After you finish writing and publishing your StoryJumper book you might be thinking, “I’d really like to have lots of people read my book. How do I increase the number of people who see my book and become fans?”
This marketing guide provides you with practical tips on how to promote your book so it will be discovered and appreciated by more people around the world.
I. Polish Your Book
The first step is to take some time to polish your book as best as you can. Doing so will improve the reading experience and make it more likely that people will want to reshare your book with others.
- Review your text and correct any spelling or grammar errors. When editing a text box, you’ll see red “squiggly” lines underneath words which might be misspelled.
- Make sure that all of your text is readable and that no words are cut off or covered up
- Use high quality pictures
- Narrate your book. Hearing your voice helps readers feel more connected to your story
II. Prepare What You Will Share
Before you start promoting your book, you’ll want to prepare exactly what you’ll be sharing. Determine the “content” of what you’ll share and the “message” around your content.
The Content
The “content” is what people click on to experience your book.
Here are some examples of the types of "content" that can be shared:
- Link to your book. Make sure to make your book “Public” so everyone can access it.
For example: https://www.storyjumper.com/book/read/14171422 -
Link to your profile page, which shows all of your public books
For example: https://www.storyjumper.com/profile/DanikaGordon -
Upload your Video Book to YouTube and then share a link to it
For example: https://youtu.be/fiDuhcGusuA -
Embed your book on a website so it can be read from that website
For example: http://booksbymyfamily.weebly.com/b-r-o-t-h-e-r--s-b-o-o-k-s.html
The Message
When you share (or “post”) your book online, you need to include a message around the content that you’re sharing. The most basic message would say something like “Hey everyone, I just published a book. Come and check it out! I hope you like it and you can also order a copy of it.” And then you would include your “content”.
But to get more fans, try to engage your audience with a conversation around the theme of your book. You could ask people for their opinions or ask questions that are related to your book. And if you’re going to ask people to reshare your post, then try to give them a compelling reason to do so.
For example, if you were the author of the book “What Makes You a Super Hero?, when you share your book, you could also ask your audience to:
- Answer questions like “What qualities do you think makes someone a Super Hero in real life?”
- “Tag someone or tell us who in your life you think is a Super Hero”
- “Reshare this post with others who would enjoy discovering their inner Super Hero”
If your audience responds with comments on your shared book, be sure to thank them and respond to their comments.
III. Promote Your Book
Now that you have your content and message, you’re ready to promote your book. There are several promotional channels (online and offline) that you can use to “get the word out” about your book.
Your Online Accounts, Websites, and Apps
You may have your own accounts on various websites / apps where content can be distributed, such as:
- Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Reddit, LinkedIn)
- Chat / messaging (SnapChat, WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal)
- Email (Gmail, Yahoo Mail, work email)
- Video (YouTube, TikTok)
- Personal Websites / Blogs (Weebly, Google Sites, Squarespace, Medium)
- Audio (SoundCloud, Discord, Podcasts)
On these websites / apps, you can share your book from your own account.
Use discretion if you choose to share your book to an online group / community to make sure you don’t violate their posting policies.
And where possible, try to not only share your book but also engage your audience with your message, as described in Section II above.
Your Friends’ and Family’s Online Accounts, Websites, and Apps
Besides posting from your online accounts, you can also ask your friends and family to share your book from their accounts on various websites / apps where content can be distributed.
Also, suggest messages that friends and family can include in their post to engage their audience in a conversation around your content, as described in Section II above.
Affiliated Organizations and Influencers
One of the ways to get even more visibility for your book is to ask organizations that you’re affiliated with (classrooms, schools, local community groups, libraries, clubs, events, festivals, retail businesses) and influencers (people with lots of followers) to share your book from their online accounts.
These affiliated organizations and influencers could also interview you and/or review your book and then create a blog post, audio podcast, or video post which can be shared to their audience.
For example: https://www.pointsoflight.org/awards/danika-g-gordon/
If your affiliated organizations have a physical location, then you can offer to share physical copies of your book with them so other people can discover and explore your book when they visit the physical location.
Traditional Media
You can also contact traditional media outlets, such as local TV stations, newspapers, and magazines to interview you about your book. Before you contact them, try to come up with some potential headlines and sound bites that the media outlet can use when they write their article or produce their interview. They need to understand how your message is “newsworthy” and interesting to their audience.
IV. Promotion Provided By StoryJumper
When you make your book public, StoryJumper automatically helps your book get the following visibility:
When you first created your book, the book’s privacy level was set to “PRIVATE”, by default.
You'll want to share your book and change the privacy level to “PUBLIC” to maximize the number of people who can discover your book. After your book is public, when people Google the title of your book, your book will show up in the Google search results. If your book’s title is a common book title, then you might need to look through a few pages of search results to find your book. Try it right now!
For example, if the title of your book was “What Makes You a Super Hero?” and you Google those words, you would see your book on the first page of Google search results.
StoryJumper Library
After you make your book "PUBLIC", when the StoryJumper community searches for some of the words in your book, they’ll find your book in the search results.
For example, if the title of your book was “What Makes You a Super Hero?” and you search for “Super Hero” in the StoryJumper Library, then you would see your book in the StoryJumper search results. The top 200 results are displayed for every search. When your book gets more reads, likes, comments, and purchases, it’ll appear higher in the search results.
StoryJumper Book Recommendations
When StoryJumper users are reading books that are similar to your book, then your book could be recommended below the book they’re reading.
For example, if I was reading the book titled “Super Hero Powers" then I might see my book “What Makes You a Super Hero?” in the Recommended Books section below the book I was reading.
IV. Summary
To maximize the number of people who read your book and become fans:
- Polish your book
- Determine what “Content” and “Message” you want to use when you share your book
- Share your book through the various promotional channels described above
Good luck and if you come up with other interesting ways to promote your book, let us know by emailing us at “[email protected]”. Enjoy!
