Guest Post: Start Marketing Your Book Even Before It's Done

Start Marketing Your Book Even Before It Is Done

By Lisa Shultz


Ideally, one should plan and implement a marketing campaign many months before the actual launch of your book. Lay the foundation for success early and then be consistent with ongoing marketing well after your book has been released.

Here are seven tips to do while you book is being edited or in process of production and you have a bit of extra time on your hands since the book is being worked on by others.

Tip #1: Review all your social media profiles and update them. Put information in the profile indicating that your book is soon to be published, and add a date if you know one, and a brief overview of what the book is about.

Tip #2: Begin to do searches on all social media platforms of your target audience and join groups, "like" pages, and subscribe. For example, you were writing a book about a dog, your target readership might be dog lovers. Spend time finding out where dog lovers hang out both physically and on the internet. Perhaps visit the actual locations in your community where dog lovers go and build relationships with owners of stores and leaders of organizations related to dogs.

On the internet, begin interacting with members of groups related to dogs and just enjoy the conversation. In forums and groups, it is best to spend several months in friendly interaction before ever suggesting a call to action such as buying your book. If the membership enjoys your comments in the groups, they will be much more willing to actually buy a book from you at a later date.

Tip #3: Build your lists. Accelerate your efforts at adding followers to your lists. Those lists might be friends and fans on Facebook, your email distribution list, and blog subscribers. Wherever you have lists, build them to greater numbers. Allot a certain amount of time each day to list building activities to increase your connections.

Tip #4: Begin to inquire about joint venturing with others who have large lists. Leverage the lists of synergistic people in your niche by suggesting a mutually beneficial partnership of cross promotion. Perhaps they will promote the launch of your book to their lists if you feature them on your blog or they have the opportunity to give a bonus to your list when someone buys your book.

Tip #5: Draft press releases and email and social media announcements so you are prepared for the big launch day when it arrives. You may edit these drafts as the day approaches, but you will have these important promotional pieces in a ready state.

Tip #6: Create interview questions that you would love to answer on radio shows or blog interviews. Those who might interview you appreciate you making their job easier, and you have a chance to practice your answers so they sound smooth and natural.

Tip #7: Place information about your book release in the signature line of your emails such as "Author of the soon to be published book entitled (your book's title)".

Remember that marketing needs to be a part of your routine every week consistently before and after your book comes out. Keep a constant stream of exposure to your target market for your book's success. Whether you traditionally publish or self-publish, you will be in charge of marketing your book, so start early and be persistent!

And if you would like to know more about self-publishing process, visit http://www.selfpublishingexperts.com Get free instant access to tips, a free book visualization and more. You'll find that the writing process can be simplified and even easy with guidelines and sequential steps to follow. Lisa Shultz is a self-publishing specialist and loves to help others bring their books to life.

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Do You Suffer From Google-itis?

Photo credit:  Urban Dictionary 

Anyone who uses a computer at work knows what a time drain it can actually be.  It's not the actual work on the computer than can eat up portions of your day; it's the other web sites you visit that can lower your efficiency as an author.

I am often contacted by authors who complain to me that they would do more to promote their book, but they just "don't have the time."  We all live busy lives, so I can sure buy that.

In an effort to save time, authors may try to do all the marketing and promotion for their books online.  The Internet can be a useful tool for marketing books, but only if it is used in an efficient manner.  It can also be a big waste of time, especially if authors are using it for things like: 

"I Googled myself, and Google books has my ENTIRE book online!"


"I checked Amazon.com today, and my sales ranking has increased from 312,000 to 150,000!  Does that mean 162,000 people purchased my book?"


"I Googled myself, and I see my book is being sold in India!"


"I Googled myself, and (fill in the blank) online bookseller doesn't have my book's cover image listed!"

I'm sure you can see a trend here.  These authors have what I like to call "Google-itis."  Google-itis keeps authors from doing face-to-face marketing of their book, has them worrying about things over which they have no control (and no reason to worry about) and focusing on things that are not going to help them sell one additional copy of their book.  Let's take a look at each of these Google-itis concerns:

I Goggled myself, and Google books has my entire book online!


No, they don't.  Your publisher is actually the entity that made your book available on Google books.  It's a sales tool, and the online preview of your book is similar to Amazon's "Search Inside" feature.  It's the online equivalent of paging through a book at a bookstore.  Only 20 percent of your book can be viewed on Google Books.

I checked Amazon.com today, and my sales ranking has increased from 312,000 to 150,000!  Does that mean 162,000 people purchased my book?

No.  Amazon doesn't share how it arrives at its sales rankings, but the best guess is that if your sales ranking is 100,000 or lower, you're probably moving about a book a week through Amazon.

I Google myself, and I see my book is being sold in India!  

Well, it's available for sale through a web site in India, but that doesn't mean anyone there is buying it.  More than likely, it's available for sale through foreign web sites because the book is being distributed by Ingram, and these web sites are linked to the book offerings of Ingram.

I Googled myself, and (fill in the blank) online bookseller doesn't have my book's cover image listed!

More often than not, the author blames their publisher for this, but it's actually nobody's "fault."  Online booksellers get the cover images from the distributor.  With the hundreds of titles being released in the U.S. each day, it just takes time for the online booksellers to get all their listings updated.  


