Book Promotion and Marketing for Self-Published Authors

Book Promotion and Marketing for Self-Published Authors: Ways to Promote and Market Your Book Without Social Mediais a course designed to provide you with ideas (besides paid advertisement and social media) to get your book into the hands of more readers.

Many resources provide information on using paid advertisement and/or social media to promote and market books, but this course is not one of them. Instead, this course focuses on ways authors (or future authors) can promote and market their books in inexpensive and even free ways that do not include paid advertisement or social media.

Yes, much of the information found within this course can be found online. But, instead of spending countless hours searching for this information, you can use your time to actually implement some of the tips and strategies within this course to promote and market your book.

Divided into a total of 23 videos including the introduction and conclusion, each video is presented with a slide show presentation as well as a downloadable transcript for your convenience. Handouts are also included with many videos to provide additional resources and information to help you with your promotion and marketing journey.

Taking this course does not guarantee you will sell thousands (or even hundreds) of copies of your book, but it will give you plenty of ideas that may help you get your book into the hands of more readers.

Before deciding if this course is for you, please check out what is and what is not covered within this course below. You are also welcome to watch the course video, introduction video, and video about the realities of self-publishing before choosing if this is the right course for you.

To your publishing, promotion, and marketing success!

Please note: this course is not being continuously updated. Some links and resources may no longer be available or may be outdated. Thank you for understanding.

Who This Course is For:

Authors/Writers with no previous publishing experience who want to learn about promoting and marketing books

Beginner self-published authors looking for ways to promote and market their book(s)

Beginner authors who have published through or who plan to publish through KDP Print or IngramSpark (Not Required)

Unpublished authors who plan to self-publish and are interested in learning ways to promote and market their future book(s)

Who This Course is Not For:

Anyone looking for a get rich quick plan

Anyone wanting information about paid advertisements

Anyone looking for in-depth information on using social media for book promotion

What is Not Covered:

Paid advertisement

Amazon ads

Social media ads

In-depth explanation of social media

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1: Introduction

Reiterate the information found in the course description such as who the instructor is, what students will learn by the end of this course, who this course is for and who this course is not for, what is needed to complete this course, and an overview of what this course contains

Lecture 2: Realities of Self-Publishing

A few statistics on self-publishing and book sales and what this means for you

Transcript included

Lecture 3: Finding Your Why and Setting Goals

Questions for you to consider as you determine your “why” and set your own goals

Transcript and Assignment included

(Additional Note: Much of the information included within this video was discussed in the course Choosing the Best Publishing Option for You and Your Book: Traditional Publishing, Hybrid Publishing, or Self-Publishing? The included assignment is new for this course.)

Lecture 4: Marketing and Promotion

Brief explanation of marketing and promotion

List of the 5 Ps of marketing

Considerations before publishing a book

Considerations while marketing and promoting a book

Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included

Section 2: People

Lecture 5: Target Audience

Explanation of a target audience

Questions to consider when determining a target audience

Transcript and Assignment included

Lecture 6: Reviews and Influencers

How some authors get book reviews

Possible places for readers to leave reviews

Questions to consider when reaching out to reviewers

Brief description of influencers

Transcript, Additional Resources Handout, and Reviewer Questions to Consider Handout included

Lecture 7: Awards

List of possible benefits of book awards

Possible places to find award opportunities

Considerations when choosing to submit your book for an award

Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included

Section 3: Product

Lecture 8: Book Covers

Book cover tips and questions to consider

Parts to include on book covers with examples

Mention of a resource to possibly use to display book covers for promotional purposes

Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included

(Additional Note: Quite a bit of the information in this video was discussed in the course Self-Publishing 101: Things to Consider Before Publishing Your Book in Print)

Lecture 9: Interior Considerations

Overview of front matter and possible sections to include

Overview of body and possible sections to include

Overview of back matter and possible sections to include

List of additional interior considerations

Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included

(Additional Note: Quite a bit of the information in this video was discussed in the course Self-Publishing 101: Things to Consider Before Publishing Your Book in Print)

