Dundurn Press—or another fine publisher—has accepted your book for publication. The editing and layout is complete and a release date has been set. Time to sit back, let your publisher take care of promotion, and wait for your royalties to pour in, right?
In a word, no.
As an author, you were responsible for writing your book (with helpful advice, prompts, and editing from your publisher). Now, you need to take the lead in promoting it. Your publisher will assist of course, but they probably have a large roster of other writers and can’t be expected to give you their undivided attention.
Fortunately, social media has made self-promotion a simple, low-cost proposition.
To start with, familiarize yourself with the major social media platforms (I use Facebook, Twitter—now known as “X”, LinkedIn, and Instagram). Sign up for these platforms and create a profile. You can use the same profile on multiple platforms, just be sure to include a recent photo of yourself, a very short bio, and a link to your website or blog if you have one.
Posting can now commence. Start off by posting a jpeg of your book cover (ask your publisher for one), accompanied by succinct text (“My book is about a largely forgotten wartime tragedy”), along with links to webpages of retailers that stock your title. Use the website tinyurl (https://tinyurl.com/app) or its equivalent to shorten long URLs.
Include hashtags in your posts (the @ tag will take you directly to another social media profile while a # hashtag is a more general, topic-oriented identifier). Remember to “tag” your publisher on all posts so they can repost what you’ve written.
Make your posts creative. For example, post photos of your tome on bookstore shelves, or in the hands of readers. Or post an image that relates to the topic of your book.
Follow fellow authors on social media, and/or people who are experts on the topic you’ve written about. Repost their posts when they are relevant to your book. Hopefully, reciprocity will ensue, and people will start reposting your posts.
Search for social media pages related to the topic of your book. There are Facebook pages devoted to crime, horror, and romance writers, to name a few. Join up and introduce yourself. If permitted, post links to your books. Otherwise, just post comments and questions.
Participate in social media discussions on topics related to your book. Make a few posts relating to the topic at hand. Drop in a link to your book. Don’t overdo things however (if all you ever do is post links to your books in discussion threads, you will come across as a spammer).
None of these tips guarantee success, but they cost nothing, take little time to achieve, and are a good way to complement your publisher’s efforts in promoting your book.
Nate Hendley is a Toronto-based journalist and author. His latest book for Dundurn Press, Atrocity on the Atlantic, recounts the sinking of a Canadian hospital ship in World War One.