It is not uncommon for authors to be called upon by their publishers/editors to help market their books. There are three main stages involved when marketing a book: before publication, during publication, and after publication. An author has to do everything right at all these stages for his/her marketing efforts to be successful.

Before publication

This is the time to lay the groundwork for the launch. At this point, make sure that your book product page is up and running. This should be several months prior to the book launch. You should also start developing an online presence and creating a community online. Build a contact list, expand your reach using social networks, and create a blog or website. Finally, you should leverage your academic, corporate, and professional relationships.

During publication

You should actively work to spread the word about your book. Tell your community that the book is now available for purchase. You can do this by sending an email blast. You should use your network to help you spread the word. Make sure that people write reviews of your book at this stage and work closely with your publisher’s PR campaign. Always work to complement the publisher’s efforts and avoid duplicating tasks.

After publication

This is the time to take the gloves off and kick your marketing campaign a notch higher. You should now start driving sales to online booksellers. In addition to getting even more reviews, you should create a video for your book. Work with experts to find out the best way to work with the main online booksellers.

Reaching out to personal contacts via email

Every author should keep a list of every person he/she is in constant communication with. Such people include: colleagues, friends, family, clients, fellow alums, friendly rivals, and any other person with a personal connection to the author. These people can be very important when the author wants to spread the word about a recently published book. It is important to use such people to help with book marketing because they know and respect the author.

How to pique contacts’ interest before publication

Of course you cannot approach people (even your friends) out of the blue and expect them to help you to market your book. You have to prepare them for the task ahead. You should do the following things:

Send them an email when you send a manuscript and tell them how excited you are that you finally finished your book.

Send another email when finalizing the book or when it becomes available for pre-order.

Provide contacts with links to your website/blog.

Give them a link to particularly interesting works you have written before.

Ask them to spread the word about your upcoming/recently published book.

It is very important to do everything with the knowledge of your marketer or editor. If you plan to send many emails to people to drive them to buy or promote your books, you should tell your editor/marketer. If you have friends with access to large email lists that you can use, make sure that your editor/marketer gets wind of this.