MARKETING & SALES RESOURCES

Find resources below related to marketing and selling your book, from social media to public relations. We collected these articles from Independent Publisher, as well as from some of our favorite blogs and websites.*

Jump to: Book Awards, Platform, Publicity, Social Media, Sales, Distribution.

MARKETING & PUBLICITY

GENERAL

Dissecting the Bestsellers of Self-Publishing: What You Can Learn from Self-Published Success Stories. Independent Publisher.
How to Build Pre-Book Buzz: Marketing to the Industry Before Your Publication Date. Independent Publisher.
The Almighty Book Review: How to Get Reviews and Where to Get Them. Independent Publisher.
Guerilla Book Marketing, IPPY-Style: Indie Marketing Lessons for Self-Publishers with Michaelene McElroy. Independent Publisher.
Cinematic Marketing: All About Book Trailers. Independent Publisher.
Personality Sells Books. Independent Publisher.

BOOK AWARDS

You Won a Book Award – Now What?: 10 Ways to Market Your Book After Winning an Award. Independent Publisher.
Like It Or Not, Book Awards Matter. Book Riot.
Pros and Cons of Book Awards. CreateSpace.

PLATFORM (WEBSITES, BLOGS, ETC)

A Definition of Author Platform. Jane Friedman.

BLOGS

7 Mistakes You're Making with Your Author Blog and How to Fix Them. The Creative Penn.
Content Creation for Bloggers: 14 Kinds of Shareable Content. The Book Designer.
From Blog to Book: What Can Your Blog Do for You? Independent Publisher.
How to Start Blogging: A Definitive Guide for Authors. Jane Friedman.
So You Started a Blog… (Part One): Blog Tips for Beginners. Independent Publisher.
So You Started a Blog… (Part Two): 5 Steps to Increase Your Blog’s Visibility—and Have Fun Doing It. Independent Publisher.

WEBSITES

Building an Author Website: The First Step to Publishing. The Write Practice.
Building an Author Website on WordPress: How to Start Smart. Jane Friedman.
Your Website 101: How to Create a Strong Online Presence. Independent Publisher.

PUBLICITY

Publicity 101: Q&A with Claire McKinney: Creative Campaigns, Common Mistakes, and How to Set Yourself Up for Success. Independent Publisher.
On the Air, Live! How to Get Publicity from Local Television and Radio Programs. Independent Publisher.
The Big Bad Book Tour: Dos, Don’ts, and Digital Options. Independent Publisher.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook 101: Using Facebook to Promote Your Book. Independent Publisher.
Expand Your Audience Exponentially with Smart Goodreads Marketing. Build Book Buzz.
The Problem with Platform: How Much Does Social Media Really Matter? Independent Publisher.
To Tweet Or Not To Tweet: How to Use Social Media to Market Your Book. Independent Publisher.
The Author's Guide to Twitter: How Authors like Miranda Kenneally Use Twitter to Promote Their Books. Independent Publisher.

SALES

GENERAL

Beyond the Bookstores: Selling Your Books Through Special Market Sales. Independent Publisher.

AMAZON

Amazon Sales Rank: What the Heck Does It Mean? Build Book Buzz.
How a Great Amazon Book Description Can Help Authors Sell More Books. HuffPost.
How to Optimize Your Amazon Author Central Pages. Jane Friedman.

BOOKSTORES

8 Tips for Indie Ebook Authors to Sell Print Books at Local Bookstores. Digital Book World.

DISTRIBUTION

How to Get Your Books Distributed: What Self-Published Authors Need to Know. Jane Friedman.

LIBRARIES

9 Steps to Getting Your Self-Published Books into Libraries. The Book Designer.

*The Independent Publisher Book Awards are not affiliated with all of the websites and organizations linked here, and do not endorse all their opinions and views. These resources are meant to be informative, but - as always - please use your own judgment when following online advice!