Now it's Time to Sell: How I've Been Promoting my POD Book

Regardless of whether you choose a traditional or POD publisher, promoting and selling your book is your job as an author. (The time-consuming nature of doing so is one of the main reasons I've chosen to focus on ghostwriting and coauthoring books.)

There's no shortage of books and websites that tell you how to promote your book, and many POD companies now offer marketing services to authors as well. The bottom line, though, is that works for one book won't work for another. Your understanding of your readership--who they are and how you can connect with them--is key to deciding how you'll spend your marketing time and dollars.

Goodbye Byline, Hello Big Bucks is aimed at a fairly narrow audience--freelancers and book authors who want to add ghostwriting to their repertoire, or want to learn more about this field. Those are my potential book buyers. So how do I reach them and promote my book to them?

• I launched this blog last year, when I started writing the book, to help build a (hopefully) loyal readership and promote the title when it came out.


• I added an "Author" page to Facebook to promote myself and got on Twitter. (Follow me at #kellyjamesenger.) I limit my Tweets to the subject of succeeding as a freelancer/author.


• I asked for, and received, a cover blurb from Marcia Layton Turner, founder and executive director of the Association of Ghostwriters.


• I pitched articles on ghostwriting to a variety of writer's publications, and wrote a six-page feature on ghostwriting that ran in the April, 2011 issue of Writer's Digest. I also wrote several articles for Writing for Dollars.


• I participated in teleseminars with sites like RenegadeWriter.com to reach potential buyers.


• I wrote guest posts for a variety of writing-related blogs.


• I requested that my book be reviewed by The ASJA Monthly, where it received a positive review.


• I sent emails to former expert sources, letting them know about the book and that I'm actively looking for new ghosting clients.


• I sent emails to editors and former clients, telling them about the book.


• I mentioned the book at all of my speaking gigs, and brought copies so attendees could buy their own copies.


• I agreed to speak at writers' conferences, where I sold my book and/or presented sessions on ghostwriting.


• I asked for readers who got in touch with me after buying the book to post reviews on amazon.com.

That's just the beginning of what I've done, and will continue to do. (Check out Caitlin Kelly's excellent post about how she's promoting her new memoir about working in retail, Malled.)

However, as GoodBye Byline is my 12th published book, there are a lot of things I'm not doing this time out. Next post, I'll share some of the promotion tactics that I've tried in the past and haven't been worth the time.