Create a Book Pitch
You may be under the impression that you don’t need a book pitch since you’re self-publishing; however, you do. After all, the exercise of crafting the pitch will help you better answer the question “what’s your book about?” to those who ask you. Whether you’re signing books, running into people, or are at a networking event being able to explain what your book is about, and what it means to the reader is imperative.
All book pitches must tell potential readers or professionals the books genre, the angle of the book, why the author is qualified to write this book, how it compares to other books of its kind, and why this book is better or different than others that are available. What’s more is that you need to be able to voice this within 60 seconds in a natural way. Not only can you use the pitch you create for the elevator but you can also use it when you’re writing sales copy for other mediums, talking to buyers, at events and more. If you have a print-book, it’s something that can also be put on the back cover to help people make a decision on whether or not to buy your book.
Book Clubs
Book clubs are an author’s dream come true. You have avid readers who read your book individually and get together, as a group, to discuss it. This means more than one person is going to buy your book at the same time. You can encourage this behavior by reaching out to book clubs. Today, there are both online and offline book clubs.
- Contact Your Local Library – The local library likely works to start book clubs to get people interested in reading. They probably have more than one type of book club based on the genre of the books and the topics the members are interested in reading about. You can join book clubs that are related to your genre and contribute to the conversation. This may help you market your own book.
- Meetup.com – This is a great website to find all sorts of meetings. Just enter “book club” into the search bar for your area and a lot will definitely show up. Find book clubs that like to read the topic of your book. You can offer to sponsor a book club by giving them free books in exchange for reviews.
- Start Your Own – You can also start a book club of your own if you want to. Your club could do other things, in addition to reading the book. Develop a reader’s guide to help them through the book if you think that will help. Remember, even if this seems time intensive, it’s a great way to get to know your audience, and a great way to jumpstart word-of-mouth.
- Start an Online Book Club – You can use social media like Google Hangout, or Skype to start an online book club. You can meet readers to discuss and answer questions about your book using this technology. You can even start a discussion group without meeting live such as with a Facebook group.
The benefits of using book clubs to market your business include captive audiences who will want to know you as the author. You can give away book swag such as t-shirts, mugs, reader guides, and more to any book club that decides to read your book. In addition, you can offer to come to their group and sign books. It’s a great way to get close to your audience and sell more books.
I’m author and online marketing strategist Connie Ragen Green. I work with entrepreneurs to create multiple streams of online income and would love to connect with you. Download my Online Entrepreneur’s Blueprint and get started right away.