That’s a fast response – thanks a lot! I’ve just realised that this is an old post of yours too, so glad to see that you keep an eye on what you put out there.

Really useful advice above. There are a few other networking platforms that I’ve not really explored enough yet, and which don’t really have a great deal of follower overlap, so I’ll give them a go too.

I kind of have some of the stuff available for free already. The book is a collection of photos and writings from a five-year period when I lived in Japan, and much of the content is already available on other sites (my writings blog, Flickr for the photos, etc). The main reason for the big push at the moment though is that I’ve entered it into a contest, which means I’m trying to pull together votes for it before the submission deadline expires.

Any experience with traditional media giving coverage to self-published works?

Thanks!

Yes, if the interest is dying down a little, back off and either explore other different social networking venues (hopefully places where you don’t have a lot of follower overlap), or just give it a rest for a few days and look for other ways to market/social network that includes less talk specifically about your book and more talk about things that are just interesting or interesting and peripherally related to your book but not mentioning your book.

The key is to get people going: “Hey this person is interesting, I like what they have to say.” If they like what you have to say, they’ll find your website (especially if you have the link available on all of your social networking platforms), then they can read all about your books to their heart’s content. The more they think finding your book was their idea and not your idea, the easier the sale is.

It also helps to have something free to give away. If you’re doing nonfiction, a booklet, or tips would be nice, to let the reader know that you know what you’re talking about and aren’t blowing smoke out your butt. And if it’s fiction a short story or novella or sample chapters of the book, to give them a taste of what you have to offer: your style, etc.

I’m currently promoting a newly (self-)published work and social networking is my means of doing so. However, there’s a fine balance to strike, as you say. Been flooding the tweetstream with stuff about the book over the past few days. While it brought a lot of interest at first, things seem to have died down a little now and I’m a bit concerned about overdoing it.

Although there’s probably a little more actual ‘interacting’ I can be doing, there’s also making sure that I don’t let the rest of my life slip by too!

Useful advice.

Nice article with plenty of actionable advice. Thanks also for the mention about BookBuzzr. We’re honored!

Warm Regards,

Vikram Narayan
BookBuzzr.com
Free, Online Book-Marketing Technology for Authors

I’m so glad you wrote this.