Book Notes: How to Market a Book by Joanna Penn
Written by renowned author-entrepreneur Joanna Penn (of TheCreativePenn.com), How to Market a Book is a powerful reference guide that teaches authors how promote their books and build lucrative and long-lasting creative careers.
Written by renowned author-entrepreneur Joanna Penn (of TheCreativePenn.com), How to Market a Book is a powerful reference guide that teaches authors how promote their books and build lucrative and long-lasting creative careers.
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(note: this post contains affiliate links)
Who is this book for?
This book is geared toward any author interested in earning significant income from their published books. Both traditional and independent authors can benefit from the variety of insights the book contains, as can novelists, non-fiction authors, poets, and anyone interested in publishing a profitable book.
How has this book impacted my writing life?
How to Market a Book is by far the most detailed guide I’ve read on topics such as establishing an author platform, promoting a book, and building a long-lasting, sustainable career as a published author.
By covering such a wide variety of book marketing strategies, How to Market a Book not only taught me the ins and outs of successful book marketing; it helped me understand which strategies I don’t want to employ so I can focus on building a creative career that best aligns with my personality and vision.
With so much wisdom to offer, I call upon this reference guide every time I’m ready to explore a new book marketing tactic, and I plan to plumb the depths of its insights for many years to come.
Favorite Quotes
"Marketing is sharing what you love with people who appreciate hearing about it.”
"Marketing from a personal perspective is about people getting to know, like, and trust us. It's about delivering value and not just being about the sale."
“Strategy is deciding what you want to do, and perhaps more importantly, what you don't want to do.”
Summary & Key Takeaways
Over the last decade, Joanna Penn has published sixteen novels and eight non-fiction books. Collectively, those books have sold over 500,000 copies in 83 countries and made Penn both a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.
According to Penn, “None of this would have been possible without learning how to market my books. But only a few years ago, I had nothing.”
Building a successful career as a published author is possible, but you need a strong understanding of core book marketing strategies to succeed. How to Market a Book is Penn’s definitive guide to the good stuff — the time-tested techniques that will help you slowly but surely build your creative career.
The insights in How to Market a Book are divided into five parts:
Marketing Principles
Your Book Fundamentals
No Platform Needed: Short-Term Marketing
Your Author Platform: Long-Term Marketing
Marketing Strategy and Book Launches
Let’s cover the key insights from each part of the book in turn…
Part One: Marketing Principles
Many authors claim that they don't like marketing, but this doesn't have to be the case. As Penn writes, "Marketing is sharing what you love with people who appreciate hearing about it.” It’s getting your book into the hands of the people who are most likely to enjoy it.
Marketing may be key to experiencing financial success as an author, but the good news is that marketing can also be a creative act. After all, it’s storytelling that typically helps consumers understand why they should buy a product. You’ll learn many ways to implement creative skills in your marketing throughout the book.
That said, it’s important to understand upfront that successful book marketing requires a significant investment of time and/or money. The key to making this investment worthwhile is to market your books with intention, the first step of which is to understand the various types of marketing available to you.
The Many Types of Book Marketing
Generally speaking, book marketing can be short-term or long-term in nature. Short-term marketing can help you spike your book sales for a limited period of time, but if you want to find long-term success as an author, then you'll need to consider long-term marketing as well.
Another way to categorize book marketing strategies is by determining what each tactic will help you achieve. Some marketing tactics result in direct sales while others will help you build your author brand, reach new readers, and/or engage with your existing readership.
Most book marketing strategies can be classified as direct or indirect. Direct book marketing strategies help readers discover your books’ listings (e.g., a paid ad links to your book’s sales page), while indirect marketing helps readers discover your books through other aspects of your platform (e.g., your social media channels, author website, a speaking gig).
Some authors enjoy data-based marketing, in which they target readers largely through paid ad campaigns. Others prefer community-based marketing that sees them build and engage with their readership through online and in-person events.
