Promoting Your New or Recent Book
Self Promotion
1. Social Media
While Common Ground promotes books through social media tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, it is also important that you create accounts to promote your book through these sites as well. Creating author and book pages through Facebook and Twitter with updates on conferences and book launches you attend, scheduled talks and signings about your book, and connections through LinkedIn are great ways to create a network of people who talk about you and your book. When you create these social media pages, please let our Managing Editor know and he or she will send you the appropriate book cover files and links to the online bookstore that you can use for your promotions.
2. Amazon Author Central
Amazon.com offers great tools to help book authors promote their books directly and track sales. If you visit authorcentral.amazon.com, you will be able to create an author page with information about your research and books. You will also be given access to edit information on your book’s Amazon webpage, including updating your book information, blurbs, author bios, and even add an author image if you choose to do so.
3. Book Reviews and Desk Copies
Another great way to promote your work is to get in contact with university professors about possible book reviews. Since many professors determine their semester reading lists from academic journal book reviews, asking professors in your field to read and publish a book review of your new work is a great place to start. If you do find someone who would like to write a book review, they can send an email to books@cgnetworks.org and let them know your book’s title and the journal for which they will write the review. We will immediately send them an PDF copy for their review at no charge. If a professor or teacher determines that they would like to have their university order copies of your book for an upcoming semester, they can also email our support staff for a complimentary desk copy of your book. Professors wanting desk copies need to provide their name, title, university, and course number for verification. Once verified, we will send a copy immediately.
Common Ground Promotions
1. Promo Materials
Once your book is published, our Communications team will provide you with a promo pack for your book. This promo pack with include flier and postcard files that you may have printed to distribute to colleagues at your university, work, or conferences. If you would like, Common Ground can have them printed for you and sent for a small fee.
2. New Book Mailings and Newsletters
At least every quarter, Common Ground sends out newsletters to each of our 24 research networks. Your book will be promoted in each relevant network. We will also promote your book with New Book Mailings, specifically tailored with your own back cover blurb. These mailings reach thousands of other academic professionals in your field each time they are sent.
3. Common Ground Conferences
All Common Ground book authors receive at least a yearlong membership to the research network associated with the imprint that publishes their book. If you want to attend the next conference for that network, your conference registration fee will be waived. Attending conferences is a great way to connect with other scholars in your academic field and to promote your book.
4. Library of Social Sciences Book Exhibits and Conferences
The Library of Social Sciences holds book exhibits at a wide array of conferences every month. Professors from universities around the world attend the book exhibits looking for new books for classes and libraries. Common Ground Research Networks will send your book to every relevant conference with the possibility that professors could recommend that their university order a large quantity of your book for future classes.
5. Common Ground Book Launches
If you decide to attend one of our conferences, please let the Managing Editor know as early as possible so we can plan a possible book launch, display promotional materials, and provide books for sale. Book launches are typically held at the pre-registration event the night before the start of the conference or at the conference reception after the first day of presentations, but that is always subject to change. You and your book will be introduced by a member of Common Ground Research Networks, and you will be given the opportunity to speak about your book for a few minutes if you choose.
6. Libraries and Subscriptions
Common Ground Research Networks hopes to bring our entire book collection to each university library. To do this, we have created a subscription system where universities can pay a once a year fee to make our e-book catalog available to their students. If you think your university would be interested in a subscription to Common Ground’s e-books, please have them contact our subscriptions representation.