Book Promotion and Marketing for Self-Published Authors
What you'll learn
- Tips for promoting and marketing self-published books that don't include paid advertisement or social media
- P for People: Information about defining a target audience and getting book awards
- P for Product: Information about book covers and interior considerations
- P for Price: Considerations when choosing a price and other information about metadata
- P for Place: Information about selling offline and online; Explanations and samples of business cards, invoices, and order forms
- P for Promotion: Information about book launches, author websites, offering freebies, presentations and storytimes, free publicity ideas and tips, and more
- All the information listed within the course description
Requirements
- An interest in learning ways about promoting and marketing books that don't include paid advertisement and social media
- A device to view the course
Description
Book Promotion and Marketing for Self-Published Authors: Ways to Promote and Market Your Book Without Social Media is a course designed to provide you with ideas (besides paid advertisement and social media) to get your book into the hands of more readers.
Many resources provide information on using paid advertisement and/or social media to promote and market books, but this course is not one of them. Instead, this course focuses on ways authors (or future authors) can promote and market their books in inexpensive and even free ways that do not include paid advertisement or social media.
Yes, much of the information found within this course can be found online. But, instead of spending countless hours searching for this information, you can use your time to actually implement some of the tips and strategies within this course to promote and market your book.
Divided into a total of 23 videos including the introduction and conclusion, each video is presented with a slide show presentation as well as a downloadable transcript for your convenience. Handouts are also included with many videos to provide additional resources and information to help you with your promotion and marketing journey.
Taking this course does not guarantee you will sell thousands (or even hundreds) of copies of your book, but it will give you plenty of ideas that may help you get your book into the hands of more readers.
Before deciding if this course is for you, please check out what is and what is not covered within this course below. You are also welcome to watch the course video, introduction video, and video about the realities of self-publishing before choosing if this is the right course for you.
To your publishing, promotion, and marketing success!
Please note: this course is not being continuously updated. Some links and resources may no longer be available or may be outdated. Thank you for understanding.
Who This Course is For:
Authors/Writers with no previous publishing experience who want to learn about promoting and marketing books
Beginner self-published authors looking for ways to promote and market their book(s)
Beginner authors who have published through or who plan to publish through KDP Print or IngramSpark (Not Required)
Unpublished authors who plan to self-publish and are interested in learning ways to promote and market their future book(s)
Who This Course is Not For:
Anyone looking for a get rich quick plan
Anyone wanting information about paid advertisements
Anyone looking for in-depth information on using social media for book promotion
What is Not Covered:
Paid advertisement
Amazon ads
Social media ads
In-depth explanation of social media
Section 1: Introduction
Lecture 1: Introduction
Reiterate the information found in the course description such as who the instructor is, what students will learn by the end of this course, who this course is for and who this course is not for, what is needed to complete this course, and an overview of what this course contains
Lecture 2: Realities of Self-Publishing
A few statistics on self-publishing and book sales and what this means for you
Transcript included
Lecture 3: Finding Your Why and Setting Goals
Questions for you to consider as you determine your "why" and set your own goals
Transcript and Assignment included
(Additional Note: Much of the information included within this video was discussed in the course Choosing the Best Publishing Option for You and Your Book: Traditional Publishing, Hybrid Publishing, or Self-Publishing? The included assignment is new for this course.)
Lecture 4: Marketing and Promotion
Brief explanation of marketing and promotion
List of the 5 Ps of marketing
Considerations before publishing a book
Considerations while marketing and promoting a book
Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included
Section 2: People
Lecture 5: Target Audience
Explanation of a target audience
Questions to consider when determining a target audience
Transcript and Assignment included
Lecture 6: Reviews and Influencers
How some authors get book reviews
Possible places for readers to leave reviews
Questions to consider when reaching out to reviewers
Brief description of influencers
Transcript, Additional Resources Handout, and Reviewer Questions to Consider Handout included
Lecture 7: Awards
List of possible benefits of book awards
Possible places to find award opportunities
Considerations when choosing to submit your book for an award
Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included
Section 3: Product
Lecture 8: Book Covers
Book cover tips and questions to consider
Parts to include on book covers with examples
Mention of a resource to possibly use to display book covers for promotional purposes
Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included
(Additional Note: Quite a bit of the information in this video was discussed in the course Self-Publishing 101: Things to Consider Before Publishing Your Book in Print)
Lecture 9: Interior Considerations
Overview of front matter and possible sections to include
Overview of body and possible sections to include
Overview of back matter and possible sections to include
List of additional interior considerations
Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included
(Additional Note: Quite a bit of the information in this video was discussed in the course Self-Publishing 101: Things to Consider Before Publishing Your Book in Print)
Section 4: Price
Lecture 10: Considerations When Choosing a Price
Questions to consider when choosing a price
One possible pricing technique some authors use
Brief overview of KDP Select
Possible ways to add value to your book (and potentially your brand)
Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included
(Additional Note: Quite a bit of the information in this video was discussed in the course Self-Publishing 101: Things to Consider Before Publishing Your Book in Print)
Lecture 11: Metadata
Brief explanation of metadata
Explanation of keywords
Book title considerations
Tips for writing a book description
Tips for choosing book categories
Questions to consider when choosing a publication date
An overview of free vs paid ISBNs
Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included
(Additional Note: Quite a bit of information in this video was discussed in the course Self-Publishing 101: Things to Consider Before Publishing Your Book in Print)
Section 5: Place
Lecture 12: Selling Online
Brief explanation of expanded distribution through KDP Print and IngramSpark
List of possible online retailers for print books
Brief list of distributors for print books
List of possible ways to distribute ebooks
Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included
Lecture 13: Selling Offline Overview
List of possible offline locations to sell physical books (not just in book stores!)
