Steve Weber - Plug Your Book!: Online Book Marketing for Authors

In 1988 a first-time author, British mountaineer Joe Simpson , wrote of his disastrous climbing accident in the Peruvian Andes. His book, Touching the Void , got good reviews, but wasnt too popular outside England. It sold modestly and then, like most books, began fading into obscurity.

A decade later, another climbing book was penned by Jon Krakauer, an American journalist who scaled Everest during a harrowing expedition that claimed eight lives. Into Thin Air , thanks to a marketing boost from its New York publisher, was an instant No. 1 bestseller and worldwide blockbuster.

And then something really interesting happened. Bookstores started getting requests for the earlier book, Touching the Void . Weeks before, booksellers couldnt give the book away, and now it was sold out. Library copies went missing. The original hardback, if you could find one, was selling for $375. Harper Paperbacks quickly printed a new edition, and Touching the Void started outselling the new blockbuster by two to one.

What happened? Who was the marketing whiz behind this literary resurgence? Actually, it wasnt an organized effort at all. It was a result of the automated book recommendations at Amazon.com. The online store began recommending the older book to millions of people whom it knew liked climbing books, based on their recent purchases. If youve shopped on Amazon, youve seen these recommendations yourself: People who bought this book also bought

Many of the new readers liked Touching the Void so much, they wrote rave reviews on Amazons site. These amateur book reviews, written by real climbers and armchair explorers, struck a chord with the next wave of shoppers. The result: more sales, more good reviews.

Ten years after the books launch, Internet-powered word of mouth did something that its publisher could never doit landed Touching the Void on the bestseller lists. The story was adapted for an acclaimed docudrama. Simpson, his writing career energized, followed up with four successful adventure books, a novel and lecture tours.

Today, readers are finally able to find exactly the books they want without consulting a librarian or bookstore clerk. Readers are flocking to Amazon and online reading communities to discover whats worth reading. All this is a godsend for authors, who finally have a way to build their audience effectively and without traditional marketing expenses. Never has it been so practical, so straightforward, so cheap for writers to earn a living at their craft and build a following.

Today , book readers are helping decide which books sink or swim. As an author, you can take advantage of this new environment using the techniques described in this book.