Authors who want to self-publish their books should know that writing is only the first step. The hardest part is marketing the book but if this is done properly, it could yield great results. There are several must-do things for self-published authors who want to run successful marketing campaigns. The following are the important things that any author needs to incorporate into his/her marketing strategy.

Build a web presence

Building a strong web presence is probably the most effective way to reach your target audience. It is also among the least expensive ways to market your book. One of the steps of building a strong web presence is to create a frequently updated blog on your author website. A strong presence in social networks also counts.

An author website should be intuitive and user-friendly. It should make it easy for viewers to get information about your book and to buy it. Authors can use free hosting services for their websites but it is recommended for them to have their own websites. The cost of domain names, website design, and hosting are now affordable for any author and there is no reason why they should not have their own sites.

Generate mailing lists

One of the benefits of having your own website is that you can easily make mailing lists by asking visitors to sign up. Mailing lists generated from author websites are great because the author can quickly send emails to people who are actually interested in his messages. By periodically letting readers know what is happening, an author creates a group of loyal followers who like his books. These loyal followers can be used to boost book sales on the first day that he launches a book.

Other than generating his own list, an author can use free and premium services that help people to generate mailing lists. These services can help authors to quickly generate large mailing lists which authors can further segment using the demographics of people on the list.

Targeted messages

An author should identify websites, blogs, and people that talk about topics covered in his books. The author should approach them and introduce his book to them. He could also volunteer to post on their websites as a guest to build his credibility.

There are many other websites where an author can promote his books. He can organize targeted giveaways on those websites which will help him increase his book’s discoverability.

Keep going

In the same way that authors are urged to write daily, they should also market their books every day. Not a day should go by without an author engaging in at least 15 minutes conducting marketing activities. It doesn’t matter what type of activity an author does but he should frequently use all marketing channels to maximize the effectiveness of his campaign. Authors who want their marketing strategies to succeed know that there is a lot of trial and error involved. Therefore, they should persistently market books whenever they can. This will also help them to identify and correct certain parts of their marketing plans that are not working well.