The Internet and social media should be a part of every author's marketing plan, but it shouldn't be the only part of their marketing and promotion plan.  If you are spending more time with Google-itis than making calls, networking with bookstore managers, doing speaking engagements and scheduling book signing events, it is only going to eat up more of your productive time than it should, and negatively impact the balance on your royalty statement.

And Now, A Word About Walmart

The subject of selling books in Walmart has come up in this blog a few times in the past.  Walmart does sell a lot of books, and as a result most authors ask their publishers to stock their books in Walmart stores.  The problem is, it doesn't work that way.

During my previous blog posts, I have mentioned Walmart, but have never fully gone into the nuts of bolts of what it takes to work with the world's largest retailer.  So, I am going to do that now.  I am also going to make a prediction:  you are probably not going to like what you are about to read.

This article has nothing to do with how I, or anyone else, feels about Walmart as a business.  There is no doubt, they are a true American success story.  What I'm focusing on in this article is how books hit the shelves in Walmart, and why your book is probably never going to be one of them.

Yes, that's a pretty negative statement, but it's grounded in the realities of the publishing business and dealing with Walmart.  While Walmart sells a lot of books, they don't sell a lot of different titles.  The average bookstore carries anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 or so titles, depending upon the square footage of the store.  Walmart is not a bookstore.  It is a store that happens to also sell books.  At the local Walmart here in Mustang, Oklahoma, I would be surprised if more than 200 titles were stocked.  That's not a lot, as bookstores go.  Compare that to the 3 million titles assigned an ISBN last year, and it's downright miniscule. 

As I look over the shelves at Walmart, I don't see any titles by new, unknown, non-celebrity, beginning first-time authors, or titles that don't already have a tremendous track record of sales.  Sure, they carry Romance novels and War novels by authors who are not household names, but they, or the series of books they are writing under, already have a track record of sales under their belts.  You won't see any titles listed here by any author who has not already proven they can sell thousands of books.  Walmart does not break new, beginning authors.  It sells products that move in large volumes.  That is the case no matter if we are talking about books or toothpaste.  Does Walmart stock every brand of toothpaste available?  No.  It sells the brands that sell in huge volumes at the cheapest prices possible.  The same goes for books.  I read business books, and I have never seen a title by my favorite business author stocked in Walmart.  He's popular, he sells a lot of books, but his books are not, and probably never will be, a fit with Walmart. 

The books at Walmart are actually supplied by a third-party supplier called Anderson Merchandisers.  This isn't a trade secret.  It's listed right on Walmart's web site, which directs publishers to submit titles they want stocked in Walmart directly to Anderson.  Before you get the idea that you, as an author, should send your books to Anderson Merchandisers, DON'T.  Just this week an author that my company represents took it upon themselves to submit their book to Anderson on their own.  Not only is the book not going to be stocked in Walmart, but our director of marketing was contacted by the distributor who pointed out that their process was not followed, which is if they want to stock a title they will contact the publisher. 

The folks at Anderson aren't mean, but I'm sure they get inundated with titles from eager and well-meaning authors who think that getting a book stocked at Walmart is the ticket to big-time sales.  The reality is Walmart stocks famous book by famous authors.  They don't make authors or books famous.  Despite what Walmart's web site or a Walmart clerk or manager may tell you, don't submit your own title to Walmart or Anderson.  If there is ever a deal that can possibly be made with Walmart, it will be made by your publisher.  If you don't have a publisher, then it's never going to happen.  I have never, ever heard of a self-published title being stocked by Walmart, and their web site indicates they won't.  Anderson deals directly with publishers.  They do not want to deal directly with authors. 

"But," you may be asking, "if we don't send Anderson the information about my book, how are they going to know about it?"  Anderson, as a distributor, isn't interested in being sold on your book.  They are interested in stocking current bestselling titles in the stores they serve.  They do not stock new, unknown authors and titles, and they don't want to be sent a title that they have never heard of.  That may sound harsh, but that is the reality of the business.

Here are a few bullet points to keep in mind about Walmart:

1.  If their supplier wants your book, they'll contact your publisher and order it.  Don't think your book will be the very first brand-new unproven book that will be carried in every Walmart in the country.  It won't.

2.  It is possible to do book signings in Walmart.  These are done on a consignment basis.  If you want to do a signing at your local Walmart store, contact your local manager.  I'll caution you here:  these don't happen often.  If the manager tells you your book has to be submitted to Anderson, stop right there.  It's not going to happen.  

3.  Your publisher has no say in this process, other than supplying books that are ordered by Anderson.  The publisher can't "convince" anyone that your book is worthy of being carried by Walmart.  Again, if they want it, they'll order it.  They order books that have proven themselves (think thousands of copies already sold).  

4.  Sometimes, Walmart will stock a local interest title in a handful of locations, but again...this order is not initiated by the publisher or the author.  It's because the store has learned of the book through the media or other events, and has placed an order with Anderson.  

5.  Beginning, unknown authors don't get their start selling books through Walmart.  It's something they achieve after they become a successful, known author. 

Concentrate on reaching your niche audience through other venues and making your book a success.  That will increase the odds in your favor that perhaps one day, your book may indeed be stocked in Walmart.  Remember, demand creates the supply of books.  Without demand, there is no reason for any retailer to carry a large supply.