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Blog • Book Marketing

Last updated on Mar 03, 2021

70+ Book Marketing Ideas to Rocket-Boost Your Sales

About the author.

Reedsy's editorial team is a diverse group of industry experts devoted to helping authors write and publish beautiful books.

About Martin Cavannagh

Head of Content at Reedsy, Martin has spent over eight years helping writers turn their ambitions into reality. As a voice in the indie publishing space, he has written for a number of outlets and spoken at conferences, including the 2024 Writers Summit at the London Book Fair.

About Ricardo Fayet

Reedsy co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Ricardo Fayet is one of the world's leading authorities in marketing indie books. He is a regular presenter at several prestigious writers' conferences, where his unique personal style has made him an instantly recognizable figure.

No matter what kind of book they’re writing, every self-publishing author will eventually arrive at the same question: what’s the best way to market it? The good news is that tons of other indie authors have grappled with this question already — and that by following in their footsteps, you can create a book marketing plan that will have your book flying off the shelves.

In this post, we offer up 70+ book marketing ideas to help you out. It also features a free ( yes, free ! ) book marketing checklist you can print out and use to track your progress! And if you’re craving even  more info straight from the pen of an expert, check out our free book marketing guide How to Market a Book: Overperform in a Crowded Market , written by our very own Ricardo Fayet.

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But this post is getting ahead of itself. For those first dipping a toe into the marketing waters, we’ll begin with the essentials. Those who are more advanced, feel free to skip ahead! We’ll be covering:

Book marketing basics

Finding your target audience, researching keywords and categories, perfecting your product, growing your mailing list, building your platform, navigating your book launch, cross-promoting with other authors, running price promotions, creating ads for your book, more book marketing ideas, infographic: book marketing checklist.

Just getting started with book marketing? Here are 10 fundamental things every single author should do to  market their book.

1. Get your book info right

Successful marketing starts with the book itself, especially the information you attach when you publish. This info will include your book title, author name, and description, but also elements you may not have considered like searchable keywords and categories.

We’ll talk more about how to optimize your keywords, categories, and book description below, but for starters, just make sure you have them and that they’re consistent across retailers.

2. Set up your store links

Speaking of retailers, after publishing your book, you’ll want to set up your various store links for readers. If you’ve only made your writing available  on Amazon, this will be easy — one link, which you can make as clean as possible by removing everything from the URL except "/dp/[alphanumeric code]", like so:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TZJQ1FB .

If you’ve published on other stores and platforms like Apple Books, it’s easy to generate links from within those apps as well. Don’t assume every reader will want to go through Amazon! Have store links ready from every platform you’ve published on so they can take their pick. 

3. Create a website

And where will you share those store links? One of the best places is your author website — which you should go ahead and create if you haven’t already. Platforms like Wordpress and Wix make it simple to set up a website for yourself, or you can hire a web designer to do all the work for you .

4. Use social media

In this day and age, social media is probably just as important as having a website in terms of book marketing. Luckily, this is something you’ll almost definitely have already — and if not, it’s super easy to set up accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Start by following authors and hashtags that are relevant to your book and creating a general plan for what sort of content you want to share. Check out the post linked above for more tips!

5. Interact with readers

This falls under the umbrella of social media, but it’s so essential that it’s worth its own tip: in order to attract readers, you need to interact with them. Ask them questions, reply to their comments, and follow them back if they have strong accounts of their own (especially if that includes lots of followers). Build relationships and engage with them on a deep level.

6. Employ a lead magnet

A lead magnet is something you offer readers in exchange for their information. For example, you might send the first chapter of your book to readers who give you their email address.

Lead magnets are indispensable for capturing people you’ll hopefully convert to paying customers down the line, so it’s never too early to start thinking about them. We’ll talk more about different ideas and techniques for lead magnets below.

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7. Run price promotions

Getting back to your book and where you sell it, another crucial marketing tactic is running price promotions to entice bargain-minded customers (which is to say, just about everyone). You can discount your book or even offer it up for free, then boost your promotion on other platforms. For more info on this, skip to the section of this post that’s all about price promotions .

8. Angle for book reviews

Getting book reviews should always be one of your top marketing priorities — indeed, you must start working on this long before your book launches, so you’ll have reviews right from the jump. Our post is a great primer on how to get book reviews as a new author, but the gist is: reach out to reviewers early and often, offer plenty of ARCs, and encourage people to cross-post their reviews to multiple platforms.

9. Engage with other authors

And just as you’re making the effort with readers and reviewers, don’t forget about your fellow authors. Cultivate a strong network to promote you and your book by engaging with other authors on social media, supporting them with positive feedback and anything else they might need, and potentially even cross-promoting with them .

10. Don’t stop hustling

Through it all, remember that book marketing is a process: even if you tick off these boxes, you can’t just lie back and expect your book sales to sustain themselves. You need to make a constant, genuine effort for your readers both before and after your launch date — and if it doesn’t seem like your strategy is working, don’t be afraid to switch things up!

Now let’s talk more advanced tactics. Ideally, you’ll have thought about your target audience before you even started writing! But no matter what stage you’re at, these tips on narrowing down  your target audience and niche can really help refine your marketing strategy.

11. Consider your market

First off, you’ll want to consider the overall market for your book. You can evaluate this by searching for your book’s primary keyword on Amazon to see how many results show up and how well those books are selling. For example, if you’d written a book on smoking cessation, you might search “how to stop smoking” in Amazon Books. You’d then look at the Best Sellers Rank (under “Product details”) of the top results.

If the top 3 books are bestsellers but books #4-10 barely sell at all, you might try another marketing angle — possibly a more specific one, like “how to stop smoking as a working mom”. The market for this angle won’t be quite so saturated, and you’ll have a better chance of selling your book.

12. Build a proto-persona

Next you’ll want to create a proto-persona : a hypothetical reader who slots perfectly into your target market. Give this reader a profile that includes a name, occupation, and home life. You’ll think about this proto-persona every time you make a marketing decision, which will help you envision your readers as real people and cater to them more concretely.

13. Find out where this person “lives”

We’re not suggesting you physically stalk someone — only that you figure out where your proto-persona might hang out online, so you can ensure your marketing efforts reach them. Pore over Goodreads reviews, Reddit threads, and the social media accounts of authors similar to yours to find people like your proto-persona. Then adjust their profile accordingly!

14. Focus on what sets you apart

This is what you really need to market your book: something that sets you apart from the competition. With fiction, that might be a unique character, an unusual setting, or a particularly compelling narrative voice.

