Get Paid to Market Your Book

 

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Social Media has become part of our culture, and it helps to connect with your readers.  However when crawling through tweets and other posts on Social Media sites, one gets the impression that very few links are pointing to interesting, entertaining or helpful content – despite the fact that there are so many talented writers out there who could write great articles or show snippets of their books.  This would make their Social Media presence more valuable and would connect readers with the author’s writing craft.
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Question: Whom Would you Believe More:

a) advertisements
b) newspaper / magazine articles
c) reading samples

Most consumers / readers are not excited by pure advertising, they prefer authentic content and like to read writing samples.

Why are authors trying to market their books only with a) when b) and c) are more authentic in the eyes of readers – or at least a mixture of a, b and c?  I am not telling a secret here: b and c are free book marketing.  On top of that: often authors can even make more money with writing newspaper and magazine articles, online or in print, than with their books.
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It is Called CONTENT MARKETING.
And it is nothing new, if you work in marketing. From Coca Cola to Volkswagen to IKEA, content marketing is getting more and more foot hold. Read an article “Why Content Marketing Works”.
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All these companies have to employ and pay a lot of money to “story tellers”.  However, you as an author, you have done the “content” part already in writing your book, you just need to use your content and “market” it, in order to give your readers samples of your writing or make them curious about your new book.  Study after study have shown that this marketing method can be hugely effective for turning your audience into paying customers.  When it’s done well, a content marketing strategy entertains your readers and shows them how good you are at writing.
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Learn from these Writers:
In previous blogs we explained how: “Smart Authors Get Paid for Marketing Their Books!” and “FREE, Brilliant Book Marketing to a Million Audience“.
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Write Something of Value for Readers.
– which is “by chance” part of your book, such as travel tips to the location of your books plot, museums, festivals or public transportation that are mentioned in your book.  You have to do your research for your books anyway, why not use the material you gather and write several articles that you can offer to the media – always mentioning your book.  Another way of content writing: Try to write as many guest blogs as possible for top bloggers that are high in Google and Alexa rankings.  It will give you and your books more exposure and new readers.
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Why Asking for (media) Book Reviews?
When you could get both: book promotion and at the same time (often) being paid?  I know, it is a new concept to many writers, but when you think about it – it makes really sense: why use your time and effort to chase reviewers, when you can use your energy to leverage your books content and your research content – to create articles that you can pitch to both, print and online newspapers and magazines?  Read the stories of writers who have just done that.
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Perfect for Shy Writers.
Content book marketing is also perfect for shy writers who might cringe at stepping outside their comfort zone.  They can promote their books at the end of each article they write and even add links to their website or book sales page.  Use sentences from your articles to build interesting posts and tweets.
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BTW: Traditional media is more and more outsourcing, barely any full-time writing staff is left, which means they are open to pitches from freelance contributors…
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Josh Pigford, a Social Media Marketing Guru, Wrote Recently:
“The bottom line is that people trust editorial content more than they trust advertisements (only). Do the right mix. Whether your business is as big as Colgate or whether you are a one-person start up, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to utilize this simple fact in order to engage your audience and build your customer base.” And Joe Chernov brought it to the point: “Creating content that is so valuable that people would pay for it, yet you give it away for free, is a reliable way to earn the public’s trust.”
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Where to Find Markets for Your Writing?
Get the comprehensive guide to find publishers, agents, magazine and newspaper editors and thousands of addresses to online writing markets – including the online version and the latest additions and changes for a full year:  The Best Resource for Writers in 2016

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Do’s and Don’ts in Content Writing and Blogging.

  • Headline attention – encourage readers to read the next line
  • Use keywords that resonate with your audience
  • Simple and direct works well
  • Exciting, interesting, controversial, sensational all work well
  • Numbers / lists / real data works well
  • Just don’t be boring
  • Don’t forget to install an opt-in email list to be able to contact your readers and fans!

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Writing content will not transform your book into an overnight success, but it is a wonderful option for a long-term strategy, to build your author’s platform and it gives your readers a sample of your writing.

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