How to Develop and Leverage Relationships to Sell Books

by Dana Lynn Smith, book marketing guru and author of The Savvy Book Marketer Guides.

Relationships with other people and organizations that cater to your target markets can be incredibly valuable in promoting your book. Here are some steps to developing and leveraging relationships with peers and influencers in your field.

1. Identify the places that your prospects turn for information about your topic or genre.

Search the internet to compile a list of the top websites, blogs, ezines, books, ebooks clubs and associations that cater to your target market or cover your topic. For example, if your book is about fly fishing, search on terms such as “fly fishing blogs” and “fly fishing organizations.”  If you write romance novels, search on terms such as "romance author blog" and "romance novels." Placing the search term in quotes may yield better results.

You can determine the popularity of an online site by looking at its Alexa rank, relative to the other similar sites on your list. Download the Alexa toolbar by clicking the link in the lower right corner of the home page.

Blog directories such as Technorati at www.technorati.com and Google Blog Search at http://blogsearch.google.com are great for locating blogs on a specific topic.

Search Amazon and Google for books and ebooks on related topics that appeal to your target markets, but don't compete directly with your book, then locate the author's website.

Online forums, virtual reader communities, writers groups and social networks are also great places to meet peers and influencers in your field or genre.

2. Research each resource.

Study each person or organization's website or blog to get a good understanding of what they do and how it relates to your book. Look for possible promotional opportunities (do they review products, sell affiliate products, accept content from others, allow comments, etc.) and gather contact information.

3. Contact the owner or manager of each resource and seek to develop a mutually beneficial relationship.

Prioritize your list, and identify the prospects that seem to be the most important and have the most potential. Do not write a generic "would you like to trade links" email. Instead, craft a thoughtful, customized message offering a genuine compliment and suggesting some specific ways that you might work together to your mutual benefit. Some possibilities include contributing content to each other’s sites, doing joint tele-seminars, selling through affiliate programs, cross-linking, and promoting in ezines. Remember that the relationship must be mutually beneficial—look for ways that you can help the other person or organization meet their goals.

4. Follow up and follow through.

If you get no response from your initial email, try again in a week or two or try sending an old-fashioned letter, making a phone call, or contacting the person through a social networking site such as Facebook.

When you get a favorable response from a prospect, follow through promptly to deliver whatever you've agreed to. Keep in touch with your new partners on a regular basis to build relationships, and look for additional ways you might work together.

Excerpted from The Savvy Book Marketer's Guide to Successful Social Marketing by Dana Lynn Smith, www.SavvyBookMarketer.com. For free book marketing tips, visit Dana's blog at www.BookMarketingMaven.com.

Courage Under Fire: Author Shawna Legarza Succeeds with Her Memoir

As a wildland firefighter, Shawna Legarza's career has carried her around the country on high profile assignments, such as the Hurricane Rita disaster relief and the World Trade Center recovery efforts.  It was in the midst of this emotionally-charged landscape where she met her husband, a fellow firefighter.  However, her years of fighting fierce blazes could not begin to prepare her for the devastating loss she faced when her husband tragically took his own life just a few short years later.  While her memoir, No Grass began as an emotional release towards her own recovery, the book has become a source of inspiration and hope for firefighters and their families across the country affected by the loss of a loved one.

"I was emotionally torn up inside, and writing came easy, so I wrote," says Legarza. She wrote of her childhood, her first experiences in the heat of the fire, and of the fateful moment when she lost her husband. As she wrote, the need for support became more apparent. Understanding the emotions and challenges faced by firefighters and their loved ones, she created the Life Challenge Program, an educational and reflective program created to support those dealing with depression, stress or the loss of a loved one. Using a variety of social media and web-based tools, Shawna built a network of survivors focused on providing guidance, support and stress management to professionals in the high-risk field of fire management.

Once No Grass was published, Shawna announced its availability on her Facebook group, website and Twitter account, and the outpouring of support from the firefighting community was overwhelming. The memoir went on to sell several hundred copies in a few short weeks and was selected as the winner of the Hollywood Book Festival in the Biography/Autobiography category. Legarza has also been approached by book and film agents interested in furthering No Grass's success. For now, she remains blown away by her instant success. "Good things happen to good people, and everything happens for a reason," she says. "Many folks have already asked for a No Grass 2."

Motivate Your Marketing with a One-On-One Strategy Session

Hundreds of thousands of titles are published every year.  Do you have a marketing plan to make your book stand out from the rest? Consider a Marketing Strategy Session with author marketing specialist, Richard Ridley. In this one-on-one consultation, Richard will provide you with low-cost and no-cost marketing strategies that are tailored to your book and marketing skill-level.

Here’s a taste of the info Richard shares during each customized Marketing Strategy Session.

Get personal with your fans and potential readers through blogging.

Your blog posts can cover everything from the marketing plans for your book to a funny story about your childhood. Just make sure the information you post gives readers new insight into your character as the author, rather than focusing just on the characters in your book!

Create loyal supporters through social networking.

Again, personal relationships can make all the difference for book lovers these days!   Social networking sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin, can be a great way to identify and connect with potential readers interested in your genre or topic. 

Use online video to hook new readers. 

Thanks to video sharing sites that allow you to join and upload video for free, engaging readers through video has never been easier.  Enhance the brand of “you” through a video blog post or pitch your book in an exciting new way with a video book trailer.