If you are anything like me, you might have a hard time promoting yourself and your books. It can be a daunting thing to do and sometimes it can feel like you are being big-headed too. How do you tell a stranger that your books are awesome and they should read them? For a long time, I couldn't do it, but it just takes practice.

What is the best way to do it? I find the best way to promote your work is to pretend that you are promoting it for a friend. I don't mean pretend the book isn't yours, but rather to think in your mind, how would I promote this if it was for a friend? We are quick to support our friends and congratulate them on their creations, why shouldn't we treat our own work the same way?

Promotion is best done in the third person. Example: Check out the latest horror release from the author (name). Create distance as opposed to buy my book, please. Share a short blurb and a link to buy with your audience. You never know who will see it, so keep it short, snappy and easy to remember. Always include a good cover image for your book too. 

Never plead with your audience - please give my book a try - as this will make you sound like your book is not good enough and that you are looking for sympathy. Be proud, be confident about your work. It is a good idea to avoid posts that put you or your work down, or an author apologizing for pushing the book to the audience in the first place.

When a potential reader is scrolling through social media or browsing the internet, they see ads all the time. Most people will scroll past them unless something catches their eye. This will usually be the image attached to the post. If it is good, they will then move on to reading the copy. You will see from other ads that there is a certain type of language used and if it is written correctly, it could convince them to click the link and buy. A good piece of copy will be short, concise, include a tag line and a little about the book. It needs to grab their imagination in the few seconds that you have their attention. If it is full of stumbling text, lack of confidence and unappealing language, then chances are they will move on.

Take the time to check out current book ads online and study the way they are set up, the wording used and the images included. There are a lot of book groups on Facebook with authors posting every day. Which posts are getting the most attention and why?

At the end of the day, you have produced a book and published it. Most people don't even get that far. Be proud of your work, have confidence and it will show to potential readers.