You wrote an eBook, great! Now what? Now you promote your eBook so that you can get a good return on your investment of time, energy, and perhaps money. If you’re lucky, you still have time before you publish your book. Promotion can begin well before the book is available to your readers. However, if your book is already published, it’s not too late. There are many effective steps you can take to promote your book and increase your sales, or downloads if you’re giving it away for free.

1. Pin the book cover on Pinterest and tag your sales page or buy link in the description. If you’ve written several books consider creating a board on Pinterest and then pin all of the covers. It’s a fun way to promote your books and gain new prospects. Pinterest is exceptional for driving traffic to a website.

2. Tweet Snippets. Use Twitter to share tantalizing snippets from your book. For example, you might tweet some of the more compelling questions or facts from your book. If you have guest writers in your book, for example your foreword has been written by a celebrity, then quote them on Twitter and by all means link to your book’s sales page.

3. Blog about it. Write blog posts that are directly linked to your book and your book’s topic. For example, if you wrote a book on how to make healthy smoothies then write a blog post about why celery is a good ingredient to include in a smoothie. At the end of the post, transition to a short paragraph about your book and include a link. Guest blog posts are helpful as well because they broaden your reach and increase awareness.

4. Write a press release. Assuming your book provides value and solves a problem, then you can generate a press release that the media may be interested in. Imagine how powerful an article in the local paper or a spot on local news might be for book sales.

5. Create a video. Fiction writers create book trailers for their books. They’re like mini movies that help promote the book and entice readers to buy. Nonfiction writers can embrace the same concept and create a book trailer or even a small slide show to promote your book.

If you haven’t released your book just yet, consider building buzz by building anticipation for it. Let prospects know when to expect the book. Many digital distributors like Smashwords are now offering pre-sales which means you can take orders for your book before you release it. It’s a great way to build buzz and promote your book.

You spent a good amount of time and energy creating your book. Help it succeed by creating a promotional plan. Share the good news and let people know about your book. Embrace all of the marketing and promotional resources at your disposal.