Partner to Promote Your Book: Springer Nature Affiliate Programme

Author: Christabell Ndive

Becoming an academic book author is no small task. Most manuscripts don’t make it that far. However, with thousands of books published every year, you’ll need to find ways to make yours stand out from the crowd and be noticed.

Getting involved in promoting your book is crucial. Although your publisher will guide you, it’s important to find a good mix of promotional activities that work for you, including social media, conferences, blog posts to name but a few. In our last post, we looked at networking and sharing, and heard the advice of seasoned authors on what worked for them and why. In this post we’ll be focusing on partnerships, and how these can be a key element of successful book promotions.

Partnering – what it is and how to do it

“Surely I’ll have my hands full as it is?”, I hear you say. It’s true that you can achieve great results through more standard book promotions, but partnerships go that one step further.

Partnering in the research information life cycle means collaborating with others to achieve common objectives. It’s a longer-term relationship with a strategic approach that’s of mutual benefit to all involved. The Springer Nature Author Affiliate Programme works to do just that, focusing on common goals with authors and sharing successes. But let’s look first at some of the ways you can forge mutually beneficial relationships with those around you to help get your book known.

Firstly, share some of the work (and reap the benefits) by collaborating with other authors in fields similar to yours. Work together by cross-promoting your books, leveraging each other’s networks and resources such as your websites, social media and email contacts. Create a significant joint presence, and share the costs, at conferences and events such as book launches and workshops. You might even work together to create joint blog posts promoting your books.

Although your book’s primary audience may be the research community, don’t forget the people in between, who work to get copies out there. Make contact with your local bookstore, or other specialist booksellers relevant to your field, as they may well be interested in creating a display, organising an event, or highlighting your book on their website. And don’t forget your library, whether local to you or at your institution, who can promote your book through displays, talks or workshops. After all, they stand to benefit as much as you do from the increased interest in your book.

Lastly don’t forget publishers. Your relationship with your publisher has huge potential for joint ventures.

Partnering with your publisher 

Having signed a contract with your publisher, you’re already in partnership with them, as you both stand to benefit from the common aim of disseminating copies of your book as far and wide as possible. So it makes sense to work on this partnership, in a number of ways. 

• First of all, it’s important to be proactive. From the very start, go the extra mile when it comes to communicating with editorial and marketing. As we’ve already seen, you’re one of many other authors they’ll be working with, so do what you can to connect with them. Stay connected - keep those lines of communication open! 
• When your publisher asks you for supporting information about your book, and about yourself, give them as much information as you can. You’re the expert in your particular field and you know more about the book’s audience than anyone else. For example, they might ask you to share your contacts so they can market your book to them and seek review opportunities. They might also look to highlight relevant societies and organisations who could advocate it to their members. They have teams who work on promoting the books they publish, so make the most of this – it’s free!
• Follow your publisher’s advice on how to promote your book. However busy your schedule, make time to follow this advice as it comes from experts and is tried and tested. 
• Bear in mind any specific opportunities your publisher offers, such as publicity events or panel discussions. Be ready and willing so you don’t miss out on the visibility, both for you and your book.
• Consider any commercial ventures your publisher might suggest to you, such as the Springer Nature Author Affiliate Programme.

Increasing your impact in partnership with Springer Nature

The Springer Nature Author Affiliate Programme is an opportunity for authors to share in the success of their books. By embedding a link to the Springer Nature online shop on your website, social media or networks, you’ll earn commission on the sale of your book, and any other products that sell through that link. It’s a very simple process - the Springer Nature support team will provide you with free advice and the tools you need to get started.

Not only do you benefit from your book’s increased exposure, and impact, but you’ll also share in the financial benefits. At Springer Nature we recognise that we too gain from your efforts in this partnership so we want to give something back.

The Author Affiliate Programme - a popular initiative

Currently there are 206 authors partnering with Springer Nature in the Programme, and many more have participated since its inception in 2018. It’s easy to join – once you’ve registered and your application has been accepted, you’ll receive your membership information and instructions on how to get started. And once you’ve started promoting your book via the Springer Nature shop, you can measure your progress with reports which analyse the statistics on your account.

Springer Nature are here to help  

Partnering with you in the Author Affiliate Programme is just one of the ways Springer Nature try to help authors on their publishing journey. We recognise the longer-term value of working together with a common aim, and we encourage you to join us in this initiative!

You can find out more about other ways we support you at our author hub, where you’ll also find a wide range of tools and advice on how to promote your book.