For nonfiction, finding an angle can be a little tougher. When in doubt, emphasize your personal expertise or connection to what you’re writing about. For example, anyone can write about how to grow a small business, but nobody else could write about how you grew your small business.

Got some time to spare? Check out our  free course , How to Validate Your Book Idea!

Keywords and categories are the descriptive tags you’ll add to your book to help readers find it on Amazon and other retailers. You’ll have chosen them when setting up your book info, but here are a few tips to optimize them for better sales.

Alternatively, our post on how to promote your book on Amazon might be worth a read if you're planning to sell exclusively through this platform. 

15. Select relevant niche categories

For your Amazon categories — which are labels like “Domestic Thriller” and “Adventure Travel” — you’ll want to strike a balance between popular categories and categories that aren’t too competitive. This will give you the best possible chance of becoming a #1 Best Seller in your category, which is a huge advantage for marketing.

16. Identify best selling keywords

Finding the right Amazon keywords may be less intuitive than selecting your categories, but looking at bestsellers in your genre or subgenre is a great jumping-off point. You won’t be able to view the exact keywords entered into Amazon, but you can see which phrases keep popping up in those books’ titles and descriptions.

17. Get into "tick box" categories

Some Amazon categories have tick boxes in the sidebar allowing readers to refine their search. For example, Romance categories have "Romantic Heroes" ("Alpha Males," "BBW," "Bikers," "Cowboys," etc.), and "Romantic Themes" ("Amnesia," "Beaches," "International," etc.). The only way to get into those categories is to use the right Amazon keywords. If you place your book in a category that has tick box options, make a smart use of your keywords to ensure your book shows up when readers tick relevant boxes.

18. Use longer keywords for more “phrase matches”

Make each keyword as long and detailed as possible to hit more “phrase matches” for what readers might search. For example, a book tagged with the keyword “dark academia” will index for that single term, but the longer keyword “Ivy League secret society dark academia” allows it to index for multiple search terms — effectively maximizing your exposure to readers.

19. Refresh when needed

No matter how carefully you’ve chosen your initial keywords and categories, you still need to update them every so often. Every few weeks or months, try switching out a keyword or two, maybe including a hot new comp title to capitalize on what’s trending . If your sales had been going strong but are starting to flag, that’s a clear sign to revisit and refresh your data.

To compete with other books of a professional standard, your book needs to be polished in everything from visual presentation to marketing blurb. Follow these tips to do just that.

20. Edit and format professionally

If you haven’t already gotten your book edited and formatted by a professional , drop everything and do it now. Marketing can solve a lot of problems, but it can’t make readers see beyond pages of typos, run-on sentences, and odd spacing — so take care of all that before you publish.

Need a professional yet budget-friendly formatting solution? Look no further than Reedsy Studio , which has beautiful book formatting templates you can use for free!

21. Design an eye-catching, genre-friendly cover

Of course, readers will see your cover before they ever open your book, so cover design is just as important as editing and layout (if not more so). Return to books similar to yours and think about how your cover might cater to readers’ expectations while still standing out.

A pro book cover designer can really help with this — and if you don’t have any design experience yourself, you’ll definitely want to hire a professional . Don’t take any chances with your #1 marketing tool!

22. Write an engaging book description

Your book description, the second thing readers will see after your cover, is another key marketing factor. Make it snappy, with a focus on your hook (aka that thing that sets you apart). This isn’t a place for a detailed synopsis; the goal is to leave readers wanting so they actually read your book. Check out our post on how to write a book description that sells to learn more.

23. Refine your sample chapter(s)

Your sample chapter is the third and final element of your book (along with your cover and description) that readers will experience before buying it — and the most likely to sway them based on the quality of your writing. Again, professional editing and formatting is crucial, but you’ll also want to make sure this chapter encompasses your hook and your best prose. 

Note that Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature does not allow you to select which pages readers can see, so by default, your sample chapter on Amazon will have to be your first chapter. However, you can always polish up another chapter to use as a sample on your own website, or even as a lead magnet for your mailing list.

24. Construct an author bio

Readers are less likely to look at your author bio before buying your book, but it’s good to have a strong one just in case. As with your description, this doesn’t need to be very long. The main things to remember are that a) you don’t want an author bio that’s wildly inconsistent with the tone of your book (for example, a humorous bio in a book about war), and b) if you’re writing nonfiction, you should get your credentials in there.

25. Update your product over time

Finally, you’ll want to update your product info and even your book’s appearance from time to time. If your sales are faltering or you just haven’t refreshed things in awhile, try spicing up your book description with more keywords or quotes from reviews.

Design-wise, consider slapping a sticker or pull quote on your cover, or spring for a full redesign — it could boost your sales by up to 50% . Basically, don’t get complacent; there’s always room for improvement!

Now for a few tips to help you master the art of the mailing list, which is a critical part of any author’s marketing strategy.

26. Set it up

First things first, choose a platform to set up and manage your mailing list. Services like MailChimp and MailerLite are user-friendly and provide valuable data about how many people open your emails, click your links, unsubscribe, etc.

How to Build Your Author Mailing List

Learn how to connect with your audience and sell more books with email.

27. Add a subscribe button to your website

Remember that author website you set up? Now’s the time to decorate it with lead-capturing opportunities for your mailing list, including a “Subscribe” button in your site header and/or sidebar. Make sure it’s large enough to attract readers’ attention and that it takes them to the correct page to subscribe.

28. Install exit pop-ups to grab more people

Another useful feature is an exit pop-up that asks people to subscribe to your mailing list before they leave your site. Since this can (and should) be more elaborate than a button, feel free to experiment with different images and text to see what brings in the most subscribers. Also consider hiring a marketer to assist you with this and other ads (see below).

29. Get creative with lead magnets

When in doubt, remember that people love free stuff! You can always incentivize subscribers with lead magnets. Offer up a chapter of your book if you haven’t already, or even the whole thing if you have multiple books to sell. Many authors have great success turning the first book of their series into a lead magnet so people will buy the rest.

Other lead magnet ideas include: infographics, checklists, and templates with information your readers might find valuable. Or, if you want it to be interactive, try a survey or quiz where people receive their results or more info by email (and get subscribed to your mailing list in the process).

30. Attract subscribers with giveaways

Not keen on using your own content for lead magnets? Try giveaways ! For example, if you write horror and want to attract fellow horror enthusiasts, you could give away a Stephen King box set or a classic horror movie poster. Just add a line to your subscribe button/pop-up about how people have to subscribe to your mailing list to be eligible, and you’re all set.

31. Capture leads with Facebook ads

Facebook ads have proven surprisingly effective for authors targeting specific audiences, and they're also a staple method in digital marketing. While you may prefer to use ads to direct users to your Amazon page (more on that below), you can also use them to capture mailing list leads, as Mark Dawson describes here .

