by Joey O'Connor

If you are a first-time author or small publisher and you’ve worked hard to complete your very first Vook, you may be scratching your head a bit and saying, “Cool…now what?”

Unless you have an established audience of thousands of people following your blog or thousands of dollars to throw into marketing or thousands of hours to spend finding the most strategic way to get your Vook into the hands of readers, you’re not alone. People, time and money. All are limited resources and we can never have enough of all three.

You don’t need to be an expert to gain new eyeballs, but you do have to take the necessary steps to build your audience. You can’t have control over who purchases your book, but you do have control on getting it out there. Here’s a few simple ideas and free resources that will help get your Vook more exposure.

• Build Your Platform with Social Media: I know, it sounds like a no-brainer, but don’t underestimate the power of social media to launch your book farther than you ever imagined. Recently, I was scanning Twitter and I found an interview site that I thought would be interested in my Vook. I sent the owner an email and a copy of my Vook. He loved the book and he asked to interview me via Skype for his network, which pushes content to sites I’d never heard of. We’ve since become friends and now I’m helping him as well. You have the opportunity to build a platform for a world-wide audience. I highly recommend Michael Hyatt’s Platform: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World. He has an excellent blog you can follow at: www.michaelhyatt.com. You have a Vook! Who else can say that?
• Ask for Comments & Ratings: With your book on iBookstore, Amazon, & B&N, focus on getting at least five comments and ratings. I have sent out many review copies of our Vook, Create with one catch: All I ask for is for people to write short comments and to rate the book. If you don’t ask for help, the answer is always “No.”
• Find Your Niche for Your Book: Get on Goodreads.com, Amazon Author Central and other websites where you can build your readership. Look for affiliate blogs & websites to promote your book. Find readers who love your genre. Be generous and willing to tweet, Like, and promote other authors books as well!
• Google “Free Press Release.” A one-page press release can cause your new book release to show up on hundreds of sites for free.
• Create a Short Book Trailer: A bit more advanced, but there are companies out there who can help you create your own trailer to post to Youtube, Vimeo, etc.
• Develop a Compelling Landing Page: Here’s a sample landing page we made for Create. A compelling page will move your reader to action.
• Find a Simple File Hosting & Payment Method: Since our Vook is a whopping 407mgs, we needed a file hosting service like Delivermyfile.com and Paypal to make our Vook available on our website for download.
• Keep Doing What Works: Look at what’s working in your marketing efforts and try to mine that vein as deep as you can go! Connect with other users on Vook’s Love & Support. Find out what’s working for them! Your Vook is worth it!

Joey O'Connor is the executive director of The Grove Center for the Arts & Media and the creator of Create: Transforming Stories of Art, Life & Faith…Essays, Artwork, & Video from 21 Points of View. He blogs at Art, Life & Faith.