How To Promote Your Book Online – Five More New Ideas

For an author and self-publisher, there are so many ways to promote your book online.

But sometimes, it is very simple book promotion changes that can make a big difference to your book sales potential.

Often the common problems with online book promotion are that it can become repetitive. Potential book buyers can become advertising immune to your promotional plan.

The problem of repetition is especially the case on Facebook and Twitter.

New ways to promote your book online

Of course, you are using social media to promote your book. But it might be time to think about creating alternatives that you can post to create more variety and interest.

In an earlier post, I wrote about Five Ideas To Promote Your Book. You may also want to read it to give you other free promotional ideas.

But now, here are five more new and quite easy to implement ideas to help you promote your book more effectively.

1. Write new articles about your book.

Write three new blog posts or even short stories about your book. Then you can share them in rotation using social networking.

Take a different perspective in each article. Perhaps the main protagonist, the setting, or time period. Or about your motivation or inspiration that led you to write the book.

Importantly, use different images for each post to add to the variety and avoid using your book cover. It has probably been posted hundreds of times already.

You can also try to contact bloggers. Ask them if you can write a guest post about your existing or upcoming book.

Many bloggers are looking for content, and you might be surprised how many are ready to accept your guest post.

Again, though, make sure it is new and original and content that you will then be able to share.

A few articles on your blog, plus three or four on other blogs, will give you a lot more variety to use for your book promotion. It will help you engage with more people to read your book.

2. Write two completely new book descriptions.

Your book description is your second most powerful book promotion tool after your book cover.

If you have not changed your book description in a while, think about giving it a new lease of life. Do a total re-write and create a better chance of hooking new readers.

When you have done that, do it again!

Changing your book description has advantages that you might not have considered.

Firstly, as it is an important component in your book metadata, a complete re-write may gain you better search results because of the new words and phrases included in your new book description.

Secondly, you probably wrote your original book description in a rush. Going back and starting from scratch will more than likely produce a far, far better version.

Thirdly, you can add short extracts from the book reviews you have received.

If you are not published exclusively on Amazon, you can also try using your different book descriptions on other publishing platforms. Check to see if one version works better than another on a particular online book store.

Three well-written book descriptions also help you with variety when posting on social media.

3. Change the color of your book cover.

The main overall color of a book cover can make a huge difference in attracting the attention of book buyers.

For online promotion, thumbnail images are such an important component in attracting attention.

Ask your book cover designer if they can change the main background color of your cover. If they agree, perhaps create two new color versions.

Some may charge you a little. But the last time I asked my designer to make a small change to one of my covers, it was free of charge.

As with book descriptions, changing a book cover can sometimes make all the difference. Experiment with the new versions.

You can try different versions on publishing platforms. If you are exclusive with Amazon, try changing your cover once a month.

Having three different cover versions is also a great blog topic. You can ask your blog readers to tell you which one they prefer.

You can even use a free book cover creator to make different versions of your book cover.

Then on social media, create a poll to attract attention.

4. Change or update your online profiles and bios.

How long has it been since you updated your details on your blog’s about page?

What about your profile image?

Think about all the sites you use. Social media platforms, and even places where you comment, such as newspapers, Disqus, and WordPress.

Update your profiles, bios, and where possible, and add a link to your author image.

Writing an author bio is always a chore.

But with a little imagination, you can write something highly original. It will improve your online author image and, hopefully, attract more attention to your book titles.

5. Change the theme of your blog or website.

Almost all blogging platforms allow you to change the layout, theme, colors, and typography of your blog.

Experiment a little and give your blog visitors a change of scenery.

Many sites I visit are dark and unwelcoming, and especially on mobile devices, hard to read.

Attractive and functional website design now is bright, clear, crisp, and uncluttered. The best websites designed are easy to read and simple to navigate on mobile phones and tablets.

Look at some popular websites and blogs. You will notice that most are spacious, have a light or white background with text that is dark grey.

Black text is hard on the eyes on small screens, so it should be avoided except for headings.

A blog or website that is easy on the eyes and simple to navigate will keep visitors much longer. It is precisely what you need if you want to attract a potential reader and to sell more books.

Summary.

The ideas above are primarily about adding variety to help you promote your book online.

Using them in combination will make your book promotion and advertising more effective.

Do an audit of your current online activity. Look for areas that might be repetitive, and try to make some changes to help in marketing your book.

When you promote your book online, one small change can sometimes make all the difference.

Related Reading: Personal Branding For Authors Is The Best Promotion Tool You Have