Regardless of the many types of book marketing, the most important thing to do is get started. If you’re still writing your debut book, then it’s okay to forgo any thoughts of marketing for now. However, if you’re already published or preparing to do so, then the time to begin marketing is now.
Part Two: Your Book Fundamentals
To successfully market a book, you must first produce a great product. Remember, your book is competing with millions of other books on the market, so don't skip the important work of creating a high-quality book.
One key step to creating a high-quality book (and, by extension, to marketing your book successfully) is to identify your target market. After all, if you don't know who you're writing for, then you’ll struggle to promote your book.
When defining your ideal reader, be specific. Consider all the little details that comprise the person who is most likely to love your book. Then, using that knowledge, define your book’s genre and sub-genre, marketplace categories, and comparable published books. These elements will prove helpful as you prepare to promote your book.
Writing a Book Description
As an author, your book’s description is one of its most important marketing tools; it tells readers what they can expect from your book so they can decide whether it’s worth their time and money.
To craft a great description, first review comparable titles in your genre and rewrite their descriptions in your own hand to get a sense of how they work.
Great fiction descriptions often start with a hook that intrigues readers. They then provide a genre-specific introduction to the book, highlighting the main characters, setting, and core conflict. Fiction descriptions most often wrap up with a question (literal or figurative) that piques readers’ curiosity.
Alternatively, non-fiction books often center around a specific topic or problem that the book explores. This topic or problem is what you want to highlight in your book’s description.
When writing a non-fiction description, don’t get too technical. Instead, use language your readers will understand. That said, don’t hesitate to establish your expertise, and always tell readers what they’ll learn from your book.
Choosing Categories and Keywords
"You might not want to put your book in a box or a genre or a category, but you have to, because that's how a lot of readers find their next book," says Penn.
Most readers derive expectations for a book from its title, cover, and listing description. If your book fails to meet those expectations, then you can likely expect a number of negative ratings and reviews.
One way to clearly establish what readers can expect from your book is to ensure you list it in the most accurate niche categories. If you aren’t sure what categories would best represent your book, then check out comparable book listings for insights.
Another great way to establish readers’ expectations is to utilize keywords in your book’s metadata that accurately describe your book.
In short, a keyword is a word or phrase that describes (or is associated) with your book. They’re often the words that readers search online when seeking their next great read.
With that in mind, consider using the Amazon search engine (which auto-populates popular search terms as you type) to research good keywords for your book. Start typing words that your ideal readers might search when looking for a new book, and see what crops up.
Once you’ve compiled a list of keywords that appeal to your target audience, use those keywords in your book’s subtitle, description, and metadata fields to ensure the algorithm shows your book’s listing to your ideal readers.
The Importance of Your Book’s First Pages
Your book’s cover, title, and description might pique readers’ interest, but many readers won’t purchase your book before reviewing its inside look.
An inside look is a sample of your book’s opening pages. If you want these pages to serve as a powerful marketing tool, then ensure they’re packed with valuable content (e.g., an introduction with a hook, a strong first chapter). All those acknowledgments and dedications? Save ‘em for after The End.
Should You Go Wide or Stay Exclusive?
Exclusivity refers to the act of opting into Amazon’s KDP Select program, which necessitates that you publish exclusively with Amazon.
Enrolling in KDP Select will make your book available to Kindle Unlimited readers, who pay a monthly subscription rate to access thousands of books for “free.” Authors who enroll in KDP Select earn a variety of benefits, including per-page-read income from Kindle Unlimited users.
Because Kindle Unlimited is a highly popular subscription service, staying exclusive can be a lucrative option for many authors, especially those who write in popular genres or produce series. However, enrolling in KDP Select means that you can’t publish your book in other online marketplaces.
This second option — going wide — refers to selling your book in multiple online marketplaces, which can be a great way to generate additional income streams and diversify your readers. However, these markets are currently much smaller than Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. Choosing to go wide means that authors will miss out on the benefits of staying exclusive and enrolling in KDP Select.
