America: the only country in the world where failing to promote yourself is regarded as being arrogant.
- Garry Trudeau

1. You need a Blog!

Don’t even bother designing your own web site (you should be spending time writing your next novel) or even paying to have it designed. What you need is a blog! A blog allows you write whatever you want and add pages to your web site without major hassles. And, after all, a blog is free!

There are a number of services proving free blogs, including Google. All you need is an internet connection and a browser. My personal recommendation is WordPress.com. Their web site templates are nothing short of amazing and you can select the one that fits your purposes best. You receive a lot more attention through their blog service than through your own web site, just due to the mere size of their web site.

Use the blog to shamelessly promote yourself and your work. Make sure you add pages on a regular basis to increase the size of your site. I cannot stress enough the importance of a web site with good content and a good (meaning: large) size. If you keep up extending your web site, the search engines will find you for sure.

2. Create an “Awareness Platform”

I put the term into quotation marks, because this is the term used in magazines and web sites that support the current antiquated publishing process. Their recommendations include, for instance, signing up at writers’ forums. Don’t be fooled! Forums do NOT help in any shape or form to increase your chance for a book deal. Don’t waste your time there! Forum entries do NOT create more traffic to your web site or blog.

The first step towards promoting your awareness platform is to create your own blog (as explained above). The blog will not increase your chances to get your book published, but it will help to promote your book.

If you are looking for credits, sign up for blogs that pay for content (e.g. today.com) or services looking for writers. There are more, similar service available on the Internet, and I personally haven’t made a lot of experiences with them, but I believe they help building your reputation as a writer.

3. Send press releases

There is a great number of press release services available through the Internet, some of them free-of-charge, some of them not. Here is a short list of services. Feel free to check them out, and search for more on the Internet.

http://www.prlog.com
http://www.openpr.com
http://www.free-press-release.com
http://www.prweb.com

4. Use Social Networks

Personally, I am not into the friend creating frenzy, but I did open a so-called “celebrity” account on facebook.com. This account also allows you to place advertisement on facebook.com. It works very similar to Google, meaning you pay per click, and you can determine your own budget. In addition, you can add facebook features to your web site/blog by adding a “fan box”, i.e. people can sign up as a fan. The vast advantage of facebook ads over Google ads is that you can select specific facebook user profiles, e.g. all users interested in historical fiction.

If you are using WordPress as you blog service, you can also add facebook features such as a “Share on Facebook” link.

In case you already have a facebook (or similar) account, use it shamelessly to promote your work.

5. Promote your blog/web site

There are other web sites where you can enter the web address and nature of your web site/blog. It does help to create more hyperlinks to your web site. Here is a short list, but feel free to search for more on the Internet.

http://www.contentpromote.com
http://www.digg.com
http://www.reddit.com

6. Do NOT use Google AdSense

It may sound strange, especially when you read what Google has to say about its advertisement offers, but you can spend a great amount of money on something that doesn’t pay off. I have been using AdSense for years, and it did increase the awareness of my web sites and products, but in the end I spent more money than I made through Google AdSense. There are several problems for the self-publisher. First, be aware that your ads may appear on thousands of web sites, but that some corrupt web site owners hire people from all over the world to click on the ads just to create revenue for the web site owner. Google has been increasing their activities to prevent this kind of scam, but I seriously doubt they got a good grip on it. I know of a business owner who spent roughly $1,500 per month on Google, but after two years decided to cancel them. There was no noticeable impact on his business, also due the fact that he used the money he saved to spruce up the web site. A good and extensive web site will always post you on the first page of Google search pages. The other problem is that you have to compete against the big names in the business. Always ask yourself the question how you can compete against Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc. The strength of the big guys is their extensive offer on almost every topic you can think of, but your strength is that you can elaborate on the same topic over pages and pages, meaning you provide more informational value.

7. The BIGGEST item of all: An Amazon.com listing

Maybe I should have placed this item on top, but I am continuously adding thoughts and ideas as they come to mind. I will not get into the topic of how to get your book listed on Amazon.com; I will address this in another article. For now let’s just say that you should check out the Amazon web site; look for setting up a seller account.

The importance of of an Amazon listing can not be emphasized enough! A listing on Amazon makes it impossible NOT to sell a book. There is a good reason why I personally promote Amazon over others like, for instance, Barnes & Noble. Amazon makes it very easy for the self-publisher to create a listing. You set up a seller account and as long as your book has an ISBN you can list it immediately. Barnes & Noble, for instance, just doesn’t get it. You can set up an account with them as well, but their application process is very cumbersome (e.g. you need to send them a hardcopy of the book so that they can approve it). Amazon also provides you a writer’s account that allows you to run a blog on the Amazon web site. The blog is directly attached to your book, meaning it will be attached to the listing.

More tips to follow…