I love it when I find helpful book marketing ideas for authors – especially when it comes to promoting a new book – which often feels like an uphill climb!
The issue for many authors is that with each new book release, you feel a bit like you’re reinventing the wheel, which is another reason why I loved this piece. Let’s dig into some ideas about how to maximize readers and build on each book launch!
5 Book Marketing Strategies All Authors Need to Try
Create Exclusive Content for Readers Through a “Members Only” Page
I love this idea because readers love exclusive content. And by exclusive content, I mean early access to books, sneak peeks at upcoming titles, games, quizzes, you name it. But a “members only” page may be out of reach if this is your first book. I suggest starting with a mailing list, which I’ll discuss in a minute, and building your reader fans from there.
The idea is that you can still create an exclusive “group.”
While I love the idea of the “members only” page, it’s a lot of website work to create this – but it’s absolutely a fun goal to strive for. So start with your newsletter and offer this exclusivity to readers who want to participate in your success. By that, I mean your street teams (I’ve written a lot about this, I’ll post some links below).
Building your street team early will save you a lot of time later on. You may only start with a few fans, and that’s fine! You can keep building from there.
Generate an Engaging Newsletter
Connecting with readers through a newsletter is always a great idea, but more than that, you want to push a blend of some personal and engaging content. One recommendation is a contest. A contest can be anything from a book raffle to a gift card or some cool swag.
And here’s a tip to get people reading to the end: tease the contest in your intro but have the contest winners listed at the bottom of the newsletter, so readers have to scroll through your content in order to see if they won. Allow winning readers five days to respond, and if they don’t, their prize is forfeited to the next prize drawing. A contest is a fun way to drive engagement, but so is great content – so don’t overthink this.
Start with a piece of personal news; maybe you got a new dog or had your first family vacation in two years. Share a photo if you’re comfortable with that. Readers love small personal details.
Share information on your next release or ask for reader input (which readers also love).
Newsletters don’t have to be hard, but I highly recommend starting one early – because it’s a great way to build your fan base, which will benefit you long-term.
Promoting a New book: Focus on Your Prior Books
If you have multiple books out, I absolutely love this idea. So often, authors forget to use older books in their promotion or to create rotations of promotions with previous titles. The author of this piece suggested BookBub Featured deals- which I love but are hard to get. So you absolutely want to try for one of those, but consider more options like BookBub Advertising, Goodreads promotions, eBook promotions, or an Amazon countdown deal. Find three to five strategies you can easily implement, and then rotate all of your backlist titles in and out of these strategies!
Give Away Excerpts
I love this idea, it really helps to whet the appetite of your reader! However, if you’re giving away excerpts, you’ll want to get something in return, like their email. So create a landing page on your website, and if that’s too complex – get a landing page through Leadspages. It isn’t free, but Leadpages is a great resource when you need to create a landing page for a new book release, book experts, or other promotions and you don’t have to worry about adding new pages to your website.
Build Personal Connections
Goodreads did a study several years ago and found that the #1 thing readers want to do at the end of the book is to connect with the author, so whenever you can, build reader connections. You can do this through your newsletter, social media, or even at events. Creating personal connections should be one of your highest priorities – as is finding ways to foster these personal connections. If you have a Facebook account or Instagram account, don’t post and ditch. Always respond to a comment or feedback you get, even if it’s just to say ‘thank you” – readers appreciate this, and it’s a great way to foster a lot of reader goodwill.
Releasing a new book doesn’t have to feel arduous. In fact, your book marketing should get easier with each new book. With a bit of planning and some attention paid to your readers, promoting a new book doesn’t have to feel like you’re starting from scratch each time.
I’d love to know what you do to promote a new book in the comments!
If you want to read the original article you can find it here.
Resources and Free Downloads
Check out Jane Friedman’s site, she’s an excellent resource
Infographic: Street Teams vs. Superfans and Boosting Your Book Publicity
How to Market Your Book: 9 Tips You Need to Know For Your First Book
How to Turn Readers into Superfans: Book Marketing Podcast Episode
Although I am not the author of the book, but your article is quite interesting and attracted me. Thanks for sharing this information.
All good ideas. With 10 books behind me on WWII, I’m wondering how I could bring them in when pitching my new book on Vietnam War. Sure both military, but different in many ways. If you have ideas for this on a mini epi, that would be interesting. Thanks for all you do!