The good news is that authors have successfully built careers using both publishing options. Understanding the pros and cons of each option is key to choosing the best path for you and your books.
Three Ways to Boost Your Long-Term Income
In parts three and four, Penn explores paid advertising and platform-building — two of the most popular ways to expand your book’s reach and revenue. But before diving in, she first discusses three ways to boost your long-term sales without using ongoing marketing tactics.
The first strategy is to harness the power of pricing. Pricing is absolutely a marketing tool. If you price your book higher than most others in your genre, then it will likely struggle to sell. Price it too low and readers might equate its cost with its quality.
When pricing your book, don’t just account for genre expectations; also consider how much you’ll make per sale. Understand the royalty rates available to you, as well as production costs, to ensure you’re earning a reasonable profit margin per sale.
One lucrative way to harness the power of pricing as a marketing tool is to list your book for free. While this method might result in a short-term loss, listing a book for free allows readers to try a new author without risk, which can ultimately result in more sales of additional books — especially when those books are part of a series.
The second way to boost your long-term income without employing an ongoing marketing tactic is to offer box sets and otherwise bundle your offerings.
Box sets are a great way to offer several books (or the entirety of a series) at one great price. You can even collaborate with other authors to create an exclusive box set to help cross-pollinate your audiences. Box sets offer readers amazing bang for their buck while helping authors earn greater revenue from a single listing.
The last way to boost your long-term income without an ongoing marketing strategy is to write a series.
It’s much easier to sell books to a repeat customer than a new one, especially if you’ve cultivated an active way to reach them on the spot. Offering new books in a series is a great way to keep existing readers coming back for more, and, as a bonus, series are often easier for authors to produce since they already have a world (or concept) in place.
Part Three: No Platform Needed — Short-Term Marketing
Many marketing strategies allow you to experience a short-term boost in sales without the need for an existing platform (i.e., the ability to immediately reach an existing readership).
Strategy 1: Generate Positive Ratings & Reviews
Positive ratings and reviews provide potential readers with an impression of whether or not they’ll like your book.
Because this social proof can greatly influence whether a reader decides to purchase, it’s important to encourage readers to leave positive ratings and reviews on your books’ listings.
One easy way to do this is by giving books away for free in exchange for an honest rating and review. You can also leave a note in your book’s back matter that prompts readers to leave a review if they enjoyed your book. It’s also not uncommon for authors to ask their existing readership to leave reviews via their social media platforms or email list.
Some authors even seek public reviews from book bloggers, who post reviews on their blog, Youtube channel, or social media accounts. Successfully pitching a book blogger can be difficult because their work is in high demand.
You’ll likely experience greater success by pitching bloggers who specifically review books in your genre. Make your pitch personal, always respect their time and guidelines, and ensure your book is as high-quality as can be.
Strategy 2: Paid Advertising
Many authors shy away from paid advertising because of the financial expense. However, it's important to think of the cost of advertising as an investment in your writing career rather than an expense.
Paid ads hold powerful marketing potential. Not only can they help increase your book sales; they can also help you reach new readers, grow your email list, and otherwise develop your author platform.
While most authors use paid advertising as a short-term marketing tactic, buying ads to promote a sale or book launch, authors who publish a high volume of books often find success using paid advertising as their primary marketing tactic because it allows them to spend more time writing than engaging in other time-intensive marketing strategies.
Paid advertising is also a great option for authors who are just starting out and don’t yet have a platform, as it can help them reach their early readers. It can even help authors publishing under multiple pen names who don’t have the time and energy to develop a traditional platform multiple times over.
In the short term, you can use paid ads to spike sales during a promotion period. You can even run ads on paid book promotion sites such as BookBub to advertise directly to readers looking for a deal.
That said, the most popular advertising networks for authors are Facebook Ads and Amazon Advertising.
With Facebook, you can target a variety of audiences, including your email list subscribers, those who interact with your Facebook author page, and readers who engage in particular groups (or follow certain fan pages).
