Of all of the things you do as an author, book marketing can be the most overwhelming. There is so much advice out there and it seems there is so much you’re supposed to be doing that it can be hard to know where to focus your book marketing energy.
The thing is, you don’t need to do it all, all of the time. This leads to burnout and that’s not sustainable. Book marketing is a long-term effort and your budget includes your energy and time, not just money. And I believe the whole process should be more joyful and less of a burden.
Yes, it seems there are a million ways to market your book, but to get the best results it’s about finding what works best for you and sticking with it. This means taking into consideration your budget(emotional budget included), your skill set and your natural inclinations—in other words, your strengths.
Below, I’ll cover some different styles of book marketing strategies, so you can choose which ones would work best for you, instead of getting lost in a sea of marketing must-dos.
Going High Visibility with Your Book Marketing Energy
If you’re not a shy writer(as is the stereotype), putting yourself out there and being highly visible will be less of an effort for you than for someone who truly hates the idea of calling attention to themselves. Promoting yourself can feel a bit icky for many people, and blatant, out there self-promotion isn’t the right strategy for anyone who is even remotely shy. So focusing your book marketing energy on going high visibility probably isn’t the right strategy if the idea of being seen and heard on a larger level makes you cringe.
But just because you’re an author, doesn’t mean you don’t have social skills, or an existing online platform. So, if you already like to be out and about online or in the real world, use this to your advantage.
Getting Out There Online
If you’re already on social media a lot and have a following, you probably feel comfortable with it. If this is the case, then why not focus your book marketing energy here? You’ll still need a strategy and you’ll have to shift your focus to more promotional content, but using a platform and strategy you’re already familiar with is much better than starting from scratch.
Fortunately, within this area of book marketing you have many options. If you like your voice to be heard, if you like sharing things with your audience, and if you have a talent for visual content creation, social media is for you. But what platform do you go with?
- LinkedIn?
- Twitter/X?
- Facebook?
- Instagram?
- TikTok?
But Which Platform Should I Focus My Book Marketing Energy On?
Go where your audience is! Where you will find your audience will depend a lot on your genre, of course. But it also depends on where you’re most comfortable. You could use your Instagram as a marketing platform by creating polished visual content in both photo and video format. If you’re brave, you could branch out and move to TikTok and see how you fare in the BookTok community. It’s up to you.
Remember, the point is to do what works best for you so your book marketing plan is sustainable and joyful. Forcing yourself to focus your book marketing energy on strategies that drain your energy will only lead to burnout.
Want to know more about which social platform to choose? You can read about that here.
Focusing Your Book Marketing Energy on Getting Out There in Person
If you thrive on making connections and have extroverted tendencies, then focusing your book marketing energy on in-person engagement will likely be a winning strategy for you. And luckily, there are plenty of opportunities to do this sort of in-person work. Charisma can go a long way, and it doesn’t always come through on social media.
If you’re a book-loving author and already have a relationship with your local bookstore, you can ask them about stocking your book when it’s released, or even scheduling a reading or launch event. You can do the same if you’re involved in any writing groups, or other clubs or activities, if appropriate. These social events can be fun and community building, so they don’t even seem like you’re out there promoting yourself and your book.
If you’ve written a nonfiction book and the topic is related to your career field or area of expertise you can reach out to your colleagues, colleges and other organizations for a guest speaking opportunity.
There are also so many writers conferences out there where you can rent a booth and sell your book, apply for a speaking or teaching slot, or just go and network and hand out your business card, your book, or other promotional material. These are great places to meet like-minded people too.
I’m sure you can think of other in-person opportunities to apply your book marketing energy that will allow you to make connections and be out in the world. Sometimes you just have to get creative! If you’re not shy or reserved, it will also be easier for you to reach out and ask for book reviews, which are a huge driver of book sales.
Book Marketing Strategies for the Quiet and Shy
Now, I realize many of you fit into this more subdued category of author. You may be introverted, or just very adverse to directly promoting yourself and your book. Though, a solid author platform does wonders and I usually recommend trying to put at least some of your book marketing energy into direct promotion, you can do a lot behind the scenes to market your book. And don’t forget, submitting your book for reviews in industry publications doesn’t take out-there energy.
It will just take a different kind of effort. There will also be a bit of a learning curve. But that’s okay! You can do it with a little work.
Use Your Book Marketing Energy on an Author Website and Email List
I believe an author website is an absolute necessity and you’ll need one as a bare minimum. Why? Because it is an owned marketing asset that you control. It is your home base and the foundation of your platform. This makes a website your most powerful marketing tool. So even if you go all in and put all your book marketing energy into a strong social media presence, I highly recommend you also have at least a one page author website.
But an author website will really serve you well—especially if you’re social media averse—if you use it to build an email list. By building your audience and keeping them engaged with a valuable newsletter, or regular blog, you’re creating loyal fans. Another benefit of this is that you are able to speak directly to your audience. This means you can keep them up to date on your book release and promotions and anything and everything else you want to share with them. These blogs and newsletters can be a mix of personal, informational and promotional. They just need to be consistent and your goal should be to always grow your email list.
This strategy works best for those of you that have a natural inclination to communicate through the written word and enjoy expressing yourself this way.
The Get Technical and Spend Some Money Options
Although most of your book marketing can be totally free, sometimes spending money is the best option. When you have very little time or energy for book marketing and you have the monetary budget, spending money in the right way can make a big difference. If you’re not great at creating images on sites like Canva, you can hire a freelancer to create them for you. Not getting the results you hoped for from ads and other promotional materials? You can hire a copywriter. You can pay a fee to have your book featured in industry magazines like the IBPA bookstore catalog. These all require less effort on your part, but you’ll be dipping into your monetary budget.
You can spend some of your monetary budget:
- On paid ads on Amazon and Facebook, etc.
- Hiring freelance copywriters and designers
- Renting a booth at a conference
- Ads in industry catalogs
- On tools like Publisher Rocket(this helps with keywords on Amazon)
Understanding and Using SEO and Keywords for Book Marketing
If you’ve found you’ve tapped out your monetary budget, or want to spend it elsewhere, you can focus some of your book marketing energy on learning about SEO and the power of keywords.
Both of these options work together to boost your book’s visibility. Using SEO and keywords as part of your book marketing strategy will take a bit of research and effort, but this can pay off in a big way.
An optimized website means more visibility and keyword usage can mean the difference between sales or invisibility on Amazon.
You can read more about SEO and keywords for authors on the Monkey C Media blog.
The good news is, you can absolutely learn to do this yourself and if you’re a behind-the-scenes type of author, putting your book marketing energy towards knowledge of the subjects will prove to be a big part of your marketing success. However, if you just don’t have the time, or it seems like a burden to you, you may want to consider spending some of your monetary budget on this aspect of your book marketing strategy. Because SEO and keywords matter a lot for the big picture. But reserving your energy and maintaining a sense of joy in the process is also essential to a successful book marketing strategy.
This book marketing strategy can work well for those that love research and or games and puzzles that challenge you. Because it does take some trial and error and analyzing to see what works best.
Remember, It’s About Sustainability
Don’t burn out all your book marketing energy on strategies that don’t work for you.
Using any of these strategies in conjunction will help whatever book marketing energy you can put in really pay off. It’s just a matter of being consistent and sticking with a plan. You can use both of the shy writer tactics, or you can switch it up between putting yourself out there and staying behind the scenes. You could also do the bare minimum, if that’s all you can manage. But work hard on that bare minimum. Make sure your website is amazing, build that email list and engage your audience with a regular blog or newsletter.
Ultimately, whichever way you decide to spend your energy and budget, it’s about what is sustainable for you.
