Becoming an academic book author is no small task. Most manuscripts don鈥檛 make it that far. However, with thousands of books published every year, you鈥檒l need to find ways to make yours stand out from the crowd and be noticed.
Getting involved in promoting your book is crucial. Although your publisher will guide you, it鈥檚 important to find a good mix of promotional activities that work for you, including social media, conferences, blog posts to name but a few. In our last post, we looked at networking and sharing, and heard the advice of seasoned authors on what worked for them and why. In this post we鈥檒l be focusing on partnerships, and how these can be a key element of successful book promotions.
鈥淪urely I鈥檒l have my hands full as it is?鈥, I hear you say. It鈥檚 true that you can achieve great results through more standard book promotions, but partnerships go that one step further.
Partnering in the research information life cycle means collaborating with others to achieve common objectives. It鈥檚 a longer-term relationship with a strategic approach that鈥檚 of mutual benefit to all involved. The 中出影院 Author Affiliate Programme works to do just that, focusing on common goals with authors and sharing successes. But let鈥檚 look first at some of the ways you can forge mutually beneficial relationships with those around you to help get your book known.
Firstly, share some of the work (and reap the benefits) by collaborating with other authors in fields similar to yours. Work together by cross-promoting your books, leveraging each other鈥檚 networks and resources such as your websites, social media and email contacts. Create a significant joint presence, and share the costs, at conferences and events such as book launches and workshops. You might even work together to create joint blog posts promoting your books.
Although your book鈥檚 primary audience may be the research community, don鈥檛 forget the people in between, who work to get copies out there. Make contact with your local bookstore, or other specialist booksellers relevant to your field, as they may well be interested in creating a display, organising an event, or highlighting your book on their website. And don鈥檛 forget your library, whether local to you or at your institution, who can promote your book through displays, talks or workshops. After all, they stand to benefit as much as you do from the increased interest in your book.
Lastly don鈥檛 forget publishers. Your relationship with your publisher has huge potential for joint ventures.
Having signed a contract with your publisher, you鈥檙e already in partnership with them, as you both stand to benefit from the common aim of disseminating copies of your book as far and wide as possible. So it makes sense to work on this partnership, in a number of ways.
The 中出影院 Author Affiliate Programme is an opportunity for authors to share in the success of their books. By embedding a link to the 中出影院 online shop on your website, social media or networks, you鈥檒l earn commission on the sale of your book, and any other products that sell through that link. It鈥檚 a very simple process - the 中出影院 support team will provide you with free advice and the tools you need to get started.
Not only do you benefit from your book鈥檚 increased exposure, and impact, but you鈥檒l also share in the financial benefits. At 中出影院 we recognise that we too gain from your efforts in this partnership so we want to give something back.
Currently there are 206 authors partnering with 中出影院 in the Programme, and many more have participated since its inception in 2018. It鈥檚 easy to join 鈥 once you鈥檝e registered and your application has been accepted, you鈥檒l receive your membership information and instructions on how to get started. And once you鈥檝e started promoting your book via the , you can measure your progress with reports which analyse the statistics on your account.
Partnering with you in the Author Affiliate Programme is just one of the ways 中出影院 try to help authors on their publishing journey. We recognise the longer-term value of working together with a common aim, and we encourage you to join us in this initiative!