In addition to promoting your book, you can also use Facebook Ads to market an author event or webinar, boost the number of people who follow your Facebook author page, or grow your email list.
Where Facebook Ads can be complex and somewhat difficult to use, Amazon Advertising is much simpler. You can use Amazon Advertising to promote your book or author brand via ads on Amazon or readers' Kindle Lockscreens.
While many tips and tricks can help you successfully promote your book with paid advertising, the most important insights are as follows…
First, exercise time and patience with this strategy. Authors often need to create multiple ad campaigns and further tinker with their ads to truly understand the copy and keywords that boost sales.
Secondly, remember that ROI isn’t the end-all and be-all with paid advertising. While paid ads often help boost book sales, they can also increase your general visibility and growth. Don’t be afraid to advertise a free or low-cost book. The readers who purchase and enjoy your book are likely to come back for more, greatly increasing the long-term revenue your ad ultimately produces.
Strategy 3: Algorithm Hacking
No one knows exactly how online marketplace algorithms work. However, authors have gleaned some insights by tinkering and sharing their experiences.
One thing we know for certain is that you need to train algorithms to know who your ideal readers are if you want the algorithm to show your book to those readers. This is just one more reason why it’s important to know exactly who you’re writing for. If you try to appeal to everyone, the algorithm will show your book to no one.
Algorithms also tend to show readers new books rather than old books, given that readers are often looking for a new read. This is why many authors publish books as frequently as possible. Some even go so far as to write several books in advance, releasing them on a 30-, 60-, or 90-day schedule in an attempt to take advantage of the momentum that algorithms provide new books.
All this said, it’s okay if you don’t want to produce books as fast as humanly possibly. There are plenty of long-term strategies that can also help you effectively market your books as you publish them at your own pace…
Part Four: Your Author Platform — Long-Term Marketing
Penn defines an author platform as a figurative entity that “encompasses how you can reach an audience of customers right now, or how you plan to do so in the future. It is your influence, your ability to sell to your market. It is your multifaceted book marketing machine!”
An author’s platform can include a number of assets, including:
A blog
An email list
A podcast
A Youtube channel
A social media presence
A speaking platform
A business
A network of industry connections
While it’s possible to sell books and make a decent living without maintaining a platform, you’ll need to focus on the strategies we discussed in part three to do so. You’ll also likely need an author website and email list regardless so that you can engage and re-engage your existing readership.
Building a readership takes time, which is why your author platform comprises the collective effort your spend attracting your ideal readers over a period of years.
For authors who want to go the traditional route, having an established author platform in place will illustrate to industry gatekeepers that their books can sell. (This is especially true for non-fiction authors.)
In any case, building a platform is a matter of patience and persistence.
You can't expect to build an effective author platform in just a few weeks or months. Instead, you can attract a dedicated readership by giving generously and engaging with your growing community consistently.
The Importance of Author Branding
As an author, your brand is "the impression that people get about you, the feelings you evoke, the words associated with you. It's not a logo, it's more about the way you are perceived.”
In other words, your brand is how your book covers, website, author photo, and other key public marketing efforts combine to leave an impression on readers. Your brand establishes what readers can expect from your work.
Because different brands create different expectations, it's not uncommon for authors to use multiple pen names when writing in vastly different genres. You might also use a pen name to protect your privacy, disguise your gender, or publish under a name that’s easier for readers to remember.
Intentionally considering your brand can help you clearly define what readers can expect from your work. Aspects of author branding include the colors, fonts, images, and text you use to communicate with readers, as well as the cohesiveness of your published books.
After defining your brand, be consistent in bringing it to life across every aspect of your author platform. The more professional your branding, the more likely you are to find success in your creative career.
In the same way that readers judge books by their covers, your author headshot can make a strong first impression on readers. If possible, consider hiring a professional photographer to take your photo. Otherwise, strive to DIY as professional a headshot as possible.