32. Provide consistent, interesting content

Got some subscribers gathered around your virtual campfire? Make sure you’re keeping them warm — that is, providing regular and useful content via your mailing list. “Regular” is relative, but you probably don’t want to send emails more frequently than once a week, or less frequently than every couple of months.

As for what this content should look like, it’s up to you! Some authors like to give intimate personal updates, while others prefer to keep things factual. You’ll get a sense from your readers’ responses of what sort of emails they prefer, and can adjust based on that.

33. Give, give, give, then ask

Lastly, remember to “give, give, give, then ask.” In other words, don’t ask your subscribers to do something for you (like buy your new book) until you’ve gained their loyalty with a steady stream of thoughtful content — showing that you value them as more than just dollar signs.

With your product perfected and your mailing list in full swing, let’s talk about the other major components of your author platform.

34. Hone your social media presence

Unless you’ve been living in a cave like our friend here , you’re probably already on social media — but you may not have calibrated your social media presence with the aim of marketing your book. The key is to pick just one or two of the main platforms and focus your efforts there, rather than spreading yourself too thin over a dozen different apps.

To select the right platform, think back to where your target readers and other potentially interested parties hang out. For example, if you’ve written a book about energy trading, most of the relevant discourse will probably happen on Twitter . But if you’ve written a lifestyle or home improvement book, Instagram and Pinterest will be your weapons of choice.

35. Run contests

After you’ve narrowed down your platform(s) and are putting out regular book-related content, you can mix things up with fun promotions. One great thing to do is run a contest — for example, a fanart contest for your book, or a small writing contest that you judge. Promotions like this make your audience want to interact with you on social, which will make the algorithms like you too.

36. Do AMAs and Q&As

Another hot tip for engagement: have your readers just ask you what they want to know! Tell them to submit their questions via social media for a classic live-answer AMA. Or if you prefer to take your time with responses, you can answer these in a longer, more detailed Q&A feature that you post on your website or send to your mailing list.

37. Maintain a Goodreads page

As any author will tell you, Goodreads is a major hub for the literary community, so get your book(s) and author profile on there as soon as you can. You can do this through the Goodreads Author Program , which allows you to claim your book, link your social media on your page, and post updates for your fans.

38. Speak at conferences and events

Speaking at any kind of conference or event lends you credibility, which is especially important for nonfiction authors. Keep an eye out for events in your niche — you might hear about these on Twitter, through a relevant organization, or from another author — and always be prepared to pitch yourself as a panelist or presenter. You can also take matters into your own hands and organize a local TEDx event .

39. Attend book festivals

Book festivals provide another great opportunity to network. Here you can meet readers, swap advice with other authors, and rub elbows with industry professionals — not to mention book festivals are just tons of fun!

40. Try event-friendly giveaways

At events like these, every person you meet is a potential new fan, so have event-friendly giveaways ready to win them over. Examples include: copies of your book, buttons and stickers, and other small bits of merchandise to help people remember you.

What about for virtual events? Easy — ask people to sign up for your mailing list to receive a lead magnet like an excerpt or infographic. You can also do this at the end of any presentation you might give, as it’s cheaper and easier than handing out merch to a room of people.

41. Get testimonials

All this networking is bound to lead to some impressive connections. Make the most of them by asking for testimonials from fellow authors and experts to use in your marketing materials. Again, this is extra-important for nonfiction authors, for whom credibility is everything; an endorsement from a well-known figure in your field is a golden ticket to book sales.

On top of everything you’ve been doing to build your following, here are a few specific tips to help you navigate your book launch — though for the record, you should start preparing for it several months in advance if you want the best chance at success.

42. Set up pre-orders

With Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing , you can make your ebook available for pre-order up to a year in advance. Simply fill in your Kindle eBook Details page like normal, but for the last section, select “Make my Kindle eBook available for Pre-order” rather than publishing it. Click  here to read more about setting up pre-orders for your book on Amazon.

43. Optimize your Amazon Author Page

Speaking of Big A, you’ll also want to optimize your Amazon Author Page, where readers will go to learn more about you . This page should include a high-resolution author photo and a nice, detailed bio, as well as blog posts, video updates and, of course, your books.

44. Join Amazon’s affiliate program

To make the most of the Amazon links you share, be sure to join Amazon’s affiliate program , which allows you to earn extra money from every sale you direct to Amazon. (This isn’t limited to your books, either — anything that a customer purchases during an affiliate session will earn you a small commission!)

45. Put together a street team

Another thing you’ll need for your book launch is a street team: a group of friends, family, and fans who will spread the word about your book and provide crucial early reviews. Check out this post  for tips on building and utilizing your street team, and remember to keep them in the loop leading up to your launch.

46. Reach out to reviewers

You can also get book reviews by reaching out to book blogs and publications. The first option will probably be your best bet — just make sure any bloggers you contact belong to your target audience, maintain an active and relevant blog, and are actually accepting books for review.

Not sure where to start? Check out our directory of book review blogs, which you can filter by category to find the perfect person to review your book!

47. Submit to Reedsy Discovery

Or cut out the guesswork and submit your book to Reedsy Discovery — a new platform that matches every submission with an experienced reviewer. For $50, you’ll receive a professional, honest review, a spot on the Discovery feed, and even the chance to be featured in our newsletter. Learn more about launching your book on Reedsy Discovery here .

48. Create a book trailer

If you have the time and ability (or a friend who knows how to use Final Cut Pro), another awesome pre-launch tactic is to create a book trailer . Keep in mind this medium won’t suit every type of story, but if you’ve written a fantasy or sci-fi novel, or a dramatic thriller or memoir, consider capitalizing on its cinematic potential.

As an independent writer , one of your greatest marketing resources is fellow authors in your niche. Here’s how to join forces to reach more readers.

49. Locate other authors like you

To work with other authors, you’ll first need to identify them. If you’ve looked into books similar to yours and cultivated an active social media presence, this shouldn’t be too difficult. Reach out to them via DM or email, sending a personalized query to each about who you are and how you’d like to work together (rather than the generic “Wanna collab?”). 

50. Double your social reach

The simplest form of authorial cross-promotion is to shout each other out on social media. For the best results, craft the post(s) for your collaborator or give them a list of talking points so they know what to highlight. And make sure it’s a fair exchange — you don’t want to be promoting them to your 5,000 followers while they’re only promoting you to 5 people!

