Market Your Book in Just 10 Minutes a Day

When you hear the term “book marketing” you might immediately start thinking about BIG, grandiose plans. Month long book launches, expensive PR plans, a long list of things to get done sooner rather than later. Just thinking about all the things you “should” do is enough to make most author’s breath catch in panic.

But what if I told you that you could successfully market your book in just 10 minutes a day?

10 Minute Marketing Moments

It is true that as an author it is important to create your brand, build your author community and market yourself and your book early and often. You may start with a big book launch or a PR campaign, but remember… It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

The best long-term book marketing plans are small, consistent efforts that stack up over time. I call these efforts 10 Minute Marketing Moments.

What can you do in just 10 minutes?

I recommend you focus your time in one of three main categories.

1. Author Branding
2. Marketing
3. Community Building

Author Branding

Author branding is a bit like your signature – it should be unique and distinctive to your style and who you are as an author. You author brand may take years to create and, just as you change as a person, your author brand may change over time.

A few ideas of 10 Minute Marketing Moments spent on Author Branding are:

• Create a public Facebook Page
• Create an email collecting landing page
• Write your author bio
• Take author headshots or create an avatar
• Decide on 2-3 Key colors for your brand
• Write your Mission Statement
• Set up a Goodreads author profile
• Research new keywords for Amazon ads

“Your author brand is an ongoing, continually evolving story that communicates what makes your work unique, and represents an implied promise to your readers of what they can expect you to consistently deliver.”

–Joel Friedlander, The Book Designer

Marketing

Marketing is the act of working to get your book seen. Sometimes this includes paid advertising or incorporating PR but not always. Marketing moments might look like:

• Social media posting
• Blogging and guest blogging
• Creating graphics for your book or brand
• Looking for advertising opportunities
• Setting up Amazon or social media ads
• Planning a discount promotion for your launch
• Assembling a launch team
• Submitting your book for reviews
• Submitting your book for an award
• Finding general book reviewers to pitch
• Scheduling a blog tour
• Coming up with your list of comp authors and titles

“Book marketing creates awareness for a specific book among booksellers and consumers. The goal of marketing, of course, is to generate book sales.”

–Valerie Peterson

Community Building

If you’ve ever joined me on Free Advice Fridays, the New Shelves weekly live Q&A and book marketing vlog, you’ve probably heard me talk about the power – and importance – of community. A strong community can help teach you, encourage you and help make you better than you ever could be on your own. This aspect of marketing is vital not only to the success of your book, but also to avoiding burnout as an author.

10 Minute Marketing Moments spent on Community might include:

• Finding or chatting with Beta Readers
• Creating your launch team
• Asking for a book review
• Writing a review or endorsement for another author
• Finding or working with contractors (illustrators, formators, cover design, editing, etc.)
• Interacting in an online Author group discussion
• Joining a writing workshop
• Stopping by Free Advice Fridays (A shameless plug but a genuine invitation! www.NewShelves.com/FAF)

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

–Helen Keller

Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Some of the suggested marketing efforts will take longer than 10 minutes. That’s okay! You can either set aside more time when you have it or dedicate 10 minutes a day for multiples days on the same project. The important thing is to consistently work towards your goals.

If you commit to 10 Minute Marketing Moments for 365 days, you will have invested over 60 HOURS in marketing your book over the course of a year.

What are you going to be doing in your 10 Minute Marketing Moment today?