50 Things Under $50 You Can Do to Promote Your Book

By Penny Sansevieri

If your book marketing budget is tight (and even if it's not) you might want to consider some ideas that are powerful, and won't cost you as much as you think. Here are a few to consider!

1) Buy your domain name as soon as you have a title for your book. You can get domain names for as little as $8.95

2) Head on over to Blogger.com or Wordpress.com and start your very own blog (you can add it to your Web site later).

3) Set up an event at your neighborhood bookstore

4) Write a few articles on your topic and submit them onto the Internet for syndication

5) Check out your competition online and see if you can do some networking

6) Do some radio research and pitch yourself to at least five new stations this week

7) Ready to get some business cards? Head on over to Vistaprint.com. The cards are free if you let them put their logo on the back

8) Put together your marketing plan

9) Plan a contest. Contests are a great way to promote your book.

10) Google some topic-related online groups to see if you can network with them

11) Send thank you notes to people who have been helpful to you

12) Send your book out to at least ten book reviewers this week

13) Do a quick Internet search for writers' conferences or book festivals in your area you can attend

14) Create an email signature for every email you send; email signatures are a great way to promote your book and message.

15) Put the contents of your Web site: book description, bio, q&a, interviews, on CD to have on hand when the media comes calling!

16) Submit your Web site to the top five directories: Google, MSN, Alexa, Yahoo, and DMOZ

17) Write a great press release and submit it to free online press release sites.

18) Write your bio, you'll need it when you start pitching yourself to the media

19) Schedule your first book signing

20) Start your own email newsletter; it's a great way to keep readers, friends and family updated and informed on your success.

21) Go over to Yahoo Groups and join some online groups on your topic - it's great Internet networking!

22) Develop a set of questions that book clubs can use for your book, and post them on your Web site for handy downloads.

23) Add your book info or URL to your answering machine message

24) Join Audio Acrobat ($20 a month) and begin recording audio products you can sell on your Web site

25) See if you can get your friends to host a "book party" in their home. You come in and discuss your book and voila, a captive audience!

26) Find some catalogs you think your book would be perfect for and then submit your packet to them for consideration.

27) Go around to your local retailers and see if they'll carry your book; even if it's on consignment it might be worth it!

28) Add your book to Google Book Search

29) Research some authors with similar subjects and then offer to exchange links with them.

30) Is your book good for the MySpace market? My Space has recently started doing book reviews.

31) Write a "So You'd Like To..." article for Amazon.com

32) Ask friends and family to email five people they know and tell them about your book.

33) Leave your business card, bookmark, or book flyer wherever you go.

34) Are there any book fairs you could participate in? Look them up on the Net!

35) Pitch yourself to your local television stations.

36) Pitch yourself to your local print media.

37) Work on the Q&A for your press kit. You'll need it when you start booking media interviews!

38) Pitch Oprah. Go ahead, you know you want to.

39) Is the topic of your book in the news? Check your local paper, and write a letter to the editor to share your expertise (and promote your book!)

40) Stop by your local library and see if you can set up an event, they love local authors.

41) Do you want to get your book into your local library system? Try dropping off a copy to your main library; if they stock it chances are the other branches will too.

42) Go to Chase's Calendar of Events (www.Chases.com) and find out how to create your own holiday!

43) Going on vacation? Use your away-from-home time to schedule a book event, or two.

44) If your book is appropriate, go to local schools to see if you can do a reading.

45) Got a book that could be sold in bulk? Start with your local companies first and see if they're interested in buying some promotional copies to give away at company events.

46) Don't forget to add reviews to your Web site. Remember that what someone else has to say is one thousand times more effective than anything you could say!

47) Trying to meet the press? Search the Net for Press Clubs in your area, they meet once a month and are a great place to meet the media.

48) Want a celebrity endorsement? Find celebs in your market with an interest in your topic and then for it. Remember all they can say is no.

49) Ready to get some magazine exposure? Why not pitch some regional and national magazines with your topic or submit a freelance article for reprint consideration.

50) Work on your next book. Sometimes the best way to sell your first book is by promoting your second.

Penny C. Sansevieri is a book marketing and media relations specialist who coaches authors on projects, manuscripts and marketing plans and instructs a variety of coursing on publishing and promotion. To learn more about her books or her promotional services, visit  http://www.amarketingexpert.com To subscribe to her free ezine, send a blank email to: mailto:subscribe@booksbypen.com