Welcome to marketing for authors. If you've written a book, or you're an aspiring author, you're in the right spot.
Book marketing is… tough. There’s no way to sugarcoat it.
You’ve spent countless hours writing, and after all the editing, formatting, and back and forth with the design, you’ve finally hit publish.
You’re standing with your book in hand, proud of your finished product, but that new book feeling starts to wear off when you notice your sales—or lack thereof.
Don’t get me wrong, being a published author is rewarding in and of itself, but you wrote the book hoping others would enjoy it just as much as you did.
So why hasn’t anyone noticed?
Well, if you’re an indie author, your book is up against a vast collection of classics, best-sellers, and viral BookTok/Bookstagram recommendations, all vying for readers’ attention. You’re a team of one against traditionally published books, with a team of editors, designers, and marketers helping those books reach readers.
The answer: copy. Traditional publishers know how to market, and they have resources. While indie authors don’t have access to all the same resources publishers have, you can employ some of the same strategies.
1. Make a plan.
No one starts building a house without first sitting down to draw out the blueprints.
Get organized. I use OneNote for all my resources, notes, and planning, but there are other programs as well (I’m looking to possibly switch to either Trello or Notion).
Clearly state your goals. Going viral is nice, but that’s not necessarily the goal. The goal is to sell more books. It can be easy to get caught up in going viral and gaining followers on social media, but don’t lose sight of your real goals. Follower and like counts are an ever-moving target, and enough is never really enough if those are the metrics you’re tracking.
Understand your audience. This is your ideal reader. Who is most likely to pick up your book? Sometimes the answer is more surprising than you’d think. I’ve had more men reading my fantasy books than women—though in hindsight that shouldn’t be that surprising given that it’s not romantasy and the covers are more subdued.
Make a marketing plan. With your goals and target audience in mind, decide on a path forward. This stage should be actionable steps to reach your goals.
My marketing plan includes a mix of social media, giveaways, a sprinkling of ads, blogging, and growing a newsletter. This is a broad stroke. My actual plan has dates and specific ads or giveaways.
2. Social Media
You have to go where your readers are. Building a presence on social media can help generate awareness and hype for an upcoming or new release. This step can be done before the book is even published.
Understand that follower counts are helpful but can also be misleading. Followers and likes don’t necessarily translate to sales.
That said, posting on social media is a free way to “advertise.” I use the word lightly here, as you don’t want your social media posts to feel like ads. You want them to feel authentic.
Platforms to Try:
Find a couple of platforms that work for you and your target audience.
Instagram & TikTok: Both platforms have an established booklover audience. On Instagram, it’s known as Bookstagram. This is no different from a regular account except the name is something book-related. On TikTok, it’s known as BookTok. Both are highly visual platforms. TikTok is best for short-form videos. While Instagram supports short videos (reels), it also utilizes images.
X (formerly Twitter), Threads, & BlueSky: These are all short, text-based platforms. Where you go depends on your own preference as well as your target audience. If you write poetry or fem lit, for example, you might struggle to promote it on X.
Facebook: This is pretty hit or miss. I see a lot of romance authors on Facebook, so I think there’s a market there. I also find a never-ending stream of people who pitch their services to authors here, as well as scammers.
I haven’t generated many sales from Facebook, and I’ve gotten strange results from the ads I’ve run. I experimented with two different $20 ads, one directly after Thanksgiving for the Black Friday sales and one on the heels of Christmas to reach readers looking for new ebooks after the holidays.
Facebook consistently shows my book to predominantly female readers over the age of 60 (even when I specify a younger age group). That’s not my target audience for my fantasy books. That’s the audience Facebook has found is the most likely to click on book ads. It’s led to a poor conversion rate.
That doesn’t mean your book wouldn’t benefit from a Facebook ad. They’re cheap and easy to experiment with.
Pinterest: This is an extremely visual-heavy environment. Users scroll through a feed and only click on the pins that stand out. The advantage here is that you can feature artwork related to your book and set up external links for users to follow. You can also reuse content from your Instagram. The square size from Instagram works for Pinterest.
YouTube: This works well for medium- to long videos. Gaining views and an audience can be a bit tricky, and like all social media, you’ll have to experiment to find what works. For example, if you write children's books, you can record read-alongs.
Substack: The platform for writers. Substack grew my newsletter faster than any other method. My posts revolve around fiction and helping aspiring authors. The platform gives me an audience who can choose to subscribe or read my newsletter directly in their feed.
What to Share: Share teasers, top quotes from your book, behind-the-scenes stories, and art related to your book. Engage with readers in your genre’s communities and participate in trending hashtags like #BookTok or #Bookstagram.
Focus on building a brand and posting on brand. What does your target audience like? This might have to be tweaked for different platforms, but I regularly cross-post to save time.
To give examples, I’ve seen some authors have success with short videos featuring interesting facts or posts about historical places (this would work best if you write historical fiction).
Tip: Canva is a free (with premium features) program that can help create eye-catching graphics and posts. Search their templates to save time and then fix them up for your brand.
3. Author Website or Blog
There are free website builders if you use the website’s domain (Wix and WordPress are two). You can always experiment with a free website and then upgrade to a custom domain later.
Tip: Take a look at the paid versions before you create your free website to save time later so you don’t have to move all your content to another platform.
How to Use: Create a simple site to showcase your book, share updates, sales, and news on new releases. You can also experiment with blogging on your website or even post other content.
I write fantasy books, but I showcase some of my Substack posts for my blog and even post poetry on my website.
4. Email Newsletter
Starting a newsletter can seem daunting. But ultimately, you’re in control. Social media sites can get banned or change their algorithms. Audiences may leave for another site. You own your own content with a newsletter, and your message reaches readers directly.
To get a following, you’ll likely need a reader magnet—something free to offer when people sign up for your newsletter. I offered my ebook for free to start my newsletter. Of course, you can skip that if you’re writing on Substack, where connections outperform freebies.
There are free sites (up to a certain number of subscribers) such as MailerLite, Mailchimp, Kit (previously ConvertKit), and Substack.
Substack has been crucial for my newsletter growth. My Kit newsletter sat stagnant for a month before I tried Substack and found an audience.
Recently, Kit has made some changes, and they now offer smart recommendations so your newsletter automatically shows up on similar creators’ landing pages. They also let you choose to recommend other newsletters, and I’ve seen the most growth from another author who started recommending my newsletter. This is great because my growth doesn’t rely on social media alone.
Kit is also nice because they let you set up a tip jar and digital products. I sell my ebook directly on Kit and currently am experimenting with a 50% off sale.
5. Guest Posts/Interviews
Collaborate with others. Feature authors and guests on your website or podcast. If offered, write guest posts on other authors' blogs or book-related websites. Consider accepting any offers you may receive or even reach out to be interviewed on podcasts or blogs. This increases visibility and attracts readers from other authors' fan bases.
6. Reddit and Forums
Find more tips on writing, publishing, and marketing on subreddits like r/SelfPublishing, r/indieauthors, or r/ebooks.
Be mindful not to spam; focus on genuine interaction. Many subreddits don’t allow self-promotion.
It’s a great place to meet other indie authors.
Try one of these methods this week and see how it works for you.
Coming next week: The Art of Book Promotion, Part 2 (and my list of helpful resources).
Happy Writing!
Janine Eaby
