How do you market and promote your illustrated book to attract readers and reviewers?

To market my illustrated book, I leverage social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, where I can share engaging visuals, behind-the-scenes content, and illustrations to attract potential readers and build excitement. Regular posts, interactive stories, and collaborations with influencers in the book niche help expand the audience reach.

The great thing about social media that it adds another layer to "word of mouth". One suggestion would be curating a mini list of notable figures on social media that are relevant to your brand and book's message, DM them with an outreach, and send them your book. Then, they will be able to share this book with their audience and that's how "cross pollination" happens on socials which will reinforce your existing social media activity in promoting the book. Another suggestion would be [if budget is no obstacle] to create a PR package of the book itself and accompanying assets that can be sent to specific individuals and/or entities and/or publishers. Their info and addresses can be found primarily on their website, then Linkedin, then IG.

When it comes to cover Art, I always leave it until the end of the project, let me tell you why. When you're illustrating page spreads and visually narrating the text, a lot can shift from one page to another in order to captivate as much as you can from the story. Once you're done, you have an essence that you can encapsulate it entirely in the book cover. The book cover shouldn't tell the story away, it should give hints, draw curiosity, and grab one's attention when displayed on the shelf.

Or you could create a zine and give it out for free. It's a good way to get noticed. Many people have started this way. I really liked the zine made by artist Adam Dant in the 90's called Donald Parsnip's daily journal. He gave it out around London. I still have some copies. It got him known. David Shrigley did the same thing.

Digital is also another way to have your work seen. Many digital platforms are springing up which will provide you a broad base of online digital distribution. While you’re waiting for your book to be published in hard copy, you can make issues and have them available for sale digitally through download.

There are many ways to publish your book. First being able to pitch your literary draft to a publisher that aligns with your book's theme and genre, take into account reading the agreement word by word if you got a book deal, sometimes they can be great, and other times they can be misleading to the author. Another way would be self publishing, a bit trickier but with proper research, a set budget, and a clear plan, your first publication can go a long way. Pro tip; if you're self publishing, make sure to look into getting an ISBN range, in the case of selling worldwide. However, some platforms such as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), offer their own identification system for ebooks, which is separate from the ISBN.

In the case of working with a publisher, make sure you read the fine print in cases such as but not limited to; - Royalties; what would your percentage be as an author and/or illustrator of the book? Would there be a lump sum? - Indemnity: Read once, twice, and thrice your own rights and duties pre publishing and post publishing. - Free copies: it is your right to obtain a certain number of free copies that you can keep for personal documentation or otherwise, an ideal number would be no less than 30 copies.

You will find marketing and distribution to be the MOST IMPORTANT component of creating your book. There is no “set it and forget it”platform, where everyone will come running for your material because you made it available. There is no “Field of Dreams“. You MUST hustle to create awareness. Awareness creates sales.

Marketing is an important aspect when publishing your new book. There are a multitude of ways to be able to put yourself and your book out there, a few would be: 1- Word of mouth; People who support your work would be happy to put the word out, online and offline. 2- Social media; Use every social media you have in order to promote your book. 3- PR; If you have a small budget on the side, consider sending out PR packages to notable figures that align with your artistic integrity, goals, and common industry. 4-Book signing; An in-person event never goes out of style, consider doing a book signing event in your local community, bonus would be having content for your social media to market your book even further!

Thanks to social media, it is now easier to be able to reach out to news and media outlet, with a proposal to pitch your book either in a TV interview or in an article. When it comes to TV interviews, make sure to aim for dates that are either right before a book signing/launch, or immediately after, this is where it would be the most beneficial for you. As for article pitches, take time to do research about the writers who are in the Arts & Culture section before emailing them with your pitch about an article feature.

Do not become defensive to criticism. I’m going to say it again. DO NOT BECOME DEFENSIVE TO CRITICISM. Critics only provide an opinion. It is feedback that may guide you to improve your material for mass consumption. We all get it. How we deal with it is the difference between positive and negative sales. Always be gracious for feedback, whether you agree with it or not.