Conferences and events are ideal spaces for marketing your academic book. Many people with an active interest in your research areas are rarely gathered into one space, so it’s necessary to take advantage of this. In this article, we’ll show you how to market your academic book at conferences and events to maximise visibility.

Speak about your research when marketing your academic book

Speaking about your research is the most direct way to market your academic book. The best way to do this is to give a talk at a conference or event.

Reach out to conferences or events suitable for your academic book. Your editor or publisher will help you identify relevant conferences and events. When you know the people in attendance are likely to be interested in your research fields, that’s a great foundation to build upon.

Preparation can help you engage with your audience. Write down your academic book’s key concepts and takeaways. This will help you communicate the originality of your research and how your book advances the literature in your field.

It’s good to be professional, but don’t be afraid to be personable. Tell a story of how you first became interested in your book’s topics. Give the audience an idea of who you are and why your research is simultaneously unique to you but representative of a shared interest or issue. If audiences are interested in what you have to say, they’ll want to engage in your book’s journey.

Utilise your academic book’s promotional material

If you’re attending a conference or event, inform any editors and marketers of your presence so that they can provide you with promotional material.

MDPI Books will provide you with standard print materials such as hard copies of your book and book flyers (the latter can be downloaded from the individual book webpage for each of our Open Access books). These materials are your go-to tools for marketing your academic book.

If you want to go a step further, you can purchase a custom book stand. Having your academic book displayed vertically rather than flat on a table will help you catch the attention of people passing your booth.

You can be creative as you want with the design, but make sure it aligns with the colours of your academic book. Don’t forget to include QR codes for people to scan. This is a great way to direct people to buy a physical copy of your academic book from the publisher’s website.

Commit to networking

Networking is a crucial part of marketing your academic book. A large majority of conference or event attendees will likely be involved in your chosen research fields. Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself. And remember to trade contact information and social media handles.

If you already use social media to network and you’re speaking at an event, invite your fellow academics and authors to attend your talk. This a great opportunity for you to market your academic book. It’s also a useful way to meet people, providing the perfect icebreaker for others to introduce themselves to you.

When others aren’t coming to you, go out and find them. It might be tempting as an author to sit behind a booth and wait for other people to show an interest in your academic book. But standing up and engaging with people passing your booth shows enthusiasm and approachability. This kind of method is desirable and will make people more receptive to your product.

A good tip is to always carry a copy of your academic book. This makes it easier if other attendees or authors want to purchase your book or discover more about it. Prepare for such interactions by practicing an ‘elevator pitch’. This is a 30–60-second overview of the main argument of your academic book. The more succinct and striking your pitch, the more chances you have of selling copies.

Document your experience of a conference or event

We live in an era of social media and live updates. This is handy for marketing your academic book. Some authors may be reluctant to partake in social media posting. But there are many reasons why you should document your experience of a conference or event online.

Sharing updates from the conference or event as they happen live allows you to become a topical and relevant source of information. This in turn helps you market yourself in future. Here are some simple ways to document your experience of a conference or event.

• Share photos! Take pictures of your book that’s for sale, the people that you meet, talks that are underway. This helps create a sense of intimacy between you and your followers.
• Post your key takeaways from talks and sessions. Attendees and those following the event on social media like to interact with any buzz generated around these events. Be a source of this buzz, and don’t forget to utilise the appropriate hashtags.
• Write a blog post about your experience of a conference or event. This is a great way to reflect on your experience. Additionally, it also creates an opportunity to market your book to those who didn’t get to attend.

Documenting your experience of a conference or event can generate lots of attention. With each online engagement with your post, you’re widening your online presence and reaching new potential readers.

Marketing your academic book is all about engagement

If there’s one common thread uniting all these talking points, it’s engagement. Being a proactive presence at these conferences and events allows you to take advantage of marketing your academic book. Going out of your way to create even just one interaction could generate a ripple of attention surrounding your academic book.

Want to increase the visibility and dissemination of your academic book beyond conferences and events? Read our general guide on how to market your academic book.