9 Free Online Resources to Promote Your Book the Right Way

If you are an author just finding your feet, it is likely you do not have a big budget to promote your book. It is the classical conundrum: to gain recognition for your book, you need money, which you aim to make through your book.

Many promising authors are stuck in the rut because of this and are unable to properly promote their book. However, you can avoid this trap by utilizing free online tools and resources for the promotion of your novel.

In this article, we will give you a brief guide on how to promote your book online for free.

The Importance of Promotion

It is vital, as you may already know, to get as much promotion as possible for your book. Most books become popular only through awareness. If there is no awareness, then even if you write a novel of a high standard you will struggle to gain the recognition that you deserve.

Promotion is necessary for your book to be read in any meaningful capacity.

There are some books that make it big without any big promotion prior to release, but this requires a huge amount of luck, which you should not rely on for your book. For every book that becomes famous with little to no promotion, there are thousand others that lay collecting dust on bookshop shelves.

Best Promotion Strategies That are Free to Use

Not every writer has the necessary budget to go crazy on the promotion of his or her book, but promoting your book can ultimately pay huge dividends. And book promotion oftentimes also requires good connection in the industry, as well as a lot of money. Sadly, most writers starting out will not have these resources available to them.

To help you tackle this challenge, here are some good resources, free ways to jump this huddle and effectively promote your book online:

1. Social Media

Start building an active social media presence on popular social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook through which you will promote your book. Word of mouth spreads very quickly through social media. If your book turns out to be a fabulous piece of work, then it will be easier for it to be spread on social media if you have an account already promoting it. Your book will reach more people through social media.

2. Online Commenting

Comment on public forums, blogs and other digital platforms discussing your book. This will show you are an involved author. People will see the hard work you put in, and usually greatly appreciate the input by authors themselves.

3. GoodReads Giveaway

Goodreads is one of the biggest websites for books. Doing a free giveaway on there will provide you with free publicity as the members are always eager for a freebie! Although giveaways are currently only possible with hard copies, there are other similar options for those who have published an e-book.

4. YouTube Videos

Get started on YouTube to promote your book. Preferably, you could make some book trailers to generate hype for your novel. You can also do this on other free video streaming platforms like Facebook Live and Periscope.

5. Amazon Reviews

Encourage buyers to write reviews for your book. The better reviews your book has on Amazon, the higher its ranking will be. Outside of Amazon, good reviews will generate more word of mouth recommendations from readers.

6. DRM Protection

Disable DRM protection for your book. DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. Disabling this option may mean that your book is obtained by readers without paying you. Since you are starting out, it will also mean that your book is shared more.

7. Translation Apps

The world is a huge place. Over 7 billion people inhabit it! Do not limit your target audience by making your book available in only one language. Get it translated into other popular languages such as Spanish or German. There are many free and easy translation apps like Google Translate, which instantly translates words, phrases, and web pages between English and over 100 other languages.

8. Blog Posts

Write and publish engaging blog posts on central themes of your book. If you do not have a blog yet, then this is the perfect excuse to get one. At the end of the blog post, whether it’s published on your own blog or on other popular sites as a guest post, make sure you include a call to action and link telling people where they can get the book.

9. EBook Signing

You can also leverage online influencers to set up a book signing session. This will help garner hype and popularity for your book, and give you a chance to see how many true fans you have.

As you can see, there are many ways to get free promotion for your book. If you are a new writer, do not fret about the lack of promotion opportunities available to you. Explore the avenues listed in this article for free and you will be on your way to creating excitement for your book.