As I prepared to release my humor book, Musings on Minutiae, I was faced with the brutal reality that if I wanted to sell it, then I was going to have to be the one to market it as well. I’ve done my fair share of promoting before, but never with a book as the main focus. Wanting to know more about the world of book publicity, I decided to consult my friend Amazon.com in order to track down some books to guide me in my quest.

There’s really a lot of information out there on how to market your book, from internet articles, to websites, to people who, for a fee, will even show you how to rig Amazon.com so that you can claim that you wrote a best-selling book (even if you’re only at the #1 spot for an hour). Side note: I don’t recommend paying for this service or attempting to manipulate the system.

After nearly drowning in all of the resources I could get my hands on, what I started to realize was that most of the sites and books I read contained a lot of the same information and suggestions on how to promote a newly released book. One of the first things I read was that most promotional campaigns start anywhere from six months to a year prior to the title being released which allows you to build up some hype for the impending novel or book. Keep in mind that I didn’t even consider selling my book until the finished physical copy was in my hands – so I immediately started researching how to build a time machine. Due to the fact that I was late to the game, I had to play catch up, and therefore there was a lot of info that didn’t apply to me since I had missed my window of opportunity to pre-promote.

I read some really great articles and I also read some really awful articles. I also read some really great books (that I will detail below) that helped me in my book promotion journey. They will give you good ideas and starting points that you can run with depending on how you want to sell your books. Sometimes they will require coughing up some cash, while other techniques and tactics are completely free. Do your homework, think logically about what will work for you, and make it happen.

I’m listing these books in the order that I wish I would have read them. There are some basic principals in some of the texts that I missed out on until later. Of course, as you are a human being, you have free will and can do whatever you want! I just happen to feel like the list below will fill your brain with some good stuff and you won’t get overwhelmed.

If you decide to read through any of the books listed below, I highly recommend investing some self-adhesive tabs or a hi-liter so that you can mark the good ideas and easily revisit them later.

1. The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won’t

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Published in 2004
Get the book at Amazon.com!

What it’s All About
“Whether your publisher assigns zero dollars to your book’s promotional campaign or thousands, THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER assures it the best possible start in life. The author, a former publicist, provides no-nonsense basics to build your media kit, media release and a knock-’em-dead mailing list that will be more effective than any you could buy. Pick and choose from dozens of ideas for promotions that she developed or refined through two extensive book campaigns of her own. Several are sure to match your pocketbook and personality.”

What I Thought
Of all the books I read, two things were very very clear about author Carolyn Howard Johnson. First, she knows what she’s talking about, and second, she really wants you to succeed as a writer. Over the course of book she hands out names, phone numbers, email addresses, and web links directly from her contact book of people who may be willing to interview you, review your book, hire you for public speaking engagements, and much more. How you choose to use those tools is up to you. She explains what’s worked for her in the past from a promotion standpoint, and as with all things, what works for her may not work for you, but that also depends on your drive, level of determination, and what genre your book falls into. She keeps things very broad so that her promotional tools can be applied to any niche of book.

Carolyn’s writing style is very easy to understand and she simplifies processes whenever possible. The flow of the book is logical and you build on your knowledge as you page toward the end.

What You’ll Learn

  • How to get an agent (if you want one)
  • How to get radio & TV interviews
  • How to get your book reviewed
  • How to work with other authors to achieve your goals
  • How to do it all on a limited (or no) budget

2. Plug Your Book: Online Book Marketing for Authors, Book Publicity through Social Networking

By Steve Weber
Published in 2007
Get the book at Amazon.com!

What it’s All About
“Word of mouth is the only thing that can make a book really successful. Until recently, this required “pull”—connections with powerful allies in the publishing food chain. Today, creative writers can connect with readers directly. The only requirements are a link to the Internet and the will to plug in.”

