What makes almost any task a little easier?

Help! 🙂

That’s why combining forces with other authors or industry peeps is such a good idea when you’re working to market your books. We all have different spheres of influences, networks and contacts, friends and fans on social media. Cross-promotion and joint marketing efforts make SO much sense.

Here are a few ways I’ve teamed up with others recently:

1) I found release buddies. I checked out a few authors who had books coming out around the same time as mine. We tossed around a variety of ideas for joint giveaways, blog appearances, videos and more.

2) I’m in an author group that just this week began talking about ways to promote our books when we’re in between releases. We’re chatting about finding some way to work together to cross-promote in not-as-busy seasons.

3) Three friends and I formed a small marketing team and SO many of the ideas for my release promotions came from their brainstorming!

4) Two other authors and I all have books in the same genre releasing from the same publisher next spring. We’ve already been emailing ideas about blogs, vlogs and more as we prepare to cross-promote in the coming months.

But what if I’m not published yet?

Two weeks ago we talked about the first five tips I picked up along the way as I planned for my very first book launch party. The party was a blast! You can check out Part 1 here. Five more event marketing tips coming at ya today:

6) Give people the opportunity to stay connected after the party

Something like a launch party or book signing can be a great one-time interaction between you and readers, but how much better is it if you can find a way to stay connected after the party? I mentioned in Part 1 that I did a pretty big giveaway as part of my launch party. We had five grand prizes, worth about $25 a piece. In order to enter, though, people had to sign up for my newsletter list. I now have an avenue for staying in touch with these readers.

Other ways you could stay connected: Send a “thanks for coming” eblast to attendees, give them an incentive to visit your website after the party, post party photos on Facebook and invite attendees to tag themselves, etc.

7) Collect information

Going along with that last tip, because your attendees cared enough to come out to your event, they’re people you’ll want to consider for future launch teams or other book promotion opportunities. So don’t miss this chance to data-gather. Collect names and email addresses, for sure!

With social media dominating the marketing front these days, a lot of authors don’t give as much thought to publicity through events. And that’s understandable—events take time, money and, well, …