Before I got serious about publishing my book on my own, I didn't have a promotion plan or a platform or much of an idea of where to start. Once I knew I wanted to self-publish, I did my homework and got started and I've slowly built on that foundation since then. And all of this started a while before I was ready to publish. So when should you start promoting?
The general consensus and recommendation of pretty much everyone in the publishing industry these days is as soon as possible. If that is too general an answer, let's just say don't wait until you've published your book or right before it's coming out to start. Promotion is a gradual, accumulative process that takes time. And a lot of it.
Keep in mind that direct book promotion is not the only promotion you need. Book promotion is just an offshoot of self-promotion and good self-promotion will lead perfectly into good book promotion. The nice thing about self-promotion is that you can start that at anytime. Even if your book is not coming out for a while, you can get a readership going anyway. Start building an audience now and they will follow you to your book when you release it.
There are a lot of good promotion ideas out there for authors. I recommend reading Get Known Before the Book Deal by Christina Katz as a platform primer, and checking out author Jody Hedlund's blog and The Creative Penn for lots of promotion-related advice and suggestions.
You should know that any type of marketing is a trial and error process. Some of that is figuring out what works for you, and some of it is figuring out what works period. Most authors seem to have a few main promo tools that work for them. So don't be afraid to experiment and take risks until you find your groove.
So when should you start promoting your book? The answer is now! Gather ideas from sources online and off, and start building a solid promotion plan for you and your book today.
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