What I Thought
Steve Weber did a fantastic job filling the niche of online book promotion. Whereas other books I read touched on the subject, the main focus was how to sell books out of the trunk of your car – and while this is still a very valid skill to develop, let’s face it, the internet is the future. Steven allows us to embrace new technologies and make them work for us and not against us. Of course, if your PC is giving you the blue screen of death, even Steven can’t help you fix that. In fact, I don’t think anyone can.

I don’t want to sell this book short in any way since it contains myriad tips and tricks to get the word out about your book across the information super highway (does anyone even call it that anymore?), but I’m eagerly awaiting a new edition of this book. It’s difficult to write about technology since it’s constantly changing depending on whichever websites are deemed cool by the internet’s invisible judges. When Plug Your Book originally came out, MySpace was the predominant social networking entity, and since book’s publication, the site has significantly dropped in popularity. Once Steve figures out how to harness the power of the Facebook behemoth and clues in the rest of us, I will be first in line to purchase a copy! Hopefully he doesn’t wait too long though, since in two more years I’m sure yet another website will come along and take over our lives.

What You’ll Learn

  • How to use word of mouth to promote your book
  • How to let new technologies work for you and make your life easier
  • How online book reviews can grow your readership
  • How to use social networking to grow your own network exponentially
  • How to make sure your website is taking in sales instead of taking up space

3. Book Marketing DeMystified: Enjoy Discovering the Optimal Way to Sell Your Self-Published Book

By Bruce T. Batchelor
Published in 2007
Get the book at Amazon.com!

What it’s All About
“Do you want to sell more books? BOOK MARKETING DEMYSTIFIED is the first book ever to thoroughly explain the rather bizarre intricacies of book selling and marketing, while providing an easy-to-follow template for deciding WHICH promotional tactics are best for you, your resources and your situation. The author is Bruce Batchelor, inventor of print-on-demand publishing and publisher to thousands of authors from more than 100 countries.”

What I Thought
Bruce Batchelor’s book is one part history lesson and one part promotion guide. He is considered to be the inventor of Print on Demand (POD) and he goes in depth about how the process and technology came about. If you have gone the POD route or are considering it, I highly recommend learning a bit about the process. Bruce covers everything from the initial idea, why it might be the best option for you, and where the technology could be headed in the future. It also discusses why some people in the industry look down on self-published/POD books, but how that stigma is slowly falling away as authors sell more and more copies of their books.

The promotion side of the book all comes from various interviews conducted with POD authors and their experiences in marketing their books. You’ll be amazed by some of the non-traditional routes that people go to sell and the success they have in doing so. You’ll find some techniques that may be right up your alley and others that may not work at all for your book’s genre, but take the best and fit them to your campaign. The experiences detailed in this book will help you to think outside the box and not be stuck in a mentality where you feel as though your title must be in a bookstore in order to be successful. As it turns out, bookstores have a very low success rate in this day and age. The playing field between POD and traditional publishers is more level than its ever been. It’s up to your to take advantage of it, and Bruce Batchelor will help show you the way.

What You’ll Learn

  • How to create the best marketing plan for your book
  • How to sell your book in places OTHER than book stores
  • How to use Print on Demand to your advantage
  • How to make the most of promotion time

4. Guerrilla Marketing for Writers: 100 No-Cost, Low-Cost Weapons for Selling Your Work

By Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman, David Hancock, Michael Larsen
Published in 2008 (New Editions are released regularly)
Get the book at Amazon.com!

What it’s All About
“Because the battle begins before a book even hits the selves, an author needs every weapon to get ahead of the competition. Guerrilla Marketing for Writers is packed with proven insights and advice, it details 100 ‘Classified secrets’ that will help authors sell their work before and after it’s published. This life range of weapons-practical low-cost and no-cost marketing techniques-will help authors design a powerful strategy for strengthening their proposals, promoting their books, and maximizing their sales.”

