Helpful Ideas for Marketing Your Book

My sister is getting ready to publish her very first book, and I’ve been trying to help her get it ready to go. We had a very productive phone call yesterday, where we broke her timeline down into regularly scheduled social media posts that she could use for marketing. As we were brainstorming, we came up with a great (but not exhaustive) list of post ideas that can be helpful to share when preparing to market your book. 
 
Here’s that list!

• Introduce yourself. Whether you’re releasing your first book or your twentieth, if you’re looking to connect with new readers, it’s always a good idea to share a little bit about yourself. Some things you can share with potential readers are…
  • Who you are
  • An interesting/unique fact about you
  • Favorite foods
  • Favorite books/movies, music
  • Favorite influences
  • What you like to write
  • What your readers can expect from you. 
• Call to audience. Reach out to the people your book is written for, and explain why it might be a good fit for them.
• Release date announcement. Tell your readers when you expect your book will be coming out.
• Cover reveal. Share your book cover with your readers.
  • You can also do a cover reveal countdown, or reveal the cover in pieces.
• A “Readers think/feel about (insert title of your book here)” post with quotes from actual readers.
• Tropes/metadata from your book. What kinds of themes, concepts, or events will your readers find in your book?
• Favorite quotes or messages directly from your book.
• Release countdown... 2 weeks away, 1 week away, and happy release day posts, etc.
• If you like X or Y, then you’ll like (insert title of your book here).
• Character introductions. Share any character art you have, what your characters like, what they dislike, what their greatest personal struggle is, what their funniest quirk is... get creative with it!
• Book vibes. Share images of similar atmospheres or vibes your book would produce for readers.
• Book blurb or quick description. Share with your readers what they would read on the back of the book (or share with them an alternate description, or both!)
• Books that inspired your book.​ Was your book inspired by anything you have read, or maybe a movie you watched? Share those with your readers.

 
Some other marketing ideas that have worked well for me (but can be more on the costly end) are running giveaways, sending PR packages with your books/book merch inside, donating your books, and of course, hosting book signing/reading events. 

With any posts or ideas that you share, it can be helpful to...
1. Match the vibe of the book (use the same fonts and color schemes)
2. Engage your audience. Ask questions in your description
3. Utilize your tagging and hashtags!

Have a book coming out soon? If you'd like someone to hype up your release on their account, reach out! I'm always happy to help my fellow authors get word out about their books. :D 

Like this post? Check back next weekend for more writing-related blog posts!