The Power of Connecting and Giving
One of the best ways to create a platform that successfully attracts readers is to give generously, providing consistent insight or entertainment that resonates with the audience you're trying to reach.
This generosity should extend to your fellow authors, as collaborations and community help authors succeed in finding abundance in their creative careers. The more effort you put into building strong relationships with your fellow authors, the more likely you are to thrive.
Building an Author Website
An author’s website is their online hub, the place that readers can go to learn everything they need to know about you and your books. Maintaining a website is also a mark of professionalism that can impress readers.
Some authors choose to build their online hub via a Facebook page or Amazon author profile. Unfortunately, these platforms change over time and can block you without notice. Owning your website gives your full permanent control over your professional online image.
A good author website typically contains a homepage with an introduction to you and your books, an about page that shares additional details about your work, an email list sign-up page with an offer for a free book or short story, a contact page, and a page that promotes each of your individual books.
Cultivating an Email List
With an established email list, you can directly promote your books to existing readers at any time. This gives you far greater control over your sales and can prove especially helpful during book launches and limited-time price drops.
In this way, email lists provide indie authors with true independence — the ability to sell books even if all online marketplaces disappeared.
You can even build a subset of email subscribers who want to read early copies of your books (i.e., ARCs) in exchange for a review and/or who would love to serve as beta readers for future books.
Remember to use credible permission practices when building your email list. Don't automatically subscribe readers or sell their private details, and always offer an anti-spam mechanism and an easy way to unsubscribe.
One of the best ways to encourage readers to sign up for your email list is to offer them an incentive in the form of a free book, short story, or digital asset.
You can tease your email list’s incentive across a variety of platform elements, including your books’ back matter and your social media platforms.
In addition to offering exclusive content and promoting new books and sales, you’ll want to send consistent emails to your list to keep them engaged. Should you fail to do so, your readers might forget who you are and unsubscribe.
Community Building via Content Marketing
Content marketing is the practice of creating and sharing online materials that don't explicitly market your books but instead attract your ideal readers. Those who consume your content are likely to sign up for your email list, follow you on social media, and buy your books.
Generously offering a wealth of valuable free content online is a great way to stand out in a crowded market and attract a host of ideal readers. Every piece of free content you create holds the power to lead readers back to your books.
Content marketing also helps you establish your platform and credibility as an author. Most of the content you can create (e.g., blog posts, videos, podcast episodes) is evergreen, meaning it holds the power to serve, entertain, and attract readers for a number of years to come.
Notice that Penn doesn’t include social media content in her examples of content marketing. That’s because social media is often ephemeral, lasting for only a brief moment in time. You also lack long-term control over your social media content, as social networks retain the right to remove your content or account at any time.
To successfully use content marketing to promote your books, you’ll need to produce consistent valuable content that's designed to appeal to a specific audience also likely to love your books.
Most authors publish new blog posts, podcast episodes, or videos weekly to build their content platforms. However, some authors do successfully promote their work with content marketing by posting more or less frequently.
When considering whether you’ll employ content marketing, it's important to remember that valuable content often takes an immense amount of time to create. While this marketing strategy can help you grow your readership, it can also take valuable time and energy away from your book writing efforts.
If you aren’t passionate about content creation or are already short on time and energy, then content marketing might not be the right choice for you.
If you have decided to engage in content marketing, then a great way to expand your reach is to appear on other authors’ platforms as a guest. Just be sure to collaborate with authors who also write within your niche.
Marketing Your Books on Social Media
Social media can be a mixed blessing for authors. On one hand, social networks provide an incredible opportunity for connection with readers. However, they can also prove a massive distraction if you aren't careful.
Generally speaking, you don't need social media to be successful as an author, but maintaining a social presence can help you effectively build your platform and market your books.
For starters, frequently engaging with your readers on social media can help you remain at the forefront of their consciousness. In other words, it makes readers less likely to forget about you in between book launches.
