The Very Best Book Promotion Ideas for Author Success

by Penny Sansevieri | Mar 4, 2025 | Book Marketing Basics

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Why Planning and Strategy Matter More Than Any Single Tactic

One of the biggest mistakes authors make when coming up with book promotion ideas is jumping from one idea to the next without a clear plan or strategy. It’s easy to see a fellow author have success with a particular book promotion idea and think, I’m going to try that!—but the reality is, what works for one author may not work for you.

So, instead of chasing every promotional opportunity that comes your way, take a step back. The best book promotion ideas come from a well-planned, strategic approach that aligns with your book, your genre, and your goals.

So before you spend time or money on book promotion, let’s walk through the steps to ensure your strategy is solid and designed for long-term success.

Step 1: Define Your Goals

Every book marketing plan should start with clear, measurable goals. Without knowing what success looks like for your book, it’s impossible to choose the right promotion strategies.

Ask yourself:

Is this my first book, or am I building a series?

If it’s your first book, your goal might be building an audience from scratch. Which means that you’ll be looking at things like reader building, creating a website, maybe a mailing list – and essentially “introducing” yourself to your audience.

If you have a series, and this is the second or third book in it, then that looks different. So you won’t have the same list of to-do’s that you would if this is your first book. Maybe it’s time to really push your newsletter list, to warm up your reader audience for your next book – that kind of thing.

Do I want to sell books quickly, or build long-term visibility?

I know that a lot of authors really love the idea of a big boost right out of the gate, but this also takes time. So if you want a big surge on day one, that requires some long-term planning. You’ll also need a mailing list, or access to one if you don’t already have one. You’ll need lots of early reviewers – and if you don’t have access to any of this, then consider a better alternative: implementing strategies for long-term success.

If you’re looking for sustained visibility, planning will also be important, as will reaching out to reviewers, bloggers, influencers. Running Amazon ads is always a solid win (provided you know how to manage these), and social media engagement could be a better fit.

Am I prioritizing book sales or brand building?

I’m a huge fan of brand building – because your brand sells your book. Brands build trust and fans. And while some promotions drive direct sales, others help establish your brand and authority as an author. A mix of both is ideal, but knowing your priority will help guide your strategy. But be warned: authors who focus on sales are often disappointed. You’re much better off focusing your attention on the things that raise awareness. What happens with a hard focus on sales is that you wind up buying one-off programs that give you a short blip, but not much else.

Step 2: Research What Works in Your Genre

Not all book promotion ideas work equally across all genres. Some marketing tactics work exceptionally well for romance and thriller writers but fall flat for literary fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or memoirs.

Success leaves clues. Look at what bestselling authors in your genre are doing.

When I teach classes, I love taking authors through this exercise because it absolutely works. Start by following at leave five big author names in your genre. Now, unpack the details of their success:

What kind of promotions do they run? (you can often glean this by following them on social media or subscribing to their newsletter)

Are they leveraging BookBub, Amazon Ads, or social media influencers?

How do they price their books during launches and promotions?

What social media sites are they on?

Do they blog on their website, if so how often?

Are they using a lot of video content on their social channels?

I’m not suggesting you copy, but let this inspire and inform your choices. Because this can help you create a roadmap for your own work.

Study reader behavior

I get it, this sounds a bit lofty. How can you study reader behavior without launching an entire market research campaign? One way is on social media. Join some reader groups and get a sense of what they’re talking about and how they’re finding books. Get onto TikTok and just explore some of the reader-specific hashtags like #amreading and #booktok.

This opens up the conversation to start exploring these points questions more in detail:

Where do readers in your genre discover new books?

Do they rely on social media recommendations, Amazon search, or book bloggers?

Analyze past promotions (if applicable)

I love tracking all promotions. Why? Because then you’ll know what worked well, what didn’t work, and which promotion could have benefited from different timing, or more social media promotion – or maybe a newsletter blast. Past promotions will often guide you to future choices!

If you’ve run promotions before, look at what worked and what didn’t.

Where did your sales come from?

What gave you the best return on investment?

Step 3: Choose Promotion Ideas That Align with Your Strengths

Book marketing is not one-size-fits-all. And as I mentioned earlier, just because a strategy works for someone else doesn’t mean it’s the right one for you. If you hate social media, don’t force yourself into a TikTok campaign—find an alternative that fits your skills and comfort level. Find things you resonate with and, if you can, outsource the rest.

Consider:

Are you good at networking?

Focus on collaborations with other authors, podcast guest spots, or influencer outreach.

Do you have time to do more writing (aside from writing more books)?

Blog about your book’s themes, create email sequences, or contribute guest articles to high-traffic sites in your niche.

Do you love nerding out on numbers and algorithms?

Learn how to optimize Amazon ads and leverage data-driven promotions.

Are you hyper focused on building strong reader relationships?

Start a newsletter. Seriously. Yes you can get onto social media and build a group just for your readers – I love that, too – but honestly I love the newsletter more. Why? Because it’s a direct connection to your reader whereas often social media posts get missed in the flood of all the stuff that’s posted on social.

The best book promotion ideas are ones that you’ll do consistently. So find things that you love and do more of those. That may mean leaving things out, but don’t ever feel like you “should” be doing TikTok or you “should” be doing reader events. Are reader events great for authors – you bet, but if that’s not your vibe, you’ll never get around to it.

Step 4: Map Out a Strategic Plan

Once you’ve identified your goals, researched what works in your genre, and chosen marketing strategies that resonate, it’s time to plan! Create a book promotion calendar. Grab ours, it’s free – I’ll put the link in resources below!

What to Include in Your Plan:

Everything. I know this sounds a bit nebulous, but trust me when I say that everything you want to do, plan for, or have on your radar screen should be committed to paper, or however you track your activities. Some of these things might be:

Pre-Launch Activities (if applicable): Advanced review copies (ARCs), email list building, influencer outreach.

Launch Week Promotions: Discount campaigns, Amazon ads, social media pushes.

Post-Launch Sustained Efforts: Blogging and/or content marketing, ongoing Amazon ads, reviews.

Seasonal or Event-Based Promotions: Holiday discounts, author events, themed promotions.

Promotions in Between Book Launches: So if you have some downtime in between launches, plan out a few things that you can do to keep reader interest and drive new readers to your book.

There’s a quote by Benjamin Franklin that applies here: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Planning also prevents scattershot marketing, or what we call: spray and pray – where you throw a whole bunch of stuff against the wall and hope that some of it sticks. Tracking not only helps you know what works and what doesn’t, but when you find something that does extremely well for you, it’ll be easy to recreate it for future promotions!

Be Selective, Not Reactive

It’s easy to get caught up in the “Oh my gosh I have to do something for my book!!” and the urgency and (sometimes) panic that brings with it. But the very best book promotion ideas are the ones that work for your book, your readers, and your goals. By becoming hyper focused on these things, you won’t waste time chasing marketing trends that aren’t aligned with what you’re trying to achieve.

I’d love to know some of the strategies that have worked for you in the past, so let me know in the comments!