Writing, Self-Publishing, Book Marketing

The Dos and Don’ts of Marketing in Online Communities

October 23, 2009 at 8:54 am angiekp Leave a comment

While there are traditional methods of marketing collections, new and innovative ways of publicizing your book have been surfacing since the birth of the Internet, such as blogs, online advertising and online communities. These methods can perform a vital role in your book’s promotion, and allow you to actively engage your audience on a daily basis.

If there’s an idea, then there’s already an online community. You and your writing collection could fit perfectly into one of these communities. Do a quick search for “writing community” and read through the results. You may want to narrow your focus even more by selecting “women’s writing community” or “poetry writing community.” You’ll be surprised when you find that more than one actually suits you.

Here are a few things that you can do to market yourself and your book in online communities:

• Become a member and make some friends
• Mention your book on your profile (click here to learn how to create a link to your book’s Bookstore page)
• Post a relevant writing sample for all to read (only where appropriate, such as your profile)
• Embed a link to the order form for your book (only where appropriate, such as your profile)
• Participate in literature conversations and debates
• Provide information about your upcoming events in your profile or on a site-wide calendar

There is a very delicate balance that must be met when marketing in online communities. Simply make your book information available to the communities — without “selling” it to them. Once you’ve become a well-known personality within the community and have other members interested in your writing, they may purchase your book because they like your personality and your writing samples.

Here is a list of things that you should NOT do:

• Post links to your book throughout the site when not relevant to the topic
• Follow up a new connection with a message about how to buy your book
• Post long excerpts from your book when not appropriate
• Message other members repeatedly about your upcoming book events

The bottom line is that online communities do not tolerate blatant marketing efforts. Instead, the major benefit of online communities is that you can promote your book by being yourself, actively talking about writing, and posting your new writing samples and opinions within blogs.

Be on the lookout for non-writing communities as well. Ones that might not have such an obvious link to your stories but may have other connections, such as politics, style, members, message or inspiration. The more places you frequent and provide valuable feedback, the more likely you’ll drive other members to your profile and your book.

Keep writing.
-Angie Kelly Pheifer

Entry filed under: Marketing. Tags: Book Marketing, Internet marketing, Online Marketing, online writing communities.