10 Ways an Author Can Promote and Market a Book in Nigeria

In this article we’ll give you ten straight ways an author can promote and market a book in Nigeria. Wanna be a little different? You may fancy some unconventional ideas instead.

Ten book promotion and marketing ideas for authors in Nigeria

1. Build an Audience:

Before you write a book, make sure you have a cluster of people that are clamouring for your work. How do you do this? You can start with writing free short stories on blogs, websites or even social media. Make sure you have a loyal following that would be eager for a larger material from you.

2. Write for your audience:

This point is especially for starters. Make sure you are writing a book that will appeal to that audience/network you have built. Don’t write something Nigerians might not be interested in, it would be like selling pork in an Islamic country. However, it is possible to build a very strong following to the point where you start taking risks by writing outside the interests of your audience. But for now, stick to what they want.

3. Build a Budget:

Before you begin to market a book, you should have a concrete idea of how much you want to spend on marketing and promotion. It should range from costs of marketing, travelling, to paid advertisement, etc.

4. Choose a Platform that will reach many people:

Apart from your core audience/network, you will want to get your book to as many people as possible. Choose a popular platform that will help sell your book.

5. Create an early buzz:

You will want to make some noise about your book across various platforms. Strike a relationship with your local radio or TV and get them to help you make this noise. Social media is also handy for noise making and make sure everyone on your Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and even WhatsApp hears this noise.

6. Give away free copies:

Everybody loves free things! But your free giving must be calculated. Give free copies of your book to popular bloggers, influencers and people with huge followings that are likely to share their thoughts on your book with their audience.

7. Focus on reviews:

Positive reviews will help sell your book especially if it is coming from people that are influential. Make sure you get people in your network to share their reviews on your work.

8. Do a book Trailer:

It isn’t usually done in Nigeria, so the better for you. A book trailer will show people how creative you are. If you do not have the skills to do this, you can hire a company to help with this. Just make sure you come up with a book trailer that will wow your audience.

9. Market yourself:

People will have to trust you before they can trust your work. If people know that Chioma has written for many blogs, websites and newspapers, they will most likely buy her book more than Ada who no one knows who and where she has written for. Make sure you “hype” yourself! Let people feel they are privileged to buy your book based on your pedigree.

10. Create Easy access to your book:

Build goodwill for yourself by getting your book into the hands of people who ordinarily would not have access to it. Donate copies of your books to hospitals, churches, libraries, etc. And make sure it is affordable.

Ejedegba Samuel Ochuko