51. Do virtual takeovers

To promote your book more extensively, you can also run multi-post takeovers of each others’ social accounts. Ideally these will intersect to bring all your collective followers to both of you. For example, you might come up with an Instagram Easter Egg hunt that goes back and forth between your accounts and ends with a prize for the winner.

52. Guest post on their site

If your author friend has a well-trafficked blog, you might also ask to guest-write for them! See what sort of topic they’d like, or suggest something creative of your own (for example, a post on your writing process or helpful tips on worldbuilding).

The great thing about this tactic is that you don’t necessarily have to offer them a guest slot in return — if you can provide interesting and valuable info for their readers, that may be favor enough.

53. Co-host a webinar

Take your cross-promotion to the next level by co-hosting a webinar. This can either outright promote both your books, perhaps as a mutual Q&A session (the pros do this all the time!), or it can be on another topic where you share knowledge and audience interest. Just be sure you’re mentioning your titles in there somewhere.

54. Bundle your books

Bundling your books for a giveaway is another amazing way to reach more readers — and indeed, to reward readers who subscribe to or follow both of you. And if you really want to commit, you can even bundle your books as a box set to sell together.

Remember how people love free stuff? They also love discounted stuff — and, well, stuff that’s discounted to be free. These tips will serve you well in all your price promotional endeavors.

55. Choose your Amazon promotions wisely

As part of Amazon’s KDP Select program, you can run only one price promotion on your book per 90-day enrollment period. You may choose between a Kindle Free Promotion (which can last up to 5 days) or a Kindle Countdown Deal (which includes any non-free discount, and can last up to a week). Whether you go discounted or free, or alternate between the two, is up to you… but choose wisely, as you won’t be able to try the other until the next enrollment period.

56. Go through suitable book promo sites

It’s not enough to just run a price promotion on Amazon — you also have to promote that promotion. You should do this on your own platforms, of course, but also through external promo sites that will advertise your price promotions to entirely new segments of readers.

Discover reputable sites right here in our directory of book promotion services, which lists over 60 great places to promote your book.

57. Have a multi-tiered promotion strategy

Though it might seem like a good idea to channel all your promotional power into the first day of your launch, this can lead to a sales spike and drop-off, which Amazon’s algorithms notably don’t like .

Instead, try to make a sustained effort over a week or so! For example, you might set your book’s standard price pretty low and promote it that way for 1-2 days, then start running a Kindle Free Promotion and spread out your external promos over the next five days.

58. Make your book perma-free on Amazon

That said, if you simply want maximum exposure, i.e. as many downloads as possible, you can make your book permanently free on Amazon. All you have to do is set your book’s price to free on other retailers, then ask Amazon to price-match it. You can do this via KDP Support , under “Pricing” → “Price Matching” on the left.

59. Use your backlist to promote your new book

Finally, if you’ve written a series or even just one other book, you can add an excerpt and a link to your new book in the back matter of your existing one(s)! Then consider price-promoting the old book in order to boost it. Because it ends with a note about your new book, you’ll effectively be promoting two books at once.

Advertising your book might sound intimidating, but a little investment here (both time- and money-wise) can lead to great rewards.

60. Learn to use Facebook Advertising

With infinitely customizable audiences and a low minimum spend of $5 a day, Facebook is the perfect platform for authors to reach potential new readers. There’s a small learning curve involved, but the payoff is worth it!

Facebook Ads for Authors

In 10 days, learn to boost book sales with targeted Facebook ads.

61. A/B test your assets

The other main benefit of Facebook ads is that the platform lets you “A/B test” your ads to determine if readers respond better to a different blurb, title, or cover image. Even a 10% difference in clicks can make all the difference to your sales — so be sure to test, test, test until you find the optimal visual assets.

62. Try out Amazon Marketing Services

Another useful advertising option, Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) allows authors to pay for ad placements on Amazon itself. The biggest upside of AMS is that it only charges you when a user actually clicks on your ad; you won’t be charged for people just seeing it. Curious to know more? Check out detailed case studies on Amazon ads for authors here .

63. Look into BookBub ads

While Facebook, Amazon, and BookBub are the Big 3 of author advertising platforms, the third platform is arguably the easiest to get started on — though you’ll typically have to do a lot more testing to get good results. Still, if you’ve got plenty of time on your hands and you’re motivated to learn about this high-level, potentially very high-ROI platform, have at it!

Learn more about BookBub ads for authors in this blog post .

Though you’ve checked off all the main book marketing boxes, there’s always more you can do to promote your book. Here are a few bonus tips if you want to go above and beyond !

64. Draft a press release

If you’re working with a publicist to get mainstream media coverage or specifically looking for opportunities in that realm, draft a press release about your book to make it easy for journalists to cover. This should include everything newsworthy about your release and answers to any important questions they might ask.

65. Order business cards

Some authors would say this is putting the cart (or card) before the horse. However, if you’re planning to do lots of in-person networking at conferences, festivals, and other events, having professionally designed business cards that identify you as an author and include your contact info can be an incredible asset.

66. Go on a blog tour

Don’t limit your blogging activities to author cross-promotion! You can go on a full-blown blog tour simply by doing a little more research to find additional websites, and reaching out to them with guest post pitches, ARCs of your book, and anything else that might interest them.

Fair warning, this is a lot of work — but it will build a lasting online profile for your book that exists entirely outside your own platforms, which is valuable for both your credibility and exposure.

67. Seek out podcast slots

If you’re a better speaker than a blog post writer, you can also offer yourself up as a podcast guest. Just make sure, as always, that any podcasts you’re on are relevant to your audience . For example, if you’ve written a book about DIY home improvement, don’t pitch yourself to a podcast about the most swoonworthy couples  in Jane Austen's novels; find a lifestyle or life hacks podcast instead.

68. Contact local bookstores

Local bookstores are a fantastic avenue for promoting your book — they’re happy to support indie authors, and it’s usually pretty easy to book them. Get in touch about hosting a reading or giving a talk, or team up with other local authors and make it a joint event. Don’t forget to bring copies of your book to sell and sign!

69. Try local radio and TV

Like podcasters, local TV and radio stations are always on the lookout for guests and fresh material. Send them your press release and ask if they might like to interview you on the air. If you can connect your pitch to someone else they’ve recently interviewed or to something topical happening in your area, all the better.

70. Sell your book to libraries

Libraries aren’t always looking to acquire, but those that are may be interested in your title, if you pitch it exactly right . Make sure your book is available through a wholesaler, then contact your local libraries and make your case. The good news here is that there’s a domino effect: once you’ve gotten your book into one library, it becomes easier to get it into others.