What I Thought
This was the first book marketing title I ever cracked open, and I read the entire volume during a flight. By the time I got off the plane, I was completely overwhelmed and ready to run away from my book screaming. That being said, this book has a ton of great information to offer, but I have it later in my list because there are some basic techniques you have to understand and put into practice before you’ll be able to pull off some of the advanced maneuvers that Guerilla Marketing suggests. Don’t feel obligated to listen to this advice, but if you dive into this book and get nauseous, I reserve the right to say “I told you so.”

One of the biggest differences between this book and all others in the list is that they take their marketing seriously. And when I say “seriously” I mean that they won’t hesitate to suggest you drop a couple thousand dollars on an agent who will run your campaign for you. You’ll notice that the word “Frugal” appears nowhere in the book’s title. As there over 100 marketing suggestions included in the book, there are a handful of useful ones that cost nothing, so start with those and work your way toward the million dollar marketing campaign.

This book also contains weblinks to “backdoor” sites where you can join other readers in discussing your marketing successes along with sharing ideas (that work!) not included within the pages. The Guerilla Marketing crew takes their jobs very seriously and there’s always plenty of new information to absorb!

What You’ll Learn

  • How to commitment to a marketing program
  • How to investment intelligently in your marketing campaign
  • How to display confidence in your product
  • How to use an assortment of marketing strategies to maximize results
  • How to measuring the effectiveness of your marketing campaign

5. Book Marketing from A to Z

By Francine Silverman
Published in 2005
Get the book at Amazon.com!

What it’s All About
“Book Marketing from A to Z presents personal promotions from hundreds of authors throughout the English-speaking world, whose titles range from one to 100 in all genres. The problems of authors are universal. Be their publisher Random House or AuthorHouse, authors soon discover that book promotion is their responsibility. Arranged alphabetically into 35-40 promotional efforts, Book Marketing from A-Z is easy to navigate. Readers will also relate to the writers’ pleasures and pitfalls, presented with honesty and humor. The book is certain to appeal to both novice and veteran authors, editors, publicists, publishers, ghostwriters and book coaches.”

What I Thought
This huge 300+ page book is full of helpful advice from the horse’s mouths. Except the horses are actually authors. The book is set up alphabetically, making it ever so simple to flip right to the topic of choice where you are greeted by tips and tricks from authors big and small regarding their experiences. Every genre imaginable is represented and the marketing ideas are easily adaptable depending on your book’s topic.

Not only do the authors share what has worked for them, but they don’t hesitate to share those techniques that completely backfired. It’s always good to learn from others mistakes, so take heed while reading. This is an invaluable resource and should have a permanent spot on your reference shelf. Some of the information is dated, so I’m hoping to see a new edition published soon, but don’t let that scare you off. Next time you catch yourself wondering how to promote your book through a public speaking engagement, grab this off your shelf, flip to the Public Speaking chapter and start skimming until you find that tip that will make the difference and lead to some sales. If it doesn’t work, go back and try another!

Francine Silverman compiled everything for the book, and while she didn’t write a whole lot for it, she has a fantastic book promotion newsletter available on her website (for a small fee) that all authors should subscribe to.

Side note: If you are a romance novelist, you NEED this book. Many authors from that genre are represented and you will be sitting on a mountain of good information! Not that I recommend sitting on this book. It’s quite big and would probably mess up your posture.

What You’ll Learn

  • Tips on how to market your book
  • Tips on how NOT to market your book

While there are hundreds of books available on the topics of promoting and marketing your novel, I found these to be the most helpful, and if you’re just starting out in the business, these will help you build a solid foundation.

I’m by no means an expert in this field, so if I missed a great book, please don’t hesitate to let me know!

Remember: we’re all in this together!

Looking for more information on how to promote your book?
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Promoting Your Book Online through Social Networking: BlogTalkRadio.com

Weston Locher is author of the humor book, Musings on Minutiae, which collects 50 hilarious anecdotes about life with frenetic felines, working in the corporate world, living in an urban apartment complex, and much more!

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Last Updated: January 3, 2012