Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

I would stop at the local book stores in your area (not the chains, but the mom and pops). Find out what it takes to get it on their shelves. And also find out if you can do a reading/book signing at their store.

Not sure the way to do it, but you could also try to get onto local TV morning talk shows for your area.

A new author selling books isn't easy. You have a lot of competition and no one knows you or trusts your information (if you're writing non-fiction). So, you have to give them reason to read/trust. As a minimum, are you allowing people to read a chapter online for free (perhaps in exchange for providing you with their contact info)?

Do you have testimonials of people who've implemented your suggestions with great success (and safely)? In addition to the testimonials, ask them to comment on your book on your Amazon page.

Do you have a generous affiliate plan? It would be better for you to have lots of people trying to sell your book than just you. Give them all the information they need to sell your book in their networks.

So many things to discuss. Marketing is clearly the most time consuming part of launching a book title, and there are too few ways to offload that chore from the author -- even with tons of money to help.

A few suggestions: First, figure out for yourself what the objective is and what it's worth to you. If you don't know that (and can't state it clearly) you'll never know if you are really successful or not.

Second, go to the section of the Dialogue Press website and click on Services >> Marketing and Distribution. There's a pretty good list of things to do there.

Then get yourself copies of two books that are a must-read for self-published authors (or any authors, for that matter):

The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, by Tom and Marilyn Ross


1001 Ways to Market Your Books, Sixth Edition, by John Kremer

Need more? Contact me offline via email address in my profile.

Build a simple website around the book... "Website Tonight" is a tool offered by GoDaddy that enable someone with practically no experience in HTML to do this...

Next... Hook up with a third party credit card processor such as 2CO. They will handle the CC processing and deposit the proceeds directly into your bank account for a nominal fee AND there are no fees whatsoever if you have a period in which you sell no books.

Then... Publicize the hey out of it. Put out a press release, swap links with other websites, use social media, etc.

Hope that helps !

So many things to finish yesterday! -- Create an online press room where media can find all of the details about your book whenever they need it. -- Present the contents of the book as story angles to traditional and social media/bloggers. -- Engage with discussion groups about the book's content (and invite the media if you're introducing new information)...

The list goes on. The most important thing is to remember your target audience. Gather these people and sell to them where they gather online or offline.

I know several authors of books that are not self published- and unless you are Hillary Clinton-- they are still heavily involved in their own marketing.

Local TV networks love showcasing locals. Contact them!

Go to natural food stores -- stores like Whole Foods have education rooms. They will help with your seminar. Talk to them about putting your book on their shelf. Someone suggested independents-- they'll appreciate the fact your book is NOT on Amazon. If you remain on Amazon-- tell your family and friends to review the book on the site. One of my gal pals and I organized her book review-- doing a "blitz" of week long reviews really helped her sales.

Many weight loss franchises have their own program and won't market yours. But many do not. Those might be groups like Shaklee, Nona Juice, etc.

Go to nutritionists, personal trainers, bariatric docs.

You're going to have to sell it like you'd sell any other product. So think of it that way. If you were selling a wonder diet fix-- where would you go?