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How to Market Your Book Offline

Does offline marketing still work? You bet!

With hundreds of thousands of books crowding out advertising space, marketing your book online at a local or regional level can become a real challenge.

And then there are people like me, who still cling to the comfort of paperbacks and experiential promotions. Offline marketing can be highly effective on people like me.

Here are five effective ways you can use to market your book offline.

01. Get Creative

Want to stand out from other titles being marketed to your target audience? Get creative.

In a post published earlier, we shared Arisa White’s strategic guide to self-promotion. Much of her success came from her collaboration with the artist Nye’Lyn Tho on a series of portraits of Black women. It offered a unique experience and helped capture the attention of her target audience.

You can also consider incorporating inspiration from other artists in your marketing strategy.

02. Attend Fairs and Events

Book festivals, trade shows, conferences, and other large-scale events offer opportunities to interact directly with a large number of potential book buyers and stakeholders.

While you may not be able to bag many sales right off the bat, focusing on niche events where your target audience will be attending over large events with a diverse audience could still be worth your time and marketing dollars.

Set your targets right and do your own research prior to attending any event.

03. Libraries

People still return to the comfort of libraries. In 2017 alone, more than one billion Americans visited libraries.

Some libraries are keen on supporting self-published authors, especially in their locality.

Get in touch and share your story for a chance to have your book in the shelves of your local library.

The good news is, if you manage to get your book into one library, you can easily find a place for your book in another.

In this article, we discuss 3 ways you can try to get your book into libraries.

04. Local Book Shops

There was a time when self-published meant poor quality. Times have changed. Getting independent booksellers to shelve self-published books is no longer as challenging as it used to be.

But no vendor would want to buy books that would sit in shelves gathering dust. So visit local book shops to understand who their target customers are. Pitch only to vendors who would see your book fitting in.

05. Word of Mouth Marketing

It’s in our nature to trust a personal recommendation from family and friends over a paid advertisement.

In fact, 85% of customers use word-of-mouth marketing to discover small business. (word-of-mouth advertising statistics).

Get the word about your book out there by reaching out to your family, friends, and acquaintances and send free copies to notable figures in the literary community.

Let your work speak for itself.

Shafeeka Hafeez

Shafeeka Hafeez grew up escaping into a world of books where she discovered a love for writing and a fascination with trees. When she’s not taking up a new marketing skill, or typing out a blog post, you can find her Googling the best therapy for abandoned cats.

July 5, 2022

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