Making Money After Publishing Your Own Book

Jake Alexander

After publishing your own book you're faced with a conundrum. All the research and writing is done, you've published your book, and now you want the rewards of selling it on your own -- what do you do next? How do you go about promoting and selling your book so that you can reap the rewards?

Here are some suggested ways to approach the problem.

Start by identifying your market. Determine who your audience is and find out where they hang out and where they gather. You probably already know a lot about your audience. Do some more research on them if necessary. Where do they shop? What do they do in their spare time? What media outlets do they use? What do they read or listen to?

Build a list of groups and hangouts. Identify potential clubs and organizations, businesses and groups that your audience members might frequent. From this you'll get a feel for the online locations and physical media and store where you want to market your book.

Put demographic information to good use. If your book is about cars, look at advertising in automotive magazines. If it's about dating, maybe an ad on a dating website or two. Try to match your promotional efforts to the demographics of your audience.

Get the word out. This is no time to be timid. Talk about your book, keep one with you at all times and be ready to drag it out and show it to people. Consider giving free copies to those in a position to help promote it and talk about it themselves.

Try your hand at speaking. Offer to give talks on your subject matter to groups that serve your audience. Affiliate yourself with organizations that can promote your presentations and help advertise them. Use Public announcements in newspapers and press releases to help promote. Don't hesitate to accept radio interviews or to help out with related charities and projects.

Be generous with information. Giving away free information as part of your speaking engagements will help build your reputation as an expert. Once your credibility is established readers will have greater cause to buy your book.

Look outside your chosen market. Once you've exhausted all the avenues for reaching your target market, move on to other groups. Look to buyers that may purchase your book as a gift for someone else. Let as many people know about your book as possible. Offer special discounts, and hold special events that will help stress the importance and unique aspects of your book.

Get your book online. Ask bloggers in your niche to review your book. Start your own website to promote the book. Start your own blog. Sign up for social media sites and promote your book and your web sites there.

Set up your own e-commerce site. It isn't that difficult to set up a site or a blog with a Paypal shopping cart to sell your book. Or, look at other sites that can sell your book for a commission. Consider creating a downloadable copy and selling that to save on costs. Investigate publishing your book for the new electronic devices like the Kindle and the iPad.

These are just simple ideas, but they should go a long way toward helping you get the benefits from publishing your own book. Just start with the demographic information so you can aim for your target audience, then explore your options and be creative. Stay optimistic and determined and you'll soon be on the way up to top author status.