71. Donate your book other places

You can also donate your book to book drives, used bookstores, shelters, and so on. This is a great thing to do if you’ve ordered your book in bulk after offset printing and have more copies than you can realistically sell . A thrifty bookworm could end up becoming your new biggest fan!

72. Create merch for fans

This one’s pretty next-level, but if you’re starting to build a solid fanbase, why not create merch for them to purch(ase)? T-shirts and tote bags that reference your book, as well as stickers or buttons with small illustrations, are great places to start. You can even combine this idea with #35 and run a contest for your fans to design merch for your book — though you may then have to share sales profits with the winner. But hey, it’s great PR.

73. Lead a workshop or webinar

Last but not least, we have the tried-and-true marketing tactic of the workshop or webinar, which hooks your audience with free info and persuades them to buy your book. The content here can be whatever you like: a workshop critiquing other people’s writing, a webinar all about how to come up with great story ideas, or again, you can just ask your followers what they’d like to see.

Indeed, with book marketing, remember it all comes back to your target audience: when in doubt, think about what they want, not necessarily what you want to do.

We know this is a lot to remember, but never fear — you can download our nifty book marketing checklist to ensure you’ve got everything down! Thanks for reading and happy marketing.

FREE RESOURCE

Reedsy’s Book Marketing Checklist

Tick all the boxes, from ads to networking to social media and beyond.

5 responses

29/11/2018 – 21:18

Thank you! Extremly helpful!

13/06/2019 – 18:44

thank you a lot in a small package, #25 needs some grammar check.

Mary Jane Jane Overall says:

02/08/2019 – 16:14

I have said it once but I will say it a probable a MILLION MORE TIMES! YOU ARE AWESOME!!! Thank you so so much for all the incredible information. I have recommended you to a few businesses. I will continue to take your courses. Just can't begin to express my gratitude. Marketing is new to me. How lucky am I to have your guidance.

↪️ Yvonne replied:

08/08/2019 – 02:00

Thanks for the kind words, Mary Jane! Best of luck with the marketing!

Derrick Washington says:

08/12/2019 – 22:00

I appreciate the advice. I am an author and entrepreneur of the book world. I am almost finished illustrating my second children’s book. I really took my time creating it. As for the marketing and promotion side of the game, I needed to learn a lot more in order to be successful at selling my own books. Over the many months, I have researched and compiled many notes. As a result, I feel comfortable moving forward with my book brand. On top of that, I am going to redo all the illustrations and book cover for my first children’s book available on Amazon, and re-publish it. I am confident 2020 will be a wonderful year for me. Once again, thanks for sharing.

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Top Book Promotion Sites in 2024

• 17 August, 2024

Book promotion sites play a key role in today’s book marketing strategies for authors interested in increasing book sales and growing their reader platforms. These companies offer options for various genres and budgets to promote new releases, book discounts and even feature books at full price to a targeted list of readers hungry for books in a specific genre.

They do this by featuring books in their email newsletters, on their social media platforms, and/or on their own featured deals pages on their websites. Most have limited space each day, ensuring each book receives special treatment and attention that day. By taking advantage of these book promotions, authors can connect with new readers.

There are hundreds of such book promotion sites, each one with its own reach. Authors can choose the ones that most appeal to them and their book’s genre, then rotate through them on a regular basis to keep their books in front of new readers. By analyzing the results, authors can adjust and continue to use the book promotion services that best expand their readership and book sales.

Here, we’ve compiled a list of book promotion sites for authors, that have excellent email and social media platforms. Select the ones that fit best for your books and budget and see how they do for you.

List of top book promotion sites:

https://cravebooks.com

With a reach of over 50,000 email subscribers, your book is sent to the entire CraveBooks email list of readers. Your book promotion is also featured on the CraveBooks daily deal page and posted on the CraveBooks Facebook page.

Email Reach – 50,000+

Social Reach – 7,200

Book Sale Price – Free and Discounted

Pillow Talk Books

https://pillowtalkbooks.com

This book promotion site reaches 32,800+ subscribers and includes multiple opportunities for romance books. Pillow Talk Books sends your book to their entire email list of engaged romance readers and features it on their daily deals page.

Email Reach – 32,800

Social Reach – 7,800

Deluxe Romance

https://www.deluxeromance.com

Deluxe Romance provides an email reach of 3,900, ensuring your book gets noticed by an engaged audience who loves romance. Your book is sent to the entire Deluxe Romance email list of readers, featured on the Deluxe Romance daily deals page, and promoted on the Deluxe Romance Facebook page.

Email Reach – 3,900+

Social Reach – 1,150

Romance eBook Deals

https://romanceebookdeals.com

With an email reach of 2,000+ subscribers, Romance Ebook Deals ensures your book reaches an engaged audience that loves romance books. Your book is sent to their entire Romance Ebook Deals email list, featured on the Romance Ebook Deals homepage, and promoted on the Romance Ebook Deals Facebook page and other social media with over 9,000 followers.

Email Reach – 2,000+

Social Reach – 9,000+

Pixel Scroll

https://pixelscroll.com

Pixel Scroll offers a substantial social reach of 46,700, plus an email reach of 26,000+ subscribers, providing extensive exposure for your book. Your book is sent to the entire Pixel Scroll email list of readers, featured on the Pixel Scroll homepage, and promoted on the Pixel Scroll Facebook page.

Email Reach – 26,000+

Social Reach – 46,700+

Bargain eBook Hunter

https://bargainebookhunter.com

Bargain eBook Hunter book promotion service delivers a powerful social reach of 48,900 and an email reach of over 3,400 subscribers, ensuring your book receives significant visibility. Your book is sent to the entire Bargain eBook Hunter email list of readers, featured on the Bargain eBook Hunter homepage, and shared on the Bargain eBook Hunter Facebook page.

Email Reach – 3,400+

Social Reach – 48,900+

13HorrorStreet

https://13horrorstreet.com

This promotion, exclusively for horror books, reaches a targeted audience passionate about the genre. The 13 Horror Street platform boasts 7,263 Facebook followers, 1,643 Twitter followers, and 3,000+ email subscribers.

Email Reach – 3,000+

Social Reach – 8,900+

eReader Girl

https://www.ereadergirl.com

eReader Girl book promotion emails reach over 6,300 subscribers plus a social following of over 7,100. Your book is featured in their eReader Girl email newsletter, posted on the eReader Girl daily deals page, and shared on the eReader Girl Facebook page.

Email Reach – 6,300+

Nebula of Books

https://nebulaofbooks.com

Nebula of Books promotions is for Science Fiction and Fantasy books. Each email is sent to a list of over 6,000 Sci-Fi and Fantasy readers and books are also highlighted on the Nebula of Books daily deals page.