Most readers also need to encounter a book multiple times before they decide to purchase, which makes social media a great way to repeatedly get your books in front of readers.
Finally, engaging on social media is a fantastic way to build rapport and credibility with your readers, which can go a long way toward your success given that readers enjoy buying books from authors they know and love.
Don't forget that you can also connect with other authors on social media, engaging in audience cross-pollination strategies that further help you both thrive in your creative careers.
To successfully use social media to build your platform and promote your books, here are a few tips to bear in mind:
Be interesting, useful, or entertaining. Always consider how you can best serve and attract readers.
Use multimedia. Images and videos often gain more attention than simple text posts.
Be generous and kind. Put out into the world what you'd like to receive in return.
Be personal. Readers want to engage with you, the person. To hear about your life and your writing practice. They don't want to be sold a new book every single day.
Be intentional about creating content that's designed to reach your ideal readers. Always bear connection in mind.
Finally, be strategic on social media. It's all too easy to get sucked into doom-scrolling and platforms’ many shiny features. To avoid this, make a plan for what you’ll post, when you'll comment, and how you’ll engage with readers.
Use social media in a way that's both fun and sustainable in your creative schedule, and you'll find great long-term success with social media marketing.
How to Market Audiobooks
As Penn explains, “Audiobooks are the fastest-growing contact medium for publishers, and the international spread of smartphones and faster Internet means they will only continue to grow.”
Producing an audiobook version of your book can be a great way to generate additional income and reach the market of readers who prefer to listen rather than read directly.
To market an audiobook, be sure to include links to Audible and iTunes on your author website. Amazon’s audiobook distributor, ACX, also allows you to access free audiobook promo codes that you can use in giveaways.
Other audiobook marketing methods include using shareable links to promote your audiobooks on social media, as well as simply mentioning your audio editions on podcasts and other forms of content marketing.
If you write short books, then you might consider creating an audiobook box set, which (similarly to paperback and e-book box sets) offers incredible value to readers while helping authors earn a higher profit margin on a single sale.
As with other types of books, you can also use paid advertising to market your audiobooks.
How to Market Paperback Books
In the Internet age, paperback books are becoming less and less popular. However, that doesn't mean they aren't worth producing for the vast number of readers who still prefer physical books to e-books and audiobooks.
To market a paperback book, consider giving away free copies or ARCs in exchange for review. You can also promote paperback books at literary festivals and conferences, in-person book signings, and library events.
If you're highly interested in selling a lot of print books, then you can join an independent publishers organization to access directories of booksellers, distributors, and libraries interested in including indie books in their catalogs.
You might also consider cultivating relationships with bookstores in your local community. If you've written a children's book, then you could also experience success with promoting your book through events at local schools.
Another option would be to offer special wholesale paperback pricing to interested parties. For example, if you've written a book on pet care, then you can make a pitch to a local pet store chain that might stock your book.
Finally, don't forget about the power of book clubs and writers’ groups. Many groups are interested in hosting special events with authors that provide the opportunity to pitch to interested readers.
Creating Book-Related Merchandise
Many indie authors create merchandise related to their books either for use in marketing or to make direct income.
According to Penn, merchandising your books can be a smart marketing choice because "as human beings, we have an innate and entirely natural drive to belong to groups, and merchandise can be tribal. Providing merchandise for fans of your work offers them a way to feel a part of the tribe of readers you are attracting with your stories and books.”
Examples of popular author merchandise include:
bookmarks
t-shirts
postcards
coffee mugs
autographed bookplates
pillows
clothing
tote bags
notebooks
laptop and cell phone covers
The list could go on and on!
But what does this merchandise look like exactly? Authors often use quotes and images from their books on their merchandise, as well as character sketches.
Offering merchandise doesn't have to be terribly expensive because many print-on-demand companies will print and ship your merchandise for you any time a customer places an order. If you lack graphic design skills, then your biggest expense will be hiring a designer to create designs for you.
