7 Ways Friends Can Support Your Book (and How To Ask For Their Help)

In today's guest post, book publicity expert Sandra Beckwith shares some great ideas for enlisting friends (and colleagues) to help spread the word about your book, without being a pest.

7 Ways Friends Can Support Your Book (and How To Ask For Their Help)

I recently read an article that detailed seven ways people could support their author friends. It was well-done and offered the type of specific information I'm always looking for, but honestly, it felt a little . . . well . . . self-centered. I mean, really, am I supposed to expect my friends to ask me how they can promote my book?  Or, worse, am I self-absorbed enough to think that my friends are using Google to find ways they can support my book marketing? I could never send any of them a link to that article with a note saying, "Please read this and see what you can do.

I'm also one of those people who would never say, "Please buy my book." But that was one of the suggestions in this article - "buy the book." Most of my friends aren't interested in my book topics, so why would they buy any of them? Your book might be different, of course, but my books are on business topics and many of my friends are social workers, teachers, and so on.

In  reality,  while our friends think it's "cool" that we're authors, it probably doesn't even occur to most of them that they are  in  a  position  to  help us get the word out. It's our responsibility to ask for that help. The challenge is in finding a way to make the request in a way that works for you - not me, not my friends, and not another author.

Here are some things you will want to consider asking friends to do along with suggestions for making your request something they can act on quickly and easily. You might not be comfortable with all of these suggestions, but there might also be a way for you to get the end result with a different approach.

1. Share information about your book with the "right" people in their e-mail address books.

Remember that you didn't write your book  for everyone. You wrote it for a specialized audience, whether  it's  fiction  or  nonfiction. (Not everybody likes mysteries,  right?)  It's  okay to ask your friends to share information about your book with their networks, but when doing so, make it clear that you realize .that they might want to be selective about who they share the information with. Send an e-mail  that  describes  the book, explains who will find it interesting, details how they will benefit from reading it, and includes a link to an online purchase site. Suggest that they forward that information to appropriate people.

2. Provide information about organizations that might use you  as a speaker.

A complimentary word or two from a friend who is a member could be all you need to be the  luncheon speaker at the monthly gathering of a group that's  perfect for your book.

3. Look for your book at bookstores and request that stores stock it if it's not available.

A lot of my friends are authors, so I do this for them at Barnes & Noble all the time. I also turn the cover  face out on the shelf so it's easier to see, and when there's more than one copy, I add one to a display at the end of the shelf, too. If a friend's latest book isn't in stock, I ask the store to order it.

4. Use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networks to share a link to a purchase page.

Ask them to write a personal message with the link, such as "Can't wait to read my friend's new book about business etiquette" or "Nobody  writes better science fiction than my friend Justin Brown - buying his latest book now!"

5. Share a review online.

Give a copy of your book to friends you can trust to actually read it, asking them to write a positive review on Amazon and other retail sites.

6. Interview you on their blog when it's a good fit.

This is a reasonable request only when the blog's target audience matches your book's. Otherwise, you're putting your friend in an awkward and unfair position.

7. Rate reviews on Amazon so the good ones show up first and the bad ones show up last.

At the end of each review, Amazon asks, "Was this review helpful to  you?" Click "yes" for the four- and five-star reviews  and "no" for anything with less than three stars. The "yes" clicks will help make sure that the positive reviews stay at the top.

What have you asked your friends to do to support your book, and how has that worked out for you? Please leave a comment below and tell me your story!

About the Author

Former publicist Sandra Beckwith has won several national awards for publicity excellence. An author herself, she now teaches authors how to be their own book publicists. Learn more about her new ebook, Get Your Book in the News: How to Write a Press Release That Announces Your Book and subscribe to Sandra’s free bi-weekly newsletter, Build Book Buzz.

Comments

[Iola]

#1-6 - Good advice.

#7 - I disagree (and so do a lot of other Amazon shoppers - just see some of the threads discussing this subject in the Romance forum).

Positive reviews are not necessarily the same thing as helpful reviews - I'd sooner buy a book where a featured review was a well-thought-out two-star than one where the top three reviews were two-line five-star "best book EVA!!!!" reviews. I tend to dismiss those as being written by friends, family and fans. They are not at all helpful to me.

[Brent Butler]

Possibly you don't understand this, but your #7 violates Amazon Terms of Service.

First, the odds are good that Amazon will discover the behavior and scrub these votes. Their reviews are for arm's length communication between customers, not manipulation for marketing purposes.

That sort of behavior has resulted in Amazon banning accounts, proof enough that it is NOT OK.

[Dana Lynn Smith]

It can be awkward asking friends to help spread the word about your book and I appreciate Sandra sharing some ideas for authors to consider. As Sandra stated in her article, these ideas will not appeal to everyone and authors should do what they are comfortable with.

[Donna J. Shepherd]

I'm always hesitant to impose, but still found this article helpful. Perhaps every idea isn't a good fit, but if even one works, I'm ahead in the marketing game. Thanks for the tips, Sandra.

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Thanks Donna. Many authors find it hard to promote themselves and they don't want to impose on friends, but remember that your friends are probably happy for your accomplishment in publishing a book and would like to help you out in some way. I encourage authors to send an announcement to all their contacts when they publish a book (and ask them to share with their friends if appropriate) but you can also be selective in asking certain people to do certain favors to spread the word.

[Sandrabeckwith]

I know exactly what you mean, Donna. I'm kind of shy about that, too. But friends DO want to help, so it makes sense to ask them in your own way to do something specific. (The easiest, and most fun, is to look for your book in a store and turn the cover out when you've got bookstore distribution.)

Just don't be disappointed if you discover that not many could help out. We all mean well! If just a couple of people do something to support you, it's a nice boost.

Sandy

[Sandrabeckwith]

Thanks for the feedback, Iola & Brent!

Sandy

[Bob Zinnecker]

Great ideas Sandy. One of my friends purchases multiple copies of my two books, "Acquisition" and "Sell Out" to give as gifts to family and friends. I designed a special gift card to go with the books with his name as the giver of the gift. It personalizes the gift and encourages others to do likewise. Several have done so.

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Great idea, Bob! Thanks for sharing

[Fizzy]

I think accessing your friends network is key and in this day and age it's not as personal request as it once may have felt. Sharing content online is part of the culture. Embracing the importance of sharing should not be looked down upon or shied away from. Although, I totally get that it feels strange. I think especially for small authors there is no better pr machine then your friends. People listen to people they know and trust above anything else! Nice article I enjoyed it!