Building a Relationship with Potential Readers

Tell Me a Story - book promotion

In order to maximise book promotion, we are often told to foster a relationship with prospective readers. Fine words. Yet how do we go about it? A lot of writers, me included, are introverts. I could do shy for the Olympics. I’m not really a people person. Socialising is hard work, and to push myself or my work onto people is abhorrent. 

 

I hate book promotion and tend to shut my mind to it, so it’s good when a PR person spells out what I need to do. Here is a list of things to tackle in this extract from an article to build up relationships, by Phyllis Zimbler Miller - best selling author and book marketing guru


List of things to help in building a relationship with potential readers

• Videos – book trailers as well as videos of the author talking to her/his audience
• Blogs – on the subject of a book, on the subject of writing or publishing or whatever the author believes will interest her/his audience
• Articles – submitted to article directories – again on a variety of subjects connected to the target book audience
• BlogTalkRadio show – the subject of the book, other authors, fictional characters
• Social networks – Twitter, Facebook (including a page for the book), LinkedIn, etc.
• Book sites – places such as freado.com where a partial or the entire book can be uploaded
• Book author website – a major strategy in getting in front of an author's target markets
• Online press releases
• PR pitch sites such as PitchRate.com
• Audio recordings of a book
• Virtual book tours