A book signing, reading or other presentation centered on your book obviously is a good way to promote your title. To be successful, however, your presentation will need to be promoted as well.

Some forms of promotion work far better than others. It mainly depends on where you are presenting the book.

If appearing at a bookstore, retailer or library, a press release to local newspapers, radio, TV stations, and bloggers who cover events in that area works best. Local media usually are eager to print releases (or to include them in calendars) for events in their area. Less effective is social media in which you contact your friends/followers, as they likely are scattered around the country. Instead, you want to get on your event promoted on your host’s Twitter, Facebook and other sites.

When appearing at conferences or workshops, a press release to local media largely will go ignored. Instead, focus on bloggers who write about the field your will present in, especially if those bloggers cover the organization hosting the conference or workshop. The most effective way to promote your presentation will be through that organization’s social media, since its members are the ones who will attend the conference/workshop.

Of course, mentioning on your blog and other social media sites that you are making a presentation doesn’t hurt. Just don’t expect your attendance to pick up much, if at all (The exception would be Facebook in which the majority of your friends live in the community where the event is held.). The real benefit of such social media exposure is that you give the appearance to anyone reading the tweet or post of being more than just an author. Instead, you are an author in demand, and that can raise the respect level for you as you seek new friends/followers. It even can bring in new business if your book relates to your occupation.

One thing NEVER to do is to pay for advertisement. You simply will not recoup the costs of an ad in a newspaper or on a radio station through book sales unless you the biggest of names in writing. In such a case, the host of your event will pay for advertising because your name will draw people to their store or institution.

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past decade, I’ve helped more than 300 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the 7 Minutes a Day… writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.