Depending on what publisher you’ve gone with, do-it-yourself-marketing may be top of mind for you once you’ve published your new children’s book. Traditional and hybrid publishers promise to do the heavy lifting but whether they actually deliver can be quite the toss up.
Since the advent of social media traditional publishers who would normally almost completely take on the endeavor of marketing a book now expect authors to be a partner in the process. A lot of publishers even use an existing social media following as a big determiner of whether or not they’ll take a new author on.
If you’re a self-published author, you know well how heavy the burden of introducing your own book to the world can be. You may be at your wit’s end when it comes to advertising your children’s book as it’s a pretty particular market to approach. Luckily for you, many authors have successfully walked the path before you and some with small or nonexistent social media followings.
Here are some tried and true methods of marketing your new children’s book.
Use a variety of marketing methods: social media, paid ads, and in person.
Conduct readings at local libraries and bookstores. They gladly welcome the extra foot traffic this brings to their establishment.
Advertise your book to schools. This can be in the form of a reading, placing an ad in their school publication, or an entire show you put together (depending what your book is about). If you can get your illustrator to do an in person drawing session that’s a big plus!
Market your book at Mommy and Me classes.
Create an author website where you have a dynamic and interactive page for this newly published work. Extra points if you create some type of online game children would be eager to play.
Simply talk to anyone who’ll listen about it (without being obnoxious). You’d be surprised to find different networking connections you would’ve never thought about come to life. Even if the person you’re directly talking to doesn’t have any children, they might know someone who does or has a platform for you to advertise your new book.
Write a press release. This lets the world know a new and exciting book has hit the shelves!
Pay for ads to be hosted (online or in person) in places children or parents would be likely to roam. Hiring a copywriter for this purpose can be very useful because they’ll know exactly how to pique your target audience’s interest and lead them to a purchase.
Create an army of marketers from your own intimate circle of family and friends. I’ve seen authors whose books I’ve edited leverage this strategy with great success. Whether it was absolutely crushing a presale campaign via word of mouth or using business connections that a loved one had, it can be really effective. Your inner circle often contains some of your best cheerleaders.
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