By Books Author and Novelists Denise Turney

Book buyers are a robust team of people. They know what they like and they’re eager to jump into a good story. Check this out. In 2020 alone, print book sales in the United States surpassed 750 million units, according to Statista. Furthermore, Publishers Weekly reports that, during 2020, print book sales increased by 8.2%.¹

Can You Spot A Good Thing

A lot of people know a good thing when they see it. And, little beats a very good story. In fact, it may be hard to find another entertainment form that costs so little and offers so much the way that books do.

Even better, Publisher Weekly goes on to say that, “With all major categories posting increases, unit sales of print books rose 8.2% in 2020 over 2019 at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. For the year ended Jan. 2, 2021, units hit 750.9 million, up from 693.7 million the year before.”2

Proof of the deep engagement derived from good story rests in the numbers. Not only did Statista and Publisher’s Weekly see an uptick in print book sales in 2020, they also saw a rise in ebook sales over the same time period. During 2020, in the United States alone, 191 million ebooks were purchased.

Good News For The Book Industry

That’s good news for the book industry. Lockdowns and companies turning to remote work likely had impact on the rising print book sales. That shared, it may take a while longer to determine whether or not book buyers prefer to read their books in print while they are at home. Should this be the case, brick and mortar bookstores and online book retailers might notice a drop in print book sales as larger numbers of people return to the office.

Who knows? Book buyers just might prefer to engage with e-books while they are commuting on trains, subways or while they have their mobile device hooked to a speaker system in their car as they drive to and from work.

Of course, talented authors who are passionate about their work will continue to find ways to identify, locate and connect with people who are passionate about the stories that they write. That’s not all.

Authors who believe in the stories that they write, be those stories fiction or non-fiction, will endeavor to discover new ways to find and engage with new book readers. These are people who have never read a book before. Or they might be people who have never read a novel or the genre of book that the author writes in.

Yet, that doesn’t make finding eager readers and book buyers easy. On top of that, actions that authors, book publishers and book publicists could take to connect with book buyers keep changing. The good news is that many of those book marketing changes are expanding the industry.

Working With Media Outlets

In other words, traditional ways of marketing books still yield good results. For example, authors can still generate book sales if they promote and attend book signings, particularly book signings at large festival and literary events.

And press releases can also gain traction, depending on the topic that the release is tied to. For instance, if an author hooks his press release to a major holiday or current event, the press release could get picked up by a local, regional, national or international media outlet. Authors who work these press release pick-ups the right way could see those media pickups lead to more exposure through radio and television interviews.

Ways To Connect With Book Buyers

However, book marketing actions have expanded beyond traditional book marketing pathways. Below are more traditional as well as newer ways that authors could connect with book buyers:

1. Build a literary newsletter – Refer to The Book Lover’s Haven to find an example of a literary newsletter. The Book Lover’s Haven is a free literary newsletter that I started designing more than 15 years ago.
2. Conduct podcast interviews – You can do these from the comfort of your home. Check out podcast directories to find podcast that focus on subjects that you write about in your books.
3. Interview on traditional offline radio stations.
4. Reach out to bookstores and schedule in-person book signings.
5. Apply to have your books carried in Range to see if retailers and military stores will carry your titles.
6. Attend book festivals and sell your books at these events.
7. Teach a virtual writing course and spotlight your books at the virtual event.
8. Do literary newsletter book advertising swaps with other authors.

More Ways To Connect With Book Buyers

• Start paid advertising at online retailers that run online book ads.
• Blog and post a link to your books in blog articles that you write.
• Push out book marketing messages using text messages.
• Send customized book marketing postcards to members of your target audience.
• Post flyers about book signings and other book marketing events that you attend.
• Take our social media ads to promote events that you’re attending.
• Design an author website.
• Sit on author panels at virtual and in-person literary events like writer’s conferences.
• Start a program on an offline radio or television station. Focus on literature and mention your books at the start and end of each show.
• Run ads on literary podcasts and other podcasts that attract your book’s target audience.
• Make your books available in two or more formats such as print, e-books and audiobooks.
• Perform live shows like Facebook live, etc. that center around an event in your book.

Consistency And Persistence Pay Off

There are a myriad of ways that authors, publishers and book publicists can connect with book buyers. A key is to be persistent and consistent. Social media may have proved this well. After all, it’s not enough to reach out to people once or twice a year. Instead, authors benefit when they reach out to book buyers several times a week.

It also helps when authors share valuable content and connect with readers simply to say, “Hello!”

Build Strong Book Buyer Relationships

Therefore, to deepen connections with book buyers, authors should focus on building relationships. Fortunately, several of the aforementioned book marketing actions do help to build relationships. Another good point as it regards book marketing is that readers know when an author has focused on creating a quality story.

A well written story suggest that an author respects her book readers. Whether authors see a well-crafted story as a marketing tool or not, it still stands that a quality product may be the best marketing device there is. So, start from the beginning. Write a good story. Then, start taking smart actions to market your book, finding its readers and turning them into happy book buyers.