Section 4: Price

Lecture 10: Considerations When Choosing a Price

Questions to consider when choosing a price

One possible pricing technique some authors use

Brief overview of KDP Select

Possible ways to add value to your book (and potentially your brand)

Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included

(Additional Note: Quite a bit of the information in this video was discussed in the course Self-Publishing 101: Things to Consider Before Publishing Your Book in Print)

Lecture 11: Metadata

Brief explanation of metadata

Explanation of keywords

Book title considerations

Tips for writing a book description

Tips for choosing book categories

Questions to consider when choosing a publication date

An overview of free vs paid ISBNs

Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included

(Additional Note: Quite a bit of information in this video was discussed in the course Self-Publishing 101: Things to Consider Before Publishing Your Book in Print)

Section 5: Place

Lecture 12: Selling Online

Brief explanation of expanded distribution through KDP Print and IngramSpark

List of possible online retailers for print books

Brief list of distributors for print books

List of possible ways to distribute ebooks

Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included

Lecture 13: Selling Offline Overview

List of possible offline locations to sell physical books (not just in book stores!)

Explanation of 3 possible book delivery options to those offline locations

How to order author copies through KDP Print and IngramSpark

Considerations when ordering author copies to send them to offline locations

Transcript included

Lecture 14: Selling Offline Part 2

Considerations for selling to offline retailers

Considerations for contacting offline retailers by email

Considerations for contacting offline retailers in person

A brief explanation for and considerations for selling on consignment in stores

Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included

Lecture 15: Selling Offline Part 3

Tips for author business cards

Explanation of sell sheets (also known as sales sheets) with a sample

Explanation of what to do when receiving an order for books

Explanation of an order form with a sample

Explanation of an invoice with a sample

Explanation of a book catalog

A couple of examples of why having a website with contact information available is very important

Explanation of what the instructor does when someone reaches out requesting to purchase a large number of books

Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included

Section 6: Promotion

Lecture 16: Book Launch Overview

Explanation of what a book launch is

List of reasons to have a book launch

List of possible places to have a book launch party in person

List of possible places to have a book launch party virtually

List of possible people to invite to a book launch party

List of possible activities to do at a book launch party

List of things to bring to a book launch party

Considerations when choosing a time to have a book launch party

Considerations for the cost of a book launch party

List of what to do after a book launch party

Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included

Lecture 17: Author Website

List of reasons to have an author website

List of possible website platforms

Explanation of WordPress (.com vs .org)

List of possible hosting providers

Tips for choosing a domain name

List of pages to (possibly) include on an author website

Information about an About Page

Overview of email lists

List of possible email marketing providers

List of possible legal considerations for websites

Additional author website tips

Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included

Lecture 18: Offering Freebies

List of reasons to offer freebies

List of possible freebies to offer

Additional tips for freebies

Transcript included

Lecture 19: Presentations and Storytimes

List of possible places to speak

Tips for speaking engagements and presentations

Considerations for speaking fees

Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included

Lecture 20: Free Publicity Part 1

Tips for using themed festivals to promote your book

Tips for getting interviews

Possible places to be interviewed

What to do before, during, and after an interview

A brief explanation of HARO

An additional resource for free PR

Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included

Lecture 21: Free Publicity Part 2

Brief overview of Goodreads

Overview of an Amazon Author Page

Overview of Guest Blogging

Overview of Google Alerts

List of other possible free promotion ideas

Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included

Lecture 22: More Promotion Ideas

Overview of social media with some tips

Tips for using Pinterest

A list of a few additional promotional ideas

Transcript and Additional Resources Handout included

Section 7: Conclusion

Lecture 23: Conclusion

Congratulations!!!

Please remember…

Transcript included

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Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have access to the course materials?

You can view and review the lecture materials indefinitely, like an on-demand channel.

Can I take my courses with me wherever I go?

Definitely! If you have an internet connection, courses on Udemy are available on any device at any time. If you don’t have an internet connection, some instructors also let their students download course lectures. That’s up to the instructor though, so make sure you get on their good side!