Email Reach – 6,000+

https://permafree.com

Showcase your free books with the PermaFree promotion, that has an email list of over 1,000 readers and continues to grow. Books are also featured on the Perma Free daily deals page.

Email Reach – 1,000+

Book Sale Price – Only Free Books

Momma Says Read

https://mommasaysread.com

Momma Says Read is an email list dedicated to promoting children’s books. Each promotional email is sent to nearly 1,800 readers and featured on the Momma Says Read daily deals page.

Email Reach – 1,800

Ebook Island

https://ebookisland.com

A book featured in an Ebook Island promotion reaches an email subscriber list of over 5,000 readers and showcases your book on the Ebook Island daily deals page.

Email Reach – 5,000+

https://contentmo.com

This book promotion offers a social reach of 191,000 followers, plus an email reach of 12,300 readers. The variety of options on ContentMo provides a variety of options to ensure your book receives maximum exposure across multiple platforms. Here’s what’s included:

• Social Media Promotion: Your book is featured in 180 tweets, with 6 tweets per day sent to 41,000 Twitter followers ($30 Value). Additionally, your book is posted in Facebook Reader Groups, reaching a total of 1,000,000 members over four weeks. ($116 Value).
• Email Marketing: Your book is included in a Monthly Book Promotion email, sent to 12,500+ email subscribers ($25 Value).
• Pinterest Promotion: Your book is pinned four times to their Pinterest boards, which receive 70,000 views per month.
• ContentMo Blog Promotion: Your book is featured in 4 blog posts on ContentMo, each promoted with 4 tweets, 4 Facebook page posts, and 4 Tumblr blog posts.

Email Reach – 12,300

https://bookzzle.com

Books are sent to over 11,500 email subscribers, featured on the Bookzzle website, and are promoted across social media platforms including Facebook (with a boosted post), Twitter, and Pinterest.

Email Reach – 11,500

Social Reach – 600

https://www.booklemur.com

This book promotion is sent to a dedicated email list of over 16,000 subscribers and shared with 8,700+ Facebook followers.

Email Reach – 16,000

Social Reach – 8,700

https://www.bookdealio.com

With this promotion, your book is included in a 1-day email campaign to 395,556 readers, and has a social reach of 9,048. For an extra $32, they’ll promote your ebook on their Facebook (1,629 fans) and Twitter (7,419 followers) accounts. Links to your author website or sign-up form can also be included. Your book must have a professional cover and at least 10 reviews, except for new releases.

Email Reach – 395,556

Social Reach – 9,048

Just Kindle Books

https://www.justkindlebooks.com

This promotion for Kindle Books is sent to 52,000 email subscribers and has a social reach of 83,500. Your book is also featured on the Just Kindle Books and eReader Nation homepage for one day. There is also an option to feature your book on the BookSliced newsletter and homepage for one day.

Email Reach – 52,000

Thrillerfix

https://thrillerfix.com

ThrillerFix has a dedicated reader base of nearly 19,000, who love thrillers and are often willing to pay full price for new releases. To participate, your book must be a thriller and have at least 10 Amazon reviews.

Email Reach – 18,600

Wildhearts Romance

https://www.wildheartsromance.com

Your romance ebook is sent to their entire email list of 60,000 romance readers. It features your ebook’s cover, blurb, and buy links. Additionally, your ebook is featured on their website, complete with a backlink to enhance its visibility.

Email Reach – 60,000

https://litnuts.com

With a LitNuts promotion your book is featured in their newsletter sent to 24,000 subscribers, showcased on their website (which attracts 10,000 unique visitors each month), and shared across their social media platforms with a combined following of 8,000.

Email Reach – 24,000

Social Reach – 8,000

WhizbuzzBooks

https://whizbuzzbooks.com

This year-long promotion provides significant exposure for your book. Your Whizbuzz book page features the book cover, description, and links to various bookstore platforms, and stays live on their website indefinitely. On the first day of your promotion, your book is shared with over 600,000 users across multiple social media channels and featured on the Whizbuzz homepage for 10 days. Throughout the year, your book continues to be promoted on their primary social media accounts.

Total Backlinks Across Platforms – 4,100

EBookBooster

https://ebookbooster.com

This promotion guarantees your book a personalized listing on 12 platforms, including armadilloebooks.com and ebooklister.com. This provides valuable backlinks to boost your SEO. Each listing links to your Amazon page, website, and social media, offering additional exposure. Note that these are blog-style listings and do not go out to email lists.

Total Backlinks Across Platforms – 128,100

Promoting a book can feel overwhelming to some authors, but with book promotion sites like these, authors will save time and headaches. These sites allow authors to branch out from their email list and contacts to reach new readers and increase book sales. With the right tools and strategies, book promotion can be easy and worth the time and expense.

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Table of Contents

Testing Book Promotion Sites

The book promotion services we know work.

• The Book Promotion Sites That Didn't Work for Us

How to Get the Most Out of Your Next Book Promotion

Final thoughts, how to promote a book (using sites & services that work).

Would you launch a new product with a single tweet?

Of course not.

The same is true for launching a book. Like any other product, book marketing depends on a strategic plan, not a one-time tweet.

That includes a dedicated book launch, advertising, media coverage , social media attention , reviews, Amazon author pages , and a host of short-term and long-term initiatives.

I have some experience with selling books (I’m a 4x New York Times bestselling author ), and this I know to be true.

If you want people to read your book, marketing it is just as important as writing it.

But what if you have a good plan, but are still looking for some additional sales? There is a solution:

Book promotion sites can get you a quick burst of short-term sales, if you choose the right ones.

Unfortunately, most articles about book promotion services are bad. They’re literally just lists that link dozens of sites without any information about how successful those sites are (or aren’t).

This is BS, and at Scribe, we don’t stand for BS. Our mission is to help unlock the world’s wisdom by helping everyone write their book, and I’m going to help you here.

So I’m sharing my list of the best book promotion sites for nonfiction.

We tested 10 of the most popular sites to see what did and didn’t work. For the sites that performed best, I added individualized guides and tips to help you get the most out of each one.

But first, I’ll explain exactly how we put these book promotion services to the test.

Most articles about book promotion services are far too broad, listing sites for every genre under the sun.

We focused our test exclusively on nonfiction .

For each site, we tested 3 to 5 books across multiple sub-genres, such as business books, memoirs, and self-help books.

We noted the average daily book sales before the test, then compared those to book sales on the day the promotion ran and for a few days afterward.

To make it a fair comparison, we discounted each book to $0.99 for every promotion.

Here are the sites that worked , based on the number of additional copies sold.

