The marketing decisions made before the release of a book are important because it allows your audience to find you

The tactics you use to market your book before its release are some of the determining factors in how well it will do with your audience.

The difference with marketing children’s books is that you need to find ways to reach an audience who can’t purchase the product themselves.

This means trying to figure out ways to get your book into their hands and helping them fall in love with your story. Which also means providing some opportunities for them to see and experience it for free.

If you can accomplish this, then you are well on your way to reaching your target audience.

Here are three ways to market your children’s picture book before release:

Post a Read-A-Loud on YouTube

A wonderful way for your young readers to see your book before they buy it is to record your book being read aloud.

This is simple to do and can be done with a program such as Camtasia by recording your voice and pairing the recording with each page of your book. Adding transitions and music at the beginning and end of the video also makes a huge impact. And then wrapping up the end of the video with an image of when and where the book will be available is great.

After the read-aloud video is complete, sharing it on social media is the next step in addition to posting it on your website.

Create a Learning Kit

Being able to make your book into a learning tool is a great way to get your book in front of your audience.

Better yet, if you can create branch-off activities that pair with your book, this opens the door for childcare centers and schools to use it as part of their curriculum. You can also make it available online in places such as teachers-pay-teachers, Gumroad, and your website. Another recommendation is that you list it for free because it will increase the chances that your learning kit is used.

Another consideration is to pre-make several kits, make them ready to use, and offer them free to childcare centers in your area with a free copy of your book.

Little Free Libraries:

Little Free Libraries are one of the most under-utilized tools around.

Even if you aren’t making immediate revenue from placing it there, there is a higher chance that this book will be shown to potential customers. And there is also a higher chance that you will receive a review.

Once you place a copy in there, you need to be sure to share on social media which Free Little Library you placed it in and tell potential readers a little bit about it.

However, when choosing a Little Free Library, be sure to place your book in a box that receives decent foot traffic. Doing so will increase your chances of it being picked up.

Marketing is everything when trying to reach your readers, but creating free opportunities for your young audience to see your work is crucial.

Taking the time and thought into what you create in accordance with your book will get your far.