In years past an author was limited in what they could do to market their books. Not only were their time constraints, budgets were a huge consideration.
With the onslaught of Social Media the possibilities are endless and very abundant. A great way to market a book is to use video. Add this to your marketing mix to increase your potential for sales.
Here then are 7 tips and tricks for using video to market your book…
1. Keep ‘em short.
It doesn’t matter where you are posting your videos, in most cases it is a good idea to keep them relatively short.  One to three minutes is plenty for a book trailer, reading or information about the book. Use the video as a “sneak preview” of the book.
2. Post videos on your blog.
 It takes more than simply posting on YouTube or other video sites. Posting the video on your blog with a short article about the book or a short excerpt can be very effective.
You can also use videos to share more about the book and what the reader will get from the book.
3. Choose your keywords carefully.
If you’re loading your videos onto YouTube, choose keywords that your market is currently using to find information in your niche. You may also choose keywords that match those being used alongside other popular videos in your niche.
4. Create a call to action.
You should create at least one call to action in your video, where you tell people exactly what you want them to do. Do you want them to go to Amazon, Barnes and Noble or your blog? Tell them so. They absolutely need to know what the next step is. Especially if the next step is to buy your book.
5. Encourage comments.
People tend to feel more connected if they are invited to comment. This is about building rapport so put effort into this.
6. Blog about your video.
Another way to promote your video is to blog about it. If you embed your video on your blog, then encourage your visitors to bookmark it using Digg.com, StumbleUpon.com or similar.
7. Ask others to share your video with their prospects and customers.
Yet another away to promote your video is by asking people you know  to mention it in their newsletters, blog about it and share it with their social media contacts.
Videos are now a “must have” for those who want extended reach for their books. If you are not yet using video I encourage you to begin sooner, rather than later, to do so.