I\u2019ve lost track of the number of authors I\u2019ve heard from who waited until their e-book was available on Amazon or they had boxes of books stacked in a corner of\u00a0their home before they started thinking about book promotion.<\/p>\n

Only when they\u2019re ready to start accepting money for their page-turner, true life story, or escape to a new lifestyle (today!) do they start to think about who might buy the book and how those people will discover it.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be that author.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most of you write a book because you want others to read it. You have a story to tell, a message that must be heard, or information you know will help others. Yes, there are many who never intend to share their book with \u201cthe world,\u201d but more often than not, even those people decide they should try to sell the book once it\u2019s done because they\u2019re proud of what they\u2019ve accomplished. (And it is<\/em> an accomplishment.)<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t waste any more time<\/h2>\n

The world isn\u2019t going to stop spinning if you wait until your book is available for purchase to start promoting it. You\u2019ll be at a disadvantage, though, because so many of the authors in your niche or genre \u2013 and especially those writing on the same topic as you \u2013 will have a head start because they built a promotion\u00a0foundation before their books were available.<\/p>\n

Here are nine things you can do as soon as you finish that first draft to lay the groundwork for a successful book launch months later.<\/p>\n

\n
1. Learn as much as you can about book publicity and promotion.<\/strong> Even if you have support from a traditional publisher, your in-house publicist can\u2019t do everything that needs to be done. If you want people to discover your book<\/a>, you have to be involved. Get smarter by reading\u00a0a book or taking a course<\/a>.<\/li>\n
2. Research your target audience.<\/strong>\u00a0Learn as much as you can about the person who is most likely to buy your book<\/a>. Once you can picture your audience \u201cavatar\u201d \u2013 the one individual who best represents someone who will love your book \u2013 do more research to find out where he or she spends time both online and offline.<\/li>\n
3. When you know which social networks your audience uses, build a following on those networks. <\/strong>Pick the one or two that are most popular with your audience and learn as much as you can about how to use them effectively. (Pro tip: Just because you have a presence on a social network doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re using it properly. Plus, the “rules” are always changing.)<\/li>\n
4. Connect with bloggers.\u00a0<\/strong>Virtual book tours<\/a> (author blog tours) are common and popular elements of online book launches. When you \u201cgo\u201d on a virtual book tour, you\u2019ll ask bloggers to share content related to your book on their blogs \u2013 a guest post or Q&A, an audio or video interview, a book review, and so on. They\u2019re easier to schedule and more successful when bloggers already know who you are.<\/li>\n
5. Build an e-mail list.<\/strong>\u00a0 You\u2019ll use\u00a0your opt-in e-mail list\u00a0<\/a>to send an e-mail announcing your book<\/a>, but you\u2019d be smart to use it to stay in touch with subscribers on a regular basis, too. (Add yourself to the lists of successful authors to see how they’re doing it.) Remember that for anything other than a one-time communication, you must<\/em> get permission to add someone\u2019s address to your list.<\/li>\n
6. Compile a list of \u201ckey influencers.\u201d<\/strong> Who is most influential with your book\u2019s target audience? Gather names and contact information for people you will contact for a book blurb<\/a> \u2013 an endorsement you\u2019ll use on the cover, inside the book, and on sales pages.<\/li>\n
7. Create your book launch media list.<\/strong> You\u2019ll send review copies and a book announcement press release<\/a> \u00a0to the media outlets<\/a> that are most likely to review the book or schedule an interview with you.<\/li>\n
8. Create a Facebook Page.<\/strong> I\u2019m not a big fan of Facebook pages for authors<\/a>. They work better for other types of\u00a0businesses \u2013 especially local retailers who can use them to post store hours and special sales or offer coupons. But you\u2019re going to create one no matter what I say, so do it now and use it in part to solicit opinions on your book\u2019s topic, share progress updates, ask fans to vote on cover options and so on.<\/li>\n
9. Add your book title to your e-mail signature.<\/strong>\u00a0It doesn’t get any easier than just typing your book’s title after the word “Author.”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

   Begin developing the tools you\u2019ll need at least six months before the book is available so that you\u2019ve got an audience waiting to read your story as soon as it\u2019s ready for them.<\/p>\n

   What else would you add to the list? Did you do any of this before publishing? Please share your feedback\u00a0in a comment.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

   <\/a><\/p>\n

   I\u2019ve lost track of the number of authors I\u2019ve heard from who waited until their e-book was available on Amazon or they had boxes of books stacked in a corner of\u00a0their home before they started thinking about book promotion.<\/p>\n

   Only when they\u2019re ready to start accepting money for their page-turner, true life story, or escape to a new lifestyle (today!) do they start to think about who might buy the book and how those people will discover it.<\/p>\n

   Don\u2019t be that author.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":20150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,11],"tags":[35,531],"class_list":["post-6583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-tactics","tag-book-promotion","tag-timing"],"yoast_head":"\n