You’ve finally finished writing and publishing your eBook and are looking forward to raking in that passive income.
While eBooks can go viral on their own, why leave it to chance? Marketing a Kindle eBook does not need to be stressful or expensive. And it is never too early or too late to promote!
Prelaunch List Building – If you are a blogger there is a good chance you already have a growing email list. If not, this is a great time to open an AWeber account and start collecting those email addresses. This will allow you to build anticipation, communicate your progress, and announce your eBook’s release to those interested. While pre-ordering may not be available, you can certainly pre-sell your audience.
Giveaways – One of the big perks of Kindle Direct Publishing is the giveaway. Amazon allows you to make your eBook available for downloading free of charge five days every 90-day period. This is a great opportunity to get a little free promotion and hopefully reviews when you first release your eBook. There are dozens of websites that announce free Kindle eBooks.
Guest Blogging – I don’t know that every eBook is suitable for a virtual book tour, but if your ebook solves a problem you should not pass up this opportunity. Submit actionable guest posts to blogs in that niche. And this isn’t a limited time thing. Any time that you guest post on a relatable topic, link to your eBook in your author byline if allowed.
Sponsored Reviews – If you are a blogger you are likely already familiar with sponsored opportunities. Why not become the sponsor for once? If you already have an email list (or are building one during prelaunch) you can exchange a free copy of your eBook for a review by another blogger. If you do not currently have an email list or you would like to expand your reach beyond your own audience, sites like Business2Blogger offer an affordable option for connecting with review bloggers.
Blog About It – This may seem silly but there are so many people who are afraid to sell to their own audience. These are people who already trust you and love your content. There is absolutely no reason that they wouldn’t be interested in your eBook. Tell them about it!
Author Page – Once you publish your first Kindle eBook, you will be able to set up an author page on Amazon Author Central. This is a great opportunity for cross-promoting any future eBooks, you can include the RSS feed for your blog, link up your social profiles and more. Take advantage of this free publicity and feel free to link back to it in your email signatures, About Me blog page and more.
Social Media – This is another great place to build buzz for your new book. If you are in business to make money, you should always be culling and nurturing your following. Connie Brentford is a Twitter Master and has shared some tips with us in the past here. You can also join her Twitter for Authors mailing list.
What tips would you share for marketing a Kindle eBook?
Anna says
Thanks for the tips Angie! Hopefully I’ll get mine finished by early summer. Definitely need to start doing some of these things.
Angie Nelson says
It’s never too early, Anna! 🙂
Tina Razzell says
I wrote an article about how I publicized my ebook, you can read it here http://www.infobarrel.com/How_to_Creatively_Promote_Your_Kindle_Book_on_Amazon
Angie Nelson says
Great, Tina. Thanks!
SR Cloud says
Yup – this is all good advice. I have a book in gestation. It’s taken a lot longer than I had anticipated, but when I get there, to the point where I’m happy that is, then I’ll need to survey the options available. Self-publishing will certainly be on the table.
Appreciate you taking the time to post.
Angie Nelson says
Best of luck!
Lisa says
My ebook definitely rose in sales and finally got some reviews when I started promoting it across social media, particularly Twitter. I try not to over promote there, because I don’t want to annoy my audience. I do my best to throw a promotion in, between several other helpful or interactive posts.
Angie Nelson says
That’s another great tip, Lisa! I have been trying to schedule a few tweets per month to go out. It definitely helps keep it circulating.
Tina Razzell says
I’ve just done a giveaway at Goodreads. 289 people entered and 103 people marked it as to be read. This is a paperback book, not a Kindle book, but it was definitely worth doing as the book got more exposure.
Angie Nelson says
I need to look into Goodreads more. I have heard it in passing but never had the time to look into it further.
Ont says
Great info!I have written few e-books myself, however I wasn’t able to market it properly.Therefore, my hope of success came down crushing.I now have got few important tips from your post.Thank you for the great article.
Rafa Lombardino says
Yes, I completely agree with the tip on blogging about the book. In my case, I’m not an author (yet!) but I translate other people’s work and it is also in my best interest to let my audience know more about what I’m translating. This way my authors are happy, their books sell more, and I have a portfolio full of happy clients 😉
So, what I actually do is comment on the translation process itself. Did I find something difficult to translate and how did I resolve the issue? How has my communication with the author/editor been? What did I enjoy most about translating a book? You get the idea.
As a reader, I like reading posts about an author’s behind the scenes while working on a book to learn more about the challenges they’ve faces and the decisions they’ve made.
William Dana says
Your tips are actually quite terrible. A guest blog tour?? Perhaps if you’re hosting George RR Martin on your blog you might gen up some buzz, otherwise a blog tour is an atrocious waste of time. Also, when I see an author blogging about themselves and their “process” and daily struggles being a writer, I can’t escape from the blog fast enough. I frankly couldn’t care less as I’m sure nobody wants to read about me and my nightly writing rituals either. The best way to gen up buzz is the Amazon free giveaway and advertise in various e-zines before it happens. The rest, forget it. Sorry if I sound blunt and a bit jaded, but that’s the bitter truth.
Angie Nelson says
Hi, William. Thanks for sharing your story. It’s unfortunate you don’t have a supportive following that is interested in the process. Getting people into the sales funnel prior to releasing your book can lead to immediate success. And those loyal followers are also more likely to leave reviews and promote to their followers and friends.
I also have to disagree with the book tour. If your book solves a problem, it is in no way an “atrocious waste of time.” If you are touring in front of people that need what your book has to offer, instant sales.
If you plan of writing more than one book, I would highly recommend putting the time into building your own site, mailing list and loyal following. It is 100 times easier to sell to an existing customer than find a new one. That’s the golden rule of business. While those one-off KDP promotions may push your book initially, those people can’t be remarketed to in the future – like when you are building buzz for the next book in your series. OR, taking them with you to the next – more profitable – level; memberships, courses, tangible products, etc.