How can I advertise a children's book that I have written?

[Saragine]

I wrote a great children's book and it is currently in production. I want to know how would I advertise without the high cost ($$$$). I contacted NY Times and they asked for $5,000. Forget about television...not in the public eye yet. If you have a solution, I would greatly appreciate it.

[Rae]

well, put the title in the question and BAM!
now anyone with internet access can know about your book! but 4reel whats the title?

[derwood]

The publishing company should help out with that. You could also hire an agent. Blogs are a good and cheap way to start to garner attention. Any way that you can get your book noticed will be great. Local libraries, local schools, etc.

[hpfan963]

Facebook, Twitter. Myspace. YOutube, Any social networking site

[Yola B]

Contact magazines and newspapers, also talk to some book stores to find out more. Or ask librarians.

[RM]

Local newspapers might be interested.
Write a really interesting blog.
Tweet.
Sell signed copies on Etsy.com
Join writing and parenting forums, and put your book in your signature. http://notebookinhand.com could be good.
If you have children, see if their teachers would buy a copy. (word of mouth).
Make sure you have an isbn and can sell on places like Amazon.

[Joss]

What did you contact the NYT about? Was it about advertising? It costs lots of money to advertise in those types of national newspapers. I can't imagine that they charge to review your book in their books section, so I dont' think that's why they gave you the $5,000 price.

This is the problem with self-publishing or vanity publishing. It costs money to bring attention to your book and you might spend that money and still not get attention. You'd have to hire a professional editor, cover designer, marketing professional, and publicist (unless you have those skills on your own). That can easily cost thousands of dollars.

you'll have to go local. You'll have to contact your local newspaper and news to see if they'd want to review your book or give an author interview. Local authors in my city appear on local TV to talk about their books from time-to-time. Approach the library to see if they'll buy a copy of your book for their shelves. If you want it stocked in bookstores you'll have to approach each individual store in your area and persuade the store manager to carry your book. These things are no easy task for an author because most people don't have the skill to do this alone. You'll need a lot of time, and possibly a lot of money. The average self-published book sells about 50 copies. Most books are still sold in brick-and-mortar stores, so don't think you'll sell a lot online. Most of the books that do sell online are books published by the large publishers and they sell because there's a lot of money put into marketing and promoting the books. This is something most self-published authors don't have and won't achieve. You can try sending it to book review blogs and asking them to review your book. You can setup a facebook page and twitter account. Since it's a children's book you might be able to promote it in schools. The thing, though, is that you can't effectively advertise and market a book without lots of money, which is why I don't recommend self-publishing unless you have the money to do it right, else you'll fail to recoup what you paid to have the books printed/published. Or, if you just want to see your name on the cover of a book and have a copy for friends and family to buy, try lulu.com. They're one of the cheapest book printers.

If you think your book is "great" why aren't you trying to get it published with a real publisher instead of self-publishing?