To sell books, you need to find more readers. Spreading the word about your eBook can be challenging, but there are a lot of ways you can promote yourself and promote your eBook on Facebook.


Set up landing pages to link to from your Facebook posts: 
When people see and click on your book promotion Facebook posts, you want to take them to a page on your website that will encourage them to buy/download your books or signup for your newsletter. That page needs to be attractive, well-designed, and have a call to action (like links to buy the books or a signup button). Click here to view a sample Landing Page.

Create an author page: 
You're limited on what you can do with Facebook if you're just using your personal Facebook profile. I recommend setting up an official author page so you can more easily promote your eBook on Facebook. With a page, you can schedule posts, use ads to get more likes, and can easily advertise to those who've liked your page. Click here to view my Facebook Author Page.

Ask readers to share posts with others: 
Many people are willing to pass on the word but don't even think to do so. If you ask them to share, they are more likely to hit that share button, meaning that more people will see your post. This can be accomplished by saying "Please share with your friends!" at the end of the post. Naturally, you don't want to do this with every post.

Request for page reviews/recommendations: 
Facebook has a page review feature where people can rate your page, write honest comments about you, your book and your services. It's okay to ask friends to make recommendations and or drop reviews on your page. 

Keep Facebook posts short: 
Followers are more likely to read and respond to a short post. A post with a short question and a link to a longer blog post is a great tactic.

Post things that will encourage engagement: 
It may surprise you to know that Facebook does not show all of your posts to all of your followers. Facebook uses an algorithm to determine how many posts it shows to how many people. Basically, more engagement = more reach. 

If more of your followers like your posts and leave comments, then Facebook will in turn show more of your posts. Drive engagement by asking followers a question with everything you post, even if it's just a link to an interesting article. This means that not all of your posts will be "promotional." This is important for more than just Facebook's algorithm: people don't like to be continually sold to, and they may leave if they don't feel that your page offers anything other than promotion.

Images make posts interesting: 
Images are a great way to keep posts interesting. If you link to a webpage that has a share image, Facebook will automatically insert the image for you. (So with all your blog posts, make sure to have great images!) You can also post funny images or memes. If you're just posting straight text, make sure to ask a question or use a statement that compels participation so the post will hold people's interest.

Post about giveaways: 
Readers love getting books for free! Giveaways for books that are downloaded directly from a landing page (rather than bought from a retailer like Amazon). These giveaways can be a book you're giving away yourself as a subscriber magnet (where readers have to sign up for your newsletter to receive a new book), or it can be a group giveaway that you're doing with other authors. These kinds of posts often get a lot of shares as well and will help you gain more followers organically, without paying money. Make sure this post links to a great landing page.

Post about sales on your books: 
Unlike a giveaway, when a book is on sale, even if it's free of charge, readers buy it directly from the retailer. If your book is only on sale at one retailer, like Amazon, your Facebook post can link directly to Amazon. If it's on sale at multiple retailers, link instead to a landing page on your website that links to all the retailers where it's available. Click here to a Sample Page I did for my collection of poems, 'Sweetness'.

Post about upcoming releases: 
Those who are following you on Facebook are doing so because they like your books and the all what you write, so they'll be ecstatic to learn about new releases—especially if that new release is on sale for a limited time. Make sure to provide a link where they can go to actually buy the book.

Post book trailers: 
Videos are a great way to catch people's attention; Facebook even has an autoplay feature that starts a video if it's showing on the page. Creating a book trailer can be time-consuming, and it should be done well. Only try this if you have the time and talent (or know someone who can do it for you). There are easy-to-use softwares one could use to make book videos. Smartphone apps like like Wondershare Filmora, Kine and Canva also have superb video making features. 

Invite those who have liked your posts to also like your author page: 
Facebook makes inviting people to like your page easy: just go to a post and click on the text that shows how many people liked the post. A popup will appear that lists all the people, and on the right of each name will be an invite button. Click on each one to invite all those people to like your page. More likes means that more people will see and share your posts. Also, you can directly advertise to everyone who likes your page, so the more likes you have, the better.

I hope these ways to promote your eBook on Facebook will help you sell more books! If you have any additional ideas, I'd love to hear them in the comments below. 

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I will be launching a new anthology soon. Here's what the cover will look like. Anticipate Amina: a collection of poems.