A great way to market yourself for free is to set up an author page on Amazon, Goodreads, Smashwords, and Barnes & Nobles. Establishing an author page is critical. They normally include listing your blog, a short bio, a video or other media, Social Pages, and upcoming events.
Readers will be more into your writing if you are social and discuss things with them, I recently had a VERY short online conversation with Lee Goldberg, author of the Monk series. I can tell he is a social person, because not long after I posted something about his book, he answered back, and that made me feel “connected” in a way.
On my author page, I also tried to entice readers and get them to read my book by including a book trailer. I have my Twitter feed displayed, so people can see what I am Micro-Blogging. My blog is also running a feed, so people can see my opinions on writing, and what tips I have to offer.
You can also post your picture, which I’m sure people are curious to see; matching a face to words is important.
Including a Biography is important because it allows people to relate to your life and all in all get to know a little bit more about you. These pages can easily be set up via Goodreads author program, Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Nobles. The only requirement is having a published book on the service. Make sure the things you include are relevant; otherwise the page might look cluttered. The information you post should be important. Using these author pages will help you in the long run of your writing career.
SIDENOTE: About Twitter Posts and Facebook Updates
Promoting yourself on Facebook and Twitter is really important. There are authors who only use Facebook and Twitter to promote themselves, and they get tons of new “fans” every day.
When posting, no one needs to know what toilet paper brand you buy; your readers are more interested in your current projects, what your opinion is on a topic, and what books you are reading. Frequently post information that is enjoyable and friendly, and you will have plenty of interested fans in no time.
Read More >> The Author’s Guide to Twitter Marketing
Guest Blogger: Spencer Brokaw published his first book The Impenetrable Spy in 2011 at age 12. He enjoys writing and plans on creating a series. He resides in Ohio and enjoys swimming, golfing, playing the drums, and reading.
Editor Comment
As Spencer has mentioned there are a variety of places you can market yourself. Author Pages are just one avenue. Barnes & Noble, Kindle and many other online stores offer authors an author page to list their books, a short bio and link to their blog or website – all for free.
And don’t worry if your author page seems to be hidden within the online retail store, as it is with Amazon’s new author page policy. Your goal is to get in the search engines to index your page for keywords to improve your online exposure.
Places to consider for Author Pages include:
Should you have any questions or comments, please let me know.
Happy marketing,
Suzanne