Traditional Media and PR
Before the Internet, authors primarily promoted their books through papers, magazines, and appearances on television and radio shows.
This form of traditional media is no longer a popular way to market a book because most opportunities require a publicist, which can be expensive to hire.
Moreover, online marketing tends to be more effective than traditional media marketing for several reasons. First, it simplifies the process of targeting your ideal reader. It also closes the gap between pitch and point-of-sale. Readers need to complete far fewer steps to actually purchase your book online.
All this said, traditional media opportunities can provide great social proof and might not require a publicist if operating on a local or regional level. If you're going to pursue traditional media, then just remember that you’re going to need a strong hook and an interesting personal story to engage readers.
Part Five: Marketing Strategies & Book Launches
“Strategy is deciding what you want to do, and perhaps more importantly, what you don't want to do,” writes Penn. If you're going to find long-term success as an author, then you need a strong marketing strategy.
The most important aspect of your strategy is your why. If you don't know why you're engaging in a certain marketing method, or why you're writing in the first place, then you'll struggle to build your readership and market your work.
Beyond your why, there are two parts to a strong book marketing strategy:
The launch (or relaunch)
Long-term sustainability
Having a plan in place for both of these aspects of book marketing will increase the likelihood that you'll thrive in your creative career.
Planning Successful Book Launches
A book launch can be an exciting moment in an author’s journey. However, it's far more important to sell thousands of books over the long term than to hinge your success upon selling a few hundred copies in the book’s first week.
That said, it doesn't hurt to set yourself up for a successful book launch, which can temporarily boost sales and allow new readers to discover your book.
To host a successful book launch, first determine your definition of success. What does a fantastic book launch look like for you? With your answer in mind, create a launch timeline and determine how much you’re willing to spend on launch marketing strategies.
After determining these factors, you can work to put your marketing strategies into action. Pitch and schedule reviews with book bloggers, determine when you'll send ARCs to your email list, and consider setting up a pre-order campaign if you so desire.
Roughly a week before your book’s publication date, consider doing a “soft launch.” Make your book available for sale without announcing its publication to ensure that your listings render properly and to allow advanced readers to leave their reviews online.
You can also use this time to add listing links in various places across your author platform, as well as to tweak your sales description if necessary.
On launch day, put all of your chosen marketing strategies into place. Email your list to tell them about your new book, run your paid ad campaigns, post exciting announcements on social media, etc.
Relaunching Older Books
If you previously published a book that wasn't the most professional (or if you'd simply like to rejuvenate your backlist titles), then you might want to consider re-launching your book.
To re-launch a book, you’ll first need to update it in some way. This typically entails revising the content, changing the cover design, and/or choosing a new title. You may also wish to renovate your book’s listing metadata at this time.
When your newly updated book is ready to go, consider scheduling a price drop to celebrate the re-launch and/or re-publishing the book during a peak genre season (e.g. self-help in early January) to maximize its early momentum.
In Conclusion
To successfully market a book and build a career as a published author, you need to think long-term.
The sheer volume of marketing strategies can be overwhelming, as can the process of determining which marketing strategies work best for you and your books — but that's okay. Remember, your books can remain available for many years to come. Don’t hesitate to use those years to test and implement new marketing strategies designed to reach new readers and sell more books.
As you set out on this journey, remember to bear the following key marketing principles in mind:
Create as high-quality a book as you can
Know exactly who you intend your book to reach
Optimize your books’ sales pages to reach your ideal readers
Use paid promotion to boost sales and expand your reach
Create an author website and email list to attract and engage with your growing readership
By putting these five principles into practice, you'll be well on your way to successfully marketing your book in no time.
How to Market a Book by Joanna Penn
Do you want to sell more books and reach more readers? If you don’t know much about marketing, don’t worry. We all start with nothing.
How to Market a Book offers short-term promotion tactics for those who want to immediately boost their sales while focusing on the marketing principles that will help authors build successful long-term careers.