At 300-500 additional sales on promotion day, BookBub was far and away the best of all the book sites we tested.

It was also the most expensive, but it was worth every penny.

BookBub is a global service that sends daily emails to their subscribers. It offers Featured Deals on deeply discounted ebooks, as well as free ebooks, by category. It also sends emails promoting new releases.

Email subscribers only sign up for the categories they want, and they can indicate their preferred retailer. So the email list is extremely targeted.

BookBub runs ebook promotions for:

• Kindle (Amazon)
• iBooks (Apple)
• Kobo (Walmart/Rakuten)
• Nook (Barnes & Noble)

Your book needs to be in at least one of those to be eligible, but I strongly recommend Amazon . Kindle is by far the largest player in the digital book market.

You can also run your promotion by region:

Although BookBub does have a significant international presence, the vast majority of BookBub subscribers are in the US.

This is a very important point:

Getting a BookBub promotion is not guaranteed .

You’ll have to:

• Sign up for a free BookBub Partner account
• Claim your author profile
• Apply for a Featured Deal or a Featured New Release through your author dashboard

To qualify for a Featured Deal , your book must be:

• Available in at least 1 of its 5 retailers
• At least 50% off
• NOT on sale for more than 14 days out of the past 90
• NOT offered for a better price in the past 90 days
• On sale for a limited time OR permanently free
• Error-free ( professionally formatted and edited )
• At least 100 pages for nonfiction (70 pages for cookbooks)

To qualify for a Featured New Release , your book must be:

• Coming out on a specific date in the next 6 months
• Error-free (professionally formatted and edited)
• It does NOT have to be on sale

When you apply, you’ll choose your preferred category, but BookBub reserves the right to change it. The nonfiction choices, along with the number of subscribers, are:

• Advice & How-to (1,410,000+)
• African American Interest (360,000+)
• Biographies & Memoirs (2,550,000+)
• Business (600,000+)
• Christian Nonfiction (990,000+)
• Cooking (1,590,000+)
• General Nonfiction (1,780,000+)
• History (1,930,000+)
• Parenting (440,000+)
• Politics & Current Events (350,000+)
• Religion & Spirituality (1,170,000+)
• Science (530,000+)
• True Crime (980,000+)

The category affects the promotion price, ranging from $164 to $944 for a $0.99 Featured Deal, or $80 to $710 for a Featured New Release, based on the number of subscribers.

Even if your book qualifies for a Feature, that is not a guarantee it will be chosen. BookBub only accepts about 10-15% of the books submitted for deals in the US.

The three most important things you can do to improve your odds are:

• Invest in an eye-catching, quality book cover
• Gather positive reviews from both readers and industry professionals
• Discount the book deeply, preferably to $0.99

For more tips on BookBub features, read the section below on getting the most out of your next book promotion.

2. Bargain Booksy

At 30-40 additional sales on the day of the promotion, Bargain Booksy was the second-highest performer.

The service is significantly less expensive and also much less complicated.

There are only three categories of nonfiction offered:

• Cook Book and Nutrition (list of 81,000 for $25)
• Self Help and How-To (73,500 for $30)
• General Nonfiction (77,000 for $25)

To qualify, your book must be:

• Priced between $0.99 and $5.00
• Over 50 pages
• Meet their editorial review process

There’s no minimum number of reviews, but Bargain Booksy reserves the right to refund your money if it decides your book doesn’t meet its standards.

3. BookSends

BookSends came in third at 20-30 additional sales on promotion day. All nonfiction books are lumped together in a single category, with 30,500 subscribers. The price of the promotion changes by the book’s sale price:

• $0.99 books are $40
• $1.99 books are $60
• $2.99 books are $80
• Free books are $75

We can’t speak to the “Expand Your Audience” or “Facebook” options because we didn’t use them.

To qualify, your book must:

• Be on Kindle
• Have at least 5 Amazon reviews, with a “high overall average”
• Have an attractive cover
• Be more than 50% off AND priced at less than $3 for the promotion
• Not be a novella or short-story collection

Even if your book meets these minimum qualifications, it still might not be accepted. BookSends may refuse a book based on quality, subject matter, or limitations of space in the newsletter.

4. ManyBooks

ManyBooks came in fourth at 10-20 additional sales.

For a ManyBooks Newsletter Promotion , your book must:

• Be on Amazon
• Have at least 5 Amazon reviews
• With an average rating of 4 stars or higher
• Have a professional cover image
• And a “captivating” description to “entice” readers
• Be at least 50% off, or free
• Be the best deal on the book in the last 3 months

Promotions are $29.

5. Books Butterfly

Books Butterfly was an unusual case. We saw, on average, 30-40 additional sales spread out over a week.

The rest of our success stories saw the bulk of the sales on the day the email went out.

There are a lot of choices on the promotions page, but we chose the “Silver 50.”

It’s $90 for indie authors and guarantees 50+ sales in a week, so we found that it underperformed on the promise.

But we’re including it here because it did generate enough sales to be worth mentioning.

The Book Promotion Sites That Didn’t Work for Us

Awesome gang.

Awesome Gang generated fewer than 10 additional sales in our test.

Their featured book listing is only $10, but the form allows you to add the book to their database for free, without the feature.

eReader News Today

Ereader News Today also generated fewer than 10 additional sales.

At $50 for the nonfiction promotion, we found this one not to be worth the investment.

Fussy Librarian

Finally, Fussy Librarian generated fewer than 10 additional sales.

Even at only $14-$20 for a nonfiction promotion, depending on the sub-genre, it wasn’t worth the money.

No matter which site you choose, you’ll get more out of any promotion by following a few simple book marketing tips.

Polish Your Book Page

A great retail book listing will attract new readers. Make sure every aspect looks professional and projects your book positioning :

• Your book cover
• Your book description
• Your editorial reviews (if any)
• Marketing details

Has your book ever been a bestseller? Does it have great reviews on Goodreads? Has it appeared in the media? If your book has received any accolades, be sure to include them.

List Your Book in Kindle Unlimited

Putting your book in Kindle Unlimited (KU) can add a new source of readers to any book promotion.

KU subscribers read KU books at no additional cost, and Amazon pays authors based on the number of pages they read.

For many authors, this is a significant source of income.

If you are a Kindle Direct Publishing author, you can put your book in KU by registering it for KDP Select through your author dashboard. But read the terms carefully.

Once you enter your ebook in KDP Select, it must be on Kindle exclusively for the next three months .

For many authors, this is a good tradeoff. But if your book is selling well on other digital platforms, KDP Select might not be the best fit.

Pay Attention to Author Marketing

In the nonfiction market, your author brand is as important as your book.

