Five Minute Book Marketing

Hi, I'm Rachel Randolph and this is my first post here at The Christian Authors Network. I actually started reading this blog before I met Janice Thompson at a writer's group in the Houston area last year. (Shout out to my Words for the Journey peeps!) When Janice invited me to join CAN as an industry pro, I was both flattered and thrilled. I've been learning from you guys for years and now I get a chance to give back each month.

Most of my posts will be related to marketing, publicity, and social media. If you have any specific topics you'd like to learn about or questions answered, please let me know. I've included a brief bio at the bottom of this post if you want to know more about me or my book marketing company RedCouch PR.

Enough about me, let's get to the good stuff, marketing your books. If I could sum up in one sentence what I hear from authors on a daily basis, it's this: "I'm overwhelmed." Many of you have read so many books and blogs on marketing strategies that you have trouble honing in and taking action on all that you've learned or know you should be doing. Today, I just want to leave you with a few quick and easy marketing tasks that you can do in less than five minutes. You could get them all done in one hour or just do one or two a day. 

 Five Minute Book Marketing

1. Add "Author of Such and Such Book" to your email signature. If you have more than one, list your most recent book and your most popular book. 
2. Call your local bookstore and offer to sign copies of your books that they have on their shelf. If they aren't carrying them, introduce yourself and let them know that if they plan on ordering any, you'd be glad to sign them when they come in.
3. Schedule Google Alerts for your name, your book titles, and any other keywords that might lead you to resources or connections tied to your book topic. For example, if you write about infertility or your fiction character struggles with this issue, tracking that keyword could provide you with sources for your next book, potential readers for your books, or media opportunities. (If you have a google account, simply go to http://www.google.com/alerts/manage and click "New Alert." Use quotations around your keywords for better results.)
4. Thoughtfully comment on a blog of an industry connection or a potential reader (maybe one you found through your Google Alerts).
5. Update the box underneath your profile picture on Facebook. Include a catchy description of you and a link to your website. This is often the only box someone will look at before deciding whether to follow you or not so make use of this prime real estate.
6. Make a list of upcoming holidays and jot down ways you could promote your book or your expertise during those holidays. Create tasks on your calendar for three months out and three weeks out to pitch your story ideas to print and radio/tv respectively.
7. Write down five blog topics that you can write about. Coming up with the topic is half the battle when it comes to blogs. Having a list of archived topic ideas is a great way to prevent the "But I Don't Have Anything to Say Blues."
8. Mail your speaker one-sheet (a page with your bio, picture, and speaker topics) along with a personal note to one church or organization. 
9. Update your status on your social networking sites. Be sure to provide ample value and/or entertainment posts between the marketing/look-at-me posts.
10. Send a personal message to new followers on your social networking accounts. Make a connection that lets them know you looked at their profile and didn't send the same message to everyone else.

Bigger projects and marketing strategies are obviously important and I hope to talk to you about them in upcoming posts, but when you are feeling overwhelmed with daunting projects don't let that stop you in your tracks. Little five minute marketing projects can have big impact.

Do you have any five minute book marketing strategies?

Are there any marketing, publicity, or social media topics you'd like to see covered in my monthly CAN post?

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Rachel Randolph is the founder of RedCouch PR, a company that helps Christian authors promote books through publicity, blog tours, marketing virtual assistance, and social media. RedCouch PR primarily works with non-fiction authors with women audiences. Rachel has a degree in marketing from The University of Texas at Tyler. Prior to founding RedCouch PR, she worked in marketing, sales, and client relations for an author of 40+ books and the author’s training company. It was there that Rachel realized the thrill in helping others share their stories, ideas, and concepts. www.redcouchpr.com

Comments

[Janice Thompson]

Rachel, this is awesome. I'm so glad you're sharing your expertise with us! Thank you so much.