My Experience in Marketing My Own Books

 I have written and self-published 7 books, and wanted to share my experiences about marketing and promoting them.

  For self-publishers, I would recommend Amazon.com (I initially used Createspace.com that was bought by Amazon in 2019).  I'm happy with them- in addition to print on demand in paperback,  they also directly  connect you through Kindle.

If you're looking for a great book cover designer, I highly recommend "Got you covered"/ Covers by Lisa: https://www.facebook.com/CoversByLisa/  She designed the cover to my Kindred Spirits book (see right). 

MARKETING IS THE HARDEST PART- 
   I've written 7 books  (as of 2020) and am self-published on Kindle and in paperback through Amazon. They are books about my paranormal experiences as a medium and ghost investigator.

   I've found that maintaining a weekly blog and offering something new at least once a week keeps an audience interested. (It's hard to do this for fiction,  but easier for non-fiction because people can relate to your experiences and vice-versa).

SOCIAL MEDIA AND VIDEOS -  
I have made a couple of videos, but haven't found them that effective, other than introducing you and what your books are about. - I've found the most success in connecting to people or potential interviewers on Twitter. It enables you to connect with similar interests and direct messaging works best (include a tiny url to your blog).

     Facebook, on the other hand doesn't work well for businesses or self-published authors, but you should do  it. Out of 5,000 subscribers, I'm lucky if 100 to 200 people see a post because Facebook wants you to pay to promote posts, and being self -published, there's no budget. It's not really nice to small businesses when people "like" their pages, so go with Twitter. 

  Instagram doesn't provide a lot of marketing - but every little bit helps. Pinterest allows you to make memes and post them to get people to your blog or books.

PERSONAL APPEARANCES - Find libraries to talk at, contact reading groups, social groups, etc. Being in the paranormal field I've done a lot of talks to Paranormal groups and conferences. I've also contacted a lot of groups through Twitter to do radio interviews. Blogspot radio has a LOT of radio programs in a variety of genres.

Contact Magazines

Join a group

CREATE A MARKETING PACKAGE- Write a press release about your book to inspire people to read it (could be from the back of the book jacket). If you don't know what one is, just google "Press release, book." 

 -THEN go to a press release publishing service and have them distribute it. It costs anywhere from $80 to $350.  Pick what's affordable. (like PR Newswire, or www.24-7pressrelease.com).

Have a headshot photo and a short biography ready to go. 

Provide a short PDF of the first 10-20 pages as a promo copy to send to potential interviewers.  Also, have a JPG copy of the cover to send people. **THEN google search for emails for local TV stations and newspapers and email them out with a cover letter introducing you, your book and what its about. Cover Letters should only be 5-6 paragraphs, and add links to the bottom.** 

Best of luck. Writing the books are a lot easier than marketing them!  

Rob Gutro's books:  Pets and the Afterlife, Pets and the Afterlife 2, Lessons Learned from Talking to the Dead,   Ghosts and Spirits, Kindred Spirits: How a Medium Befriended a Spirit; Ghosts of England on a Medium's Vacation; Case Files of Inspired Ghost Tracking.  ALL ON AMAZON 

                  (Promotional Postcard for "Ghosts of England on a Medium's Vacation)