When it comes to marketing your book online a good place to start is social media websites, simply because people love to meet published Authors. Start by creating an account on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. These are the main three that I recommend, although if you really want to push the boat out then LinkedIn is well worth the extra effort.

For your profile photo, either use the cover of your book, or a nice photo of you holding your book. When writing your profile / biography be sure to let people know that you’re an author and the title of your book. You should also include a web-link leading to your book for sale on Amazon, or to your book’s blog / website.

Now’s the fun part! You must join as many groups as you can related to the subject matter of your book. For example, if your book is about the criminally insane you should look at joining groups about this topic. You’ll be surprised at how many groups are out there, so don’t worry about finding a good few. You can also join more general groups such as ‘writing,’ ‘authors,’ ‘writers,’ ‘books,’ and so on…

Twitter is completely different as it doesn’t involve groups, although you can use the search box on the home page to type in the words, for example ‘criminally insane’ and see what people are chatting about that subject then you can follow them and hope they follow you back.

With Twitter you can also set up a profile on the ‘yellow pages’ of the site, Twellow. Here you can also find people to follow who are interested in the subject of your book.

I’ll be releasing future products on book marketing, but for now take action by following the tips above. I really hope this helps you to sell some more books. Just remember, don’t try to be somebody that you’re not on social media sites as that’s really obvious. Be yourself and people will adore you for it!

• Take no for an answer. It can be frustrating when certain media bodies aren’t interested in your book, but always thank them for their time and move on. If you try and argue with them you’ll leave a bad impression and your chances of working with them in the future will be slim.
• Start immediately! A book publicity campaign works best if it’s started six months prior to your book’s publication date. Begin publicizing your story to mainstream and industry media way before your book’s release, and target consumers once it is available to order.
• Create a press kit. Before you begin promoting your book prepare a press kit, including a cover letter, press release, author bio, Q&A page, sample interview questions, and articles.
• Know your target audience. Identify exactly who is likely to buy your book. The more focused you are when it comes to marketing your book, the better your results will be. If your book is quite main-stream, begin with a smaller audience and broaden your focus after you’ve saturated the first audience.
• Ask friends, colleagues, or anyone who likes your book to place reviews on Amazon. Amazon is highly influential and the reviews count for a lot, so encourage anyone who says they enjoyed your book to place a review. If there are a lot of reviews on Amazon (preferably four or five star reviews) other people who are interested in buying your book will be encouraged to order it.
• Offer sample chapters as free downloads on the website created for your book. Turn a couple of your best chapters into PDF files and let people download them for free. This is the equivalent of letting people browse through your book at a bookstore! Sample chapters ‘tease’ readers into wanting more and that way they will be motivated to buy your book.
• Review other books in the same field / genre as yours. Review these books on Amazon using your real name, accompanied by ‘author of the book ((title of your book here))’ Aim to review books in the same genre as yours that are higher up the sales rankings, and that way more people will have the chance of finding your book, as when people read your review a percentage of them will click through to your book!
• Offer some copies of your book as prizes. Local radio shows, magazines, or societies will often be interested in running competitions, and will provide you with valuable publicity if you give them a few books to offer to their audience as prizes.
• Build your website address into your book. When writing your book, include as many reasons as possible for readers to visit your website. Don’t just simply list your website address in your biography, or on the last page of the book. Present readers with an array of valid reasons to visit your site. You could offer downloadable versions of engagement tools, such as checklists and worksheets. Promise updated content; ideas and topics that occurred to you after you completed your book. If your book is in black and white but includes photographs or charts, post color versions of the visuals on your website. Don’t see your website as merely a promotional tool, but as an additional resource alongside your book.
• Encourage reader comments and questions. Use your website to create an interactive relationship with your readers. Solicit their comments and questions. Perhaps offer a prize for the best question of the month, and answer it on your home page.

* TIME LIMIT.
If something has a time limit it signals automatic pressure. If your character has to reach his/her goal by a certain time, mental and emotional tension are a cert.

* DIALOGUE.
Conversations between characters can elevate the tension. For example, if your protagonist wants something from the other character but doesn’t want that character to know.

* PACING.
Well written fiction ebbs and flows to match the pacing of the story. Each time your character hits a crisis point, the pacing should speed up. Once the crisis has been solved, tell the story at a gentler pace. Not long after another crisis appears, greater even than the last. The ebbs shorten as the plot quickens, finally reaching a climax. Your reader will anticipate these peaks in the tension, and as a result won’t be able to put your book down.

* SENTENCE STRUCTURE.
Short sentences with active verbs signal tension. On the other hand, long, meandering sentences filled with adjectives and adverbs indicate a relaxed pace.

Different genres require different kinds of tension. Tension is generally much greater in young adult novels, but in one form or another, tension must be present in all books in order for them to sell.

Can you think how the last book you read affected you? Perhaps you shed a few tears at a particularly sad (or happy) moment? What caused you to react like this? It’s ultimately to do with characters, timing, plot, believability, and of course tension!

Do they start with dialogue or a paragraph of text about the scenery? With the main character, or with the lady who gets murdered? With a dramatic scene, or something more subtle to lead the reader into the book? All this depends on the genre of book you are writing, the theme of your book, the target audience of your book, and the plot of your book. It’s not a good idea to simply sit down one day and say to yourself, “Today I’m going to start writing a book.”

Your book is precious, it will take a lot of your time to complete, and as such it deserves some proper thought and planning. Characters need to be determined and analyzed, scenes need to be carefully considered, hooks devised (especially for at the end of chapters) and the structure and theme plotted. If you’re still struggling, and you’d like to get those creative juices flowing, then I’d suggest some exercises to wean your way into writing. Try free-writing, or morning pages – both are great ways to overcome writer’s block and get yourself on the writing road…