Hello Reader,

As I prepare for the launch of my 16th book (my 2nd novel - the others are all nonfiction of various genres), I put on my "author" hat instead of consultant hat, and am reminded of how much goes into marketing a book - both before the launch and after.

The book launch and marketing process can be a very long and daunting checklist, especially if you don't have a large following.

From building your ARC team so that you have reviewers ready when the book goes live, to placing the book for trade and reader reviews, coordinating or participating in virtual or in person book tours and events, to determining what type of short and long-term advertising and marketing campaigns to employ, there's a lot to consider.

I wish there was an Easy Button, but I have yet to find it yet. Even my author friends who have published over 20 books with thousands of reviews and followers still market each launch and all of their books with vigor. Because no one wants to turn off that spigot once it's on, but if you don't have a growing audience, your book sales will decline.

I can tell you, if you have a solid strategy and give yourself plenty of runway before the launch, and pre-plan some activities for the year after the launch, you'll see better results.

There are some very universal book marketing success tactics that apply across all authors and all genres. Especially for those authors that are looking to build an empire. (If an empire sounds too daunting, we can roll back to those with the desire to earn money through your books and grow your author business.)

Book Marketing Tips - beyond the launch

1. Always work on growing your audience - even if you're using social media or traditional media, make sure you're directing them back to your email list. Right now the trend is definitely leaning toward all things VIDEO - so knowing and understanding how to dominate live video (whether you're in the video or NOT) - is a pretty critical skill for those looking to grow beyond your friends and family or existing audience. Video is key to all genres. Nonfiction authors may be creating content as a thought leader. Fiction authors may be creating fun trailers, character profiles, or short videos of reviews, etc. Video can be repurposed across all social media channels, and is the fastest growing form of content. TIP: Create videos in both landscape and horizontal so that you can use on all social media channels. Canva offers some really easy templates to making cool videos if you're not a video pro. These can be easily downloaded and then uploaded to your social media.
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2. Understand how to talk to your audience and share your story. When you can create good narratives around what you're marketing, you'll have a much easier time pulling people in to your world. This "story" will vary from genre to genre, obviously. Nonfiction books will be focused on your actual story, whereas fiction, the story will be crafted more around your genre and characters. Children's book authors will likely be crafting stories around the key themes of the book. Regardless of genre, engaging stories to pull in readers are key to growing your audience. How do you learn how to share your story effectively? Find what resonates with your target audience and practice.
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3. Use your backlist (or other content and resources) to pull in new readers to your community. This can be dowe through paid promotion campaigns, incentives for joining your email list, and more. If you want to keep selling books beyond the launch, you must find new readers and audiences. Continuing to post on social media (that isn't likely growing really fast) or sending emails to the same people who have been there all along, is not going to get more sales. You've got to have new readers.
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4. Sell from your own website. My goodness, it is expensive to publish and market a book. So, when marketing to our own audience, why would we share the royalites with anyone else? (Assuming you're self-published.) Granted, this strategy takes a lot more thought, effort, and a willingness to partner with other companies, or be willing to handle all of the orders on your own, but you can make a lot more money AND get customer data when you're sending people directly to your own audience. Many authors are focusing on direct sales to make more money from their books.
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5. Learn and understand how publicity and PR work to help you grow beyond your own audience and how to gain the most from publicity around your book. Also, leverage other people's audiences - partnerships, collaborations, and other opportunities will help you gain new readers.

As I said, no Easy Button here. These strategies take thought, planning, time and financial investment, and won't have overnight results. But they will garner long term results.

I am so committed to these five key marketing tenets, I built an entire in person marketing conference focusing on them. We have incredible experts lined up who are going to speak to each of the 5 concepts detailed above and MORE.

The training at our event is going to be amazing, but more importantly, the networking and connections, both with the speakers, sponsors, and other attendees, will help you in ways you might never imagine.

Our book marketing conference will be held in Charlotte, NC, Oct. 4-6, 2024. If you'd like to learn more, please go here. We would love to have you join us!

What is the biggest challenge you've had in marketing your books? Or, if you have some great successes you'd like to share, reply with those too!

Write on!

Alexa

Alexa Bigwarfe

Author Coach, Publishing Consultant, & Book Marketing Enthusiast

Host, Women in Publishing Summit

​Get your ticket to our book marketing conference before tickets sell out!​

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