It was conventionally believed that a well written book will find its readers and succeed. However, nothing can be further from the truth. Marketing a book and generating awareness about it amongst its target audience is crucial and without it even an excellent book is doomed to obscurity. Marketing is therefore not a dirty word but a crucial ingredient for success of the book and successful authors have understood this truth.
The paths chosen for this are varied, as evident from the case studies which follow:
To market a book engage with potential target audience
For bringing out the first ever crowd-sourced love story, Doublemint Mints collaborated with author Durjoy Datta for an innovative campaign #StartSomethingNew. The author tweeted one line every day and people were invited to share their pictures which brought the featured lines alive. Winning entries were featured in the book curated by the author.
To market a book create a buzz using social media
Amish’s Shiva Trilogy is one of the fastest selling book series in the history of Indian publishing. 2.2 million copies were printed and over Rs 60 crore in sales was realised. He best exemplifies the fact that a well-written book which is well marketed can become a winner. For the next Ramchandra series about Lord Ram starting with the Scion of Ikshvaku, the author was twitterviewed (Twitter interview) by Karan Johar. This was followed by the book launch and the release of the trailer of the book on YouTube.
After the success of Shiva Trilogy, Amish Tripathi launched the Ramchandra series with a well thought marketing plan. Karan Johar twitterviewed (Twitter interview) the author, which was followed by a grand book launch. The highlight of the launch was the thrilling book trailer released on Youtube that showcased a preview of the plot.
To market a book host live launch events
Harry Potter’s midnight launch parties thrilled millions of fans across the globe. The countdown to the midnight party is as exciting as the novel. This tradition has been followed for all launches of the Harry Potter books, involving trivia, games, giveaways and many other activities.
To market a book leverage social media for sneak previews
Before Westland, Savi Sharma who started out self-publishing her book would use Facebook to promote her book. She would also post lines from her book which touched an emotional cord with her friends. Now her book features regularly in top 10 fiction.
To market a book bringing the protagonist alive on social media
Author Laxmi Hariharan brought her protagonist Ruby Iyer alive before launching her fiction, The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer. She launched diaries that chronicled the protagonist’s early life for free on Amazon. Hariharan also created a Twitter handle called @RubyIyer, which the author used to express opinions on issues related to women and kids in sync with Ruby Iyer’s personality.