be prepared to:

1. Set readers’ “preferred price” of $2.99
2. Pay for advertising on GoodReads
3. Make a Craigslist ad
4. Connect with prominent Kindle reviewers
5. Market your book on Facebook
6. Make business cards and postcards
7. Post free short stories
8. Post fliers
9. Share vlog type interviews on YouTube
10. Buy advertising on a site like Armegeddon Books

Beyond that, you can create a book trailer, have a compelling website, establish a blog following that you boost with contests, have a Twitter account and the old tried and true pounding the pavement with your wagon o’ books.

Exhausting? Um, yeah? But hey, summer’s almost here, so maybe you can get an intern or two to help!