For many (or possibly most) people, marketing doesn’t come easily. It fills you with the image of cold callers and hard sellers, but in reality it can be much more subtle than that. In fact, it can be as simple as recommending a book to a friend. You’re marketing on behalf of the author. But trying to push your book out there and under the noses of readers, and also talk about yourself, is something I find very difficult. And as I’ve only got one book, that’s not a lot to sell.

But even as a very newbie self-publisher there are a few tips I’ve picked up along the way:

WhatI learned from self-publishing graphic 21. Start your marketing early – I’ve been quite good at this, mostly because my day job is in PR and communications, but it’s never too early to start with marketing activities. At first it’ll only need to be a basic website where you can share information – I have a blog which I’ve been publishing on for years and has about 160 followers. This may not seem like a huge number, but it’s a start. I was also advised to set up an email list that people can sign up to. I have one although it’s very small and growing slowly, but it is growing. I’m also active on Twitter and have just over 700 followers. Start investigating marketing and make a plan. I know it’s tough when you’re writing your first book because that has to be the priority, but make some time for reading about marketing and seeing what easy tasks you can put into action. Joanna Penn, at Thecreativepenn.com, has a really good downloadable worksheet with some questions you need to answer. That’ll help to focus your mind.

2. Use your writer friends – I mean this in a nice way! Friends who have already self-published will be a mine of information and advice. Consult one or two whose work you admire and find out what they did. You don’t have to copy it, but it might give you some ideas. Don’t ask everyone you know – you’ll end up with more information than you can handle and get overwhelmed. Also, don’t be afraid to ask them to read and review your book – if they like it. Don’t ask someone to lie on a review.

3. Don’t overdo social media – yes, you need to build a platform, but your time is precious. Make sure your book is finished to the best of your ability. This should be your focus until it’s done. To keep my social media ticking over, I prepare blog posts in advance and set aside an hour a week (sometimes less) to make sure I’m tweeting something every day. That way if I don’t get time to tweet during the day, there is something out there.

4. You don’t need to do everything at once – If you’re feeling overwhelmed, then step back and look at what absolutely needs to happen and do that one task. Marketing is a long game and so you don’t need to do everything at once or everything before your publishing date. You need to keep pushing the book – in the nicest sense of the word – as time goes along so you can leave some stuff to do after launch.

I’m sure I could talk on and on about this, but I don’t want to keep you from your writing. So, get that book finished and then you’ll have something to market.

Do you have any other tips or tricks for getting your book out there? I’d like to hear them in the comments section below.