Today’s book review is on one of the best books I have ever read on everything to do with marketing our books, from platform building to publishing and marketing, a cornucopia of information, Marketing on a Shoestring by Doris Maria Heilmann.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Doris’ work, she is one of the pioneers in the Indie marketing business for 30 years. Doris is a book publishing consultant and coaches writers privately and runs several public seminars. She is also the owner for the well-known website, Savvybookwriters.com, a site that I couldn’t recommend enough for all writers to be following for her ongoing tips and updates about what’s current in the publishing world.

Book Marketing on a Shoestring – How Authors Can Promote their Books Without Spending A Lot of Money

 

 

Get This Book on Amazon! 

 

Blurb:

No Money? No Problem!  Success as an author, especially when creating your platform in social media and establishing your brand, using the tools described here, is almost free. It’s all about where to find readers, book bloggers and reviewers and how to connect with them.
A book marketing checklist in the last chapter will provide you with a useful timeline. Don’t get overwhelmed by all the book marketing possibilities. You don’t have to do it all in a week, a month, or even a year.  These are single steps you can take, one by one, to build your audience.

You Never Get a Second Chance for a Good First Impression!
The goal of this book is to show you the professional, yet inexpensive way of publishing a book and how to build your readership, no matter if you self publish or sell your manuscript to a traditional publisher.

PART ONE
Explains why book marketing is important – and rewarding and how readers will find your book among millions others. You will also learn about the difference between marketing and selling through ads.

PART TWO
In this chapter you will evaluate your current publishing and book marketing situation. You will learn, in chronological order, the basics to start your author platform, find out which social media accounts are the effective, and how to present your book and yourself professionally.

PART THREE
Here you will learn the important steps in a professional book production. Let’s assume your manuscript is finished, has been read by other writers and beta readers, and is on the way to the editor. What is your next step in book marketing? And where else can you sell your book?

PART FOUR
In this chapter you will get tips for “passive marketing”; book layout tips; your author pages; and other places you can sell your book besides the major online retailers.
Find a timeline checklist for your book launch event.

PART FIVE
In this chapter you will learn about advanced marketing strategies and how you can leverage your manuscript in markets other than e-book or paperback, and even in foreign markets.

A comprehensive checklist for your book marketing gives you a valuable tool for years (and books) to come!

Going these steps is a long-term time investment. They won’t initiate an immediate spike in book sales; rather, they will improve the amount of your readers and the exposure of your books.
Remember: all of your writing is an asset that can keep making you money for decades to come!
A certain time commitment may be necessary, at least in the beginning, depending on your level of involvement. Yet, you will learn how to connect reader communities and social media accounts and the more you use these marketing tools, the faster you can handle them. Which means that you will get more visitors and buyers.

You may not be a New York Times bestselling author with a publicist–yet. So, if you want to succeed at self-publishing, you will want to learn everything you can about professional book layout, publishing, and traditional book marketing methods.
You will find many steps in the publishing process in this book. These tasks are not obvious “book marketing” tasks, but they are essential for your success as an author.

For Whom is this Book Useful?
Self-Publishers and authors who work with traditional publishers alike profit from this book marketing and publishing guide. Get inspirations and encouragement from someone who has 35+ years of experience in print and e-book publishing, book marketing, online writing and magazine publishing.

 

My 5 Star Review

A step-by-step manual and reference guide for all authors – This book is an essential companion for every author – Indie or traditional, wanting to learn all the lucrative tricks and avenues of navigating through the process from publishing to marketing.

Marketing on a Shoestring offers a comprehensive list of resources worth its weight in gold with tips on everything you need to know about marketing books to ideas on how to gain reviews, build a platform, and what’s required of the entire book publishing process. There is also a comprehensive checklist and referral guide with links on how to sell books – where to publish, the importance of owning your own ISBN numbers, how to get your books discovered, how to incorporate social media for book sales, the importance of good book covers, all available platforms to sell books at and so much more.