Review by karolinka -- 10 Step Plan to Promote Your Book

[karolinka]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "10 Step Plan to Promote Your Book" by Scott Hughes.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The primary job of a writer is to write. But, some fall short when it comes to promoting and selling their books, which could be a large obstacle to overcome. Scott Hughes’ short e-book 10 Step Plan to Promote Your Book: Online Book Marketing on Any Budget provides a good overview for authors to tackle this, often feared, problem. Hughes, the webmaster of OnlineBookClub.com and a published author himself, presents ten easy ways for authors to efficiently promote their books and thus increase their sales.

Hughes starts with helpful advice on hiring a good editor and polishing a manuscript and ends with coaching writers on how to correctly spend their advertising dollars and get the best return for their investment. With more and more authors being published these days, the competition is stiff, and authors have to be smart and have a leg up over the competition. Hughes also stresses, among all the other steps, the usage of social media, but not just one, but all of them- LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. According to Hughes, a good Twitter following will have the highest return on book sales, while Facebook will usually have the lowest.

Also, engaging with other readers and writers is important, according to Hughes, as is being active in online writing communities and local critique groups. Getting one’s book reviewed by reputable book clubs is also important, and as Hughes notes, lots of writers skip this step not knowing that it could benefit them. The important thing is to give back in order to sell copies -whether it’s a blog post, commenting on each other’s writing, or retweeting your followers’ work on Twitter.

I liked Hughes’ candid tone and his matter-of-fact attitude as to what works for most authors and what should be avoided. All of Hughes’ advice was spot-on. I would, perhaps, add that another way to promote oneself would be to write freelance articles that are in some way related to the book that you published to increase exposure.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars because it is an eye opener for many first-time authors. The steps are easy to follow and are self-explanatory. I didn’t give it the full four stars because I felt that more aspects of promotion could have been included in the e-book, like freelancing and approaching independent bookstores to carry one’s book in their inventory. All in all, this is a great resource for any author that wants to make money on books that they put sweat and tears into and also gain a decent following of devoted readers.

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10 Step Plan to Promote Your Book
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