So you've published your writing. Now what? How do you get the word out to as many people as possible? I'm trying to collect advertising ideas (not that I have anything published yet, but...). So, what do you think?

This is what I've been wondering too recently.

I was thinking I'd probably use FB first, Goodreads would work for people just looking for a topic, telling people face to face too.

I heard that you can't sell CreateSpace published books in bookstores, but I dunno if that's true, or I'd say try to get it into Barnes and Nobles or something.

But since I've only ever dreamed and made plans to publish, I don't think I can really give good advice...

People say that blogging is great, if you have something good to blog about. Especially using your blog to gather an email list.

And that sort of advertising works even better if you start before you publish the book, so you don't have to wait. * grins *

* is going to try that kind of thing soon *

I have a very difficult time publicizing and marketing, and I am published.

I plan to work on the blogging part that Mistress Rwebhu mentioned and I do FB, Goodreads, Google+, and Twitter. I *try* to do all those, anyway.

*Nods* I should look into ways to use Twitter and FB... Thanks for the suggestions.

I also thought about a blog, but i got stuck on not having anything interesting to talk about..other than my book...

Running a giveaway is a good way to publicize. People like free, and like to win things. It's nice if you can find another author in your same genre and run a joint giveaway - double the prizes, double the creativity, double the reach as you share.

Besides all the things mentioned (FB, G+, Twitter, Blogs, Goodreads) another good thing is to upload pictures of your book on Pinterest, with a link to where to buy it. You can ask writer friends to add it to their "book" boards, and then anyone following them will see it.

Running an author page on FB can be helpful. (I don't have one, but I've seen it be a good thing for others.)

If you have an ebook, running a free promotion can generate interest. (I've given away 165 copies of my book in the last 4 days, during the giveaway I'm hosting.)

Giving a copy to your church library, and mentioning to people that it's there, has been helpful for me. I'm also planning to give a couple copies to a nearby church's library - I discussed things with the librarian, and she's excited to let people know they're there, and where to get them.

Having a "for loaning" copy is nice. I write instructions in the front, ask people to sign it in the back, and "give it away" at Bible study, or something - eventually I get it back. Usually I write a date in the instructions in which I want it returned to me.

If you find blogs/FB pages that promote writers, and do reviews, it's good to see about working with them to get a review or a slot to guest post. Some people want a free book in exchange, but I think it's worth it.

That's about all the ideas I've got, yet, haha. I'd love to hear any more ideas y'all have!

~ZA

Publicizing is really hard. Especially if you don't like bragging on yourself. The things I have found most helpful so far are:
1. Twitter. Create retweetable tweets and try to make your tweets not all about your book or those of others. I'm not very good at this yet, but maybe someday...
2. Run a Kindle sale and advertise on promotion websites/emails. Sweet Free Books costs $5, Spirit-Filled Bookswas under $11.00 depending on what you get, Ereader News Today is usually $25 or less depending on your genre and sale price. Those are the three I really recommend that are affordable. The three(ish) sales I've done when paying for advertising have been my most successful sale periods. I have always made back the money I spent and then some.

That ended up being longer than I intended. I can give more details and advice if people want more.