how would you market a self published book?

[Tom]

not sure if i will be doing it yet, or going with trad... but that's not the topic here anyway.

if i will self publish, it will prob be thru kindle, nook, smashwords, and lulu. so how would you go about marketing it? let's assume a budget of around $12,000.

thank you!
and please don't waste time advocating one way to publish or another... really, you're just wasting your time, as i won't read it. thanks
cathrl 'the truth' lol. The truth is that self publishing will overtake trad publishing before this decade is out. how do i know this? Many, many, hours of research, and closely examining the facts, not what some publishing exec wants you to believe.

and you imply that all self publishing is 'vanity publishing' which is in itself a lie. And you have no idea what my writing is like either. its just that i tend to obsess over the smallest details, so i ask very elementary questions here.....

everyone who has read my work has said that they liked it, that my writing is 'never boring, makes them want to read more', etc. etc., so just shut up already, liar. You are probably an agent yourself, or something of that sort. Which renders all your 'advice' on publishing useless and misleading. I hope one of your contacts tells you to read this, since you seem to spend an average of about 10 seconds on a question before you move on, never to look at it again. Goo

[Lynn]

Do the research. Properly marketing such a book is a full-time job, and, when you're not working on that one, you're working on the next one, which is another full-time job, now that you're promoting one..

[Sky]

If I was short on cash, I'd be doing most of my marketing through word of mouth and social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace (if it still exists), and a few others.

Have you tried to self-publish through Amazon.com's Createspace publishing program? You might get some better mileage off your book than you would going through a vanity press outfit like Lulu.com. (There's a rights issue involved in the latter.)

Also keep in mind, that self-publishing involves a lot of risk either way. There's a lot more legwork (and guesswork) involved in getting the word out about your writing and your books.

So patience is the *key* to being a successful self-published author here.

[old lady]

That depends entirely on the book.Is it fiction or non-fiction? Is there a regional interest? Who is your target audience? How you market it depends on who you hope to sell it to.

[cathrl69]

"you're just wasting your time, as i won't read it"

And that's exactly what the reaction will be to your book, if you vanity publish it. If you're going to throw $12000 away, at least give it to a good cause.

I've read your other questions. You do not write well enough yet for anyone to pay money for what you produce. Not even close. Sorry.

I recommend you put this effort into writing practice instead of worrying about marketing something unsaleable.

And no, hiding your head in the sand and refusing to read comments from people who try to tell you the truth won't make it go away.

[Andrew]

Selling copies of your book is, of course, the goal of most self-publishing ventures. You want to make some money, maybe even some significant money. It won't happen unless you market your book yourself. There is simply no way around it, successful self-publishing requires successful marketing. Check out here http://kindlepublishingmadeeasy.com/ for more details on publishing.

[Shahryar Niazi]

Suggestions:
Go to Chapters bookstore and talk to the manager
http://www.createspace.com (self publishing Amazon.com Company)

Well that's how i published my books:
Curse of the Red Leprechaun
Curse of the Savage Mammoth

Available on Amazon.com