Whether you’re an author who’s traditionally published or self-published, you can’t expect your book to sell itself. With the large number of new titles published each year, how do you stand out in the crowd?
While an obvious way to sell books is to run ads and marketing campaigns, it can be costly if you don’t already have a good foundation and marketing strategy in place. One way to stand out and market yourself at little to no cost is to build a readership among people who consistently look for and receive content from you. Doing so keeps you in their mind, leading to easier sales of subsequent books.
I’ll explore the many ways writers can build a readership.
Author Website
Every author should have an author website, a central hub for all information about them and their works. You can use this website to provide links to purchase your books, give your readers sneak peeks, and update them on new releases. An author website doesn’t have to be complicated and there are tons of resources to teach you how to build your own or you can hire a publishing house that offers these tailored services. You’ll use your website as a central place of information to cross-promote within other channels, as described below.
Blogging
As an author, you know how to write. If you’re uncomfortable making videos or sharing pictures of yourself, you may be better off consistently updating a blog. Write about the craft of writing, do book reviews, share updates on works-in-progress—whatever you’re passionate about. As an author, you know your audience! What kinds of topics would they be interested in reading about? Make sure your blog is engaging and showcases your personality to keep your readers coming back for more.
Social Media
Using social media marketing is the most obvious way to build a readership. It’s free and you could have thousands of followers looking at your content daily. Be aware, though, that building a successful social media following requires consistent, dedicated work and might be slow going. For this reason, it’s best to focus on only one or two social media accounts. Take a close look at who your reader demographic is and which platforms are best suited to them.
Don’t forget to interact! Posting daily content is not enough—you must engage with people who comment and follow and interact with other authors and readers. Remember, they can’t follow you and like your content if they don’t know you exist. Seek out relevant hashtags, content, and accounts of others in your genre and engage in the conversation. Social media marketing is a conversation, not a campaign!
Online Communities
Another good way to build a readership is by participating in online communities. Join subreddits, Facebook groups, Discord servers, and other online communities in your specific genre. Interact with users and be a positive contribution to the community. You may also be able to occasionally promote your work if the rules of the community allow it. However, don’t promote too much; your primary goal should be to participate in the community, engage potential new readers, and build an awareness of who you are and what you do.
Even if you can’t directly promote your work or link to it, you can do so indirectly. Choosing a username that matches your social media handle(s) or website domain name will make it easy for someone to find you by searching your username. Make sure to include your book name and website in your personal About section or bio as well.
Content Creation
Like social media, you can build a readership by creating video content on platforms like YouTube or Twitch or by creating a podcast. Again, this will take hard work and a lot of planning and effort to gain a following, but if it’s something that aligns well with your passions, you might enjoy the process.
Email List
Building and maintaining a large email list is another must for authors. Use a “content magnet” to entice people to sign up in exchange for free content. While some people may unsubscribe after receiving their freebie, many will remain subscribed. You will then have a direct line of access to your readers, who may be more likely to see your emails than your social media posts.
You can use your email list for many things: to stay connected with your readers and to promote sales, new book launches, appearances, and more. It’s best to avoid sending mostly promotion, marketing, and sales emails. Send new content to your email list regularly and provide personal touches, like behind-the-scenes glimpses of your work, to ensure that your readers stay engaged and excited to receive emails from you.
Serials
With the important caveat that publishing in installments will almost certainly mean that content cannot be published traditionally, using serials is one way authors can build a loyal readership. Publishing your work one chapter at a time online via one of many platforms—Wattpad, Royal Road, or Reddit—creates an ongoing relationship with a core reader base. The key to success with a serial format is to post often (at least once a week, but more commonly two or three times a week) and consistently.
Readers will become familiar with your style and check back for new work, which you can then use to promote other projects. Furthermore, many authors who publish in serial format leverage Patreon to create a subscription-based service for access to new chapters. This way, they get paid for the content they release and have a dedicated list of subscribers to whom they provide updates and content promotions.
To recap, several key ways an author can build a readership include:
- Maintaining an author website;
- Regularly updating a blog;
- Posting and interacting via social media;
- Participating in online communities;
- Creating video, audio, or other content;
- Building and maintaining an email newsletter; and
- Frequently releasing content in serial form.
You don’t have to do every one of these, but each is useful in its own way. Whichever path you follow, be consistent, be creative, and find a way to stand out. Need help with your marketing strategy or getting started? Contact us and see how we can help promote and market your book!
