Tips for Promoting Your Book Offline

Being an indie author, I have discovered that the majority of sales and marketing take place online. This makes sense, as this is where many people make their purchases these days.

Part of what drives online marketing is the almost instantaneous ability to go from the advertisement, to clicking the buy button. While online promotion is a huge part of promoting your book, and yourself as an author, it is still important not to forget the offline aspect of marketing your book.

There actually a lot of things you can do to promote your book offline. Here are a few that I have done myself.

Flyers: It doesn’t take much to print up a nice, eye-catching flyer advertising your work. Make sure it has the book cover, your name, a blurb for the book, and little tear off tabs at the bottom with your website on it. Tack them up all over town and don’t forget the libraries!

One of the things you do need to remember when taking flyers around is that many bulletin boards in stores and establishments, will not let you put things there. So make sure to ask permission.

On that note, asking business owners if you can hang your flyer in their window, usually ends well. In my experience, the owners tended to allow it. One factor to consider is that I do live in a small town, so people tend to be very supportive of the locals.

Newspapers: A press release is always a great way to advertise a new book. You can either write it yourself or you can have a service do it for you. There is never a guarantee that it will get printed, as most papers have many press releases and other stories sent to them every day, but you may get lucky and they will print the press release.

In addition, you can purchase ad space in the local paper. Call the newspaper and ask for advertising. The marketing specialist will go over all the different sizes and prices with you. (I have worked this job, previously, so if you have some general questions, feel free to ask, but rates are different depending on the newspaper.) Newspapers now also offer ads on their websites, which are highly viewed, and some newspapers can accommodate all your digital marketing needs from social media to Google ads. I know that is online promotion, but it made sense to mention it under the newspaper category.

Announcement Cards: Announcement cards are an amazing marketing tool. When I got mine done it was a postcard sized card, with my picture, my book cover, and the announcement of my book, including my website. On the back was the blurb for the book. I got these from Vista Print and they were not very expensive at all. They came with envelopes so you can mail them to everyone you know, you can leave them on tables at doctors’ offices and other such places. Announcement cards are also great for bulletin boards and tucking into other books at libraries and bookstores. (I don’t know if I should have mentioned that I did that last part)

Have a Party: Whether it is a book launch for a new release, or just a celebration of your time as an author, a party is a great way to get the word out about your work. You can also use the tips above for your party.

Book Signings: Book signings are a great way to market your book and get some sales. Most people worry that they can’t afford to buy a lot of books to do this with. Don’t worry about that, most book signings don’t sell a ton of books, but the promotion involved is worth it.

To get book signings just go into every single book store, coffee shop, and even grocery stores (if you live in a small town) and ask if you can do a signing or if they will carry your book. I did this and the outcome was amazing.

There are larger book conventions that you could attend, as well. These are typically a little on the costly side for tables, inventory and swag. In addition, if you have to travel, you will have the costs involved with that. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love book conventions, but many authors, especially if you are just getting started, will not want to put the money out for a convention.

Donate: Donate your book to the local libraries, this will allow people to read it and talk about it, thus recommending it to other people in the long run. Also, you can donate to causes like auctions or sales where the proceeds go to the cause.

Lastly…

Talk about your book: It is not bad form to talk about yourself. You wrote a freaking book! Now go sell it. I talk about my book everywhere I go and it’s normally met with interest. Also, a lot of people are excited because they met someone “famous.” This is absolutely all right to do. You earned it.

Hopefully these tips were helpful. Yes, I know some of the tips are obvious ones, but sometimes authors are new to the show are looking for suggestions.