Explanation of 3 possible book delivery options to those offline locations
How to order author copies through KDP Print and IngramSpark
Considerations when ordering author copies to send them to offline locations
Transcript included
Lecture 14: Selling Offline Part 2
Considerations for selling to offline retailers
Considerations for contacting offline retailers by email
Considerations for contacting offline retailers in person
A brief explanation for and considerations for selling on consignment in stores
Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included
Lecture 15: Selling Offline Part 3
Tips for author business cards
Explanation of sell sheets (also known as sales sheets) with a sample
Explanation of what to do when receiving an order for books
Explanation of an order form with a sample
Explanation of an invoice with a sample
Explanation of a book catalog
A couple of examples of why having a website with contact information available is very important
Explanation of what the instructor does when someone reaches out requesting to purchase a large number of books
Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included
Section 6: Promotion
Lecture 16: Book Launch Overview
Explanation of what a book launch is
List of reasons to have a book launch
List of possible places to have a book launch party in person
List of possible places to have a book launch party virtually
List of possible people to invite to a book launch party
List of possible activities to do at a book launch party
List of things to bring to a book launch party
Considerations when choosing a time to have a book launch party
Considerations for the cost of a book launch party
List of what to do after a book launch party
Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included
Lecture 17: Author Website
List of reasons to have an author website
List of possible website platforms
Explanation of Wordpress (.com vs .org)
List of possible hosting providers
Tips for choosing a domain name
List of pages to (possibly) include on an author website
Information about an About Page
Overview of email lists
List of possible email marketing providers
List of possible legal considerations for websites
Additional author website tips
Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included
Lecture 18: Offering Freebies
List of reasons to offer freebies
List of possible freebies to offer
Additional tips for freebies
Transcript included
Lecture 19: Presentations and Storytimes
List of possible places to speak
Tips for speaking engagements and presentations
Considerations for speaking fees
Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included
Lecture 20: Free Publicity Part 1
Tips for using themed festivals to promote your book
Tips for getting interviews
Possible places to be interviewed
What to do before, during, and after an interview
A brief explanation of HARO
An additional resource for free PR
Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included
Lecture 21: Free Publicity Part 2
Brief overview of Goodreads
Overview of an Amazon Author Page
Overview of Guest Blogging
Overview of Google Alerts
List of other possible free promotion ideas
Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included
Lecture 22: More Promotion Ideas
Overview of social media with some tips
Tips for using Pinterest
A list of a few additional promotional ideas
Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included
Section 7: Conclusion
Lecture 23: Conclusion
Congratulations!!!
Please remember...
Transcript included
Who this course is for:
- Authors/Writers with no previous publishing experience who want to learn about promoting and marketing books
- Beginner self-published authors looking for ways to promote and market their book(s)
- Beginner authors who have published through or who plan to publish through KDP Print or IngramSpark (Not Required)
- Unpublished authors who plan to self-publish and are interested in learning ways to promote and market their future book(s)
Instructor
- 4.4 Instructor Rating
- 20 Reviews
- 160 Students
- 2 Courses
Brigitte Brulz is homeschooling mom, author, journal creator, and freelance writer. Her writings have appeared in various places in print and online. All three of her picture books have received a Readers’ Favorite Five Stars review, and her book Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles was chosen for the 2019 Read Across Connecticut program. She served as a Regional Social Chair for SCBWI Iowa until 2021. More information about Brigitte, her writings, and her courses can be found on her website.