Make sure you are projecting your brand on your author page, Facebook page, LinkedIn profile, WordPress blog, Goodreads profile , other social media sites, and anywhere else readers might find you.

That includes the right bio and the right author photo .

If you’re an indie author, I strongly recommend our course on self-publishing .

It’s 100% free, and it will teach you everything you need to know about author marketing; book positioning; and producing a high-quality, professional book.

Marketing is always an investment, and book marketing is no different.

I strongly recommend developing an integrated marketing plan for every book you write.

But when you need a quick burst of digital book sales, nothing out there beats BookBub. It’s expensive, but that’s because it performs.

BookBub is not easy to get into, and the other sites that performed well are worth considering.

But all the promotion sites that performed well have strict requirements for the books they accept.

So put the time in:

• Write a great book
• Have it professionally edited
• Make sure it’s well designed
• Give it a fantastic cover
• Write a great book description
• Create your author brand

If you’d like some help, we’re here .

The Scribe Crew

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Want your book to reach maximum readers? Explore the features of the top book promotion services in detail! 

We’ve also included the best book promotion companies that offer services like creating a book teaser, author bio, book trailer, and book blurb. Whether you want to increase sales through Amazon, use email marketing, or increase your online presence, we’ve included the perfect options. So without delaying further, let’s begin! 

Maximize book sales with expert book promotion services! Learn more

Here are the best book promotion services of 2024: 

1. PaperTrue 

One of the trusted self-publishing companies, PaperTrue offers a diverse range of book promotion services. From creating an exciting book teaser for social media to making an attractive promotional video, PaperTrue does it all. They also create a promotional post and press release to market your book. 

With this, PaperTrue also helps in online distribution on various platforms like Amazon KDP, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble Press to promote your book. They can also help you create an eye-catching book cover design for your book. Their team also helps you create an engaging author profile, and book blurb to market your book. PaperTrue’s book promotion services start at $200. 

2. Scribe Media 

Scribe Media is a top book promotion agency offering email marketing, social media marketing, and online advertising services. They optimize Amazon’s category search keywords to increase the chances of a bestseller status on Amazon . They also make stunning graphics and develop strategies to coordinate giveaways (free reader copies) to ensure a wider audience for your book. 

With this, Scribe Media also sets up a Goodreads account and plans for Goodreads giveaway promotions. They also create short and long-form content to post on social media, increasing your book’s reach. The costs for their marketing services start at $12,000. 

3. BookBaby

BookBaby is a popular book promotion company that optimizes your Amazon page and uses stronger keywords to increase visibility. They also evaluate your social media profile and give suggestions for engaging social media posts. With this, they also assist in creating targeted ads for promoting your book. If you are searching for eBook promotion services, they offer that as well. 

Once you select their services, you must fill out a questionnaire and highlight your publishing goals. A book marketing expert will then contact you and provide valuable feedback about how to promote your book. BookBaby offers 3 packages of Amazon retail listing, creating an extensive book marketing plan and social media promotion where every package costs $399. 

4. Written Word Media 

Established in 2011, Written Word Media is a reliable book promotion service.  They help the book reach a mass audience through their targeted email marketing  campaigns. They can also schedule eBook promotions across the best book promotion  sites simultaneously, saving you time and effort. 

With this, Written Word Media also creates ad campaigns on Facebook and Amazon to  boost sales. Using Reader Reach ads, they help authors find new readers for their books. These ads are usually served from one of their pages like Free Booksy or Bargain Booksy. The ad campaigns can last 5-10 to 30 days, depending on the requirements. 

5. Greenleaf Book Group 

With more than 25 years of experience in publishing, Greenleaf Book Group is one of  the best book promotion agencies. Their marketing strategies not only include targeted ads but also book club promotions. They focus on marketing your book to well-known  retailers to maximize your book’s distribution. Want eBook promotion services for your  book? Greenleaf Book Group can help you market your eBook effectively. 

Along with social media marketing, they also focus on podcast interviews and reaching  out to influencers for book promotion. With this, Greenleaf Book Group also provides  Amazon advertising and author branding services. This also includes building an author website , logo, and video to promote your book. 

6. Elite Authors 

Elite Authors can optimize your Amazon page for Amazon’s search algorithm to improve your book’s visibility. They can also help you build an active online presence on free book promotion sites like Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. From creating a monthly content calendar to designing posts to attract more readers, Elite Authors does it all. 

Their expert team also develops a book trailer to promote the book across multiple online platforms . With this, they also get authentic book reviews from actual readers and post them on your book’s page. They also write a good book blurb and help you create a good author profile for book promotion. 

7. Bookishelf 

Bookishelf offers a wide range of promotion services including creating an author website, and social media marketing along with Google, Facebook, and Youtube advertising. They also comprehensively review your book and post their reviews on Amazon, Flipkart, Goodreads, and other eBook promotion sites. With this, they also create social media posts and help you manage various fan pages for your book. 

They also interview the author and post the interview on various social media platforms. Their expert team creates a comprehensive book marketing plan that covers all the services mentioned above, tailored to your book’s needs. You can opt for the whole plan or customize it, depending on your requirements. 

8. Ghost Book Writers 

One of the best book promotion companies, Ghost Book Writers offers expert email marketing, and advertising, and creates search-engine optimized content for book promotion. With this, Ghost Book Writers also draft a press release for your book.  Their team creates a customized marketing plan as per your book requirements. They  also plan your book launch and help you advertise in top newspapers and magazines.  After your book launch, they also provide post-promotion services to ensure that your  book reaches a wider audience. 

9. Smith Publicity 

Smith Publicity is a reliable book promotion company that helps authors with social media marketing. They also craft engaging press releases and create content for the author’s website. Their expert team will also help you plan book events like podcasts and interviews to promote your book. 

They also help to increase your book’s reach through media engagements on podcasts, radio, and television. With this, they also optimize your Amazon page, develop a list of media contacts, and pitch your book to the relevant editors. They also offer expert eBook promotion services. 

10. Friesen Press 

Friesen Press provides comprehensive promotion services that include creating a stunning book trailer, an author website, and posting content on the best book promotion sites. They also help you get professional reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Clarion Book Review. 

With this, they also create promotional materials like catalogs, bookmarks, and business cards to market your book. If you are a part of any book promotional event, they can also design creative banners to market your book. They also provide coaching and access to a webinar to understand the basics of book marketing . 

Now that you know about the top book promotion services, you can choose the best one for your book. You can browse through these book promotion sites and compare them to select the perfect service. You can also research the best free book promotion sites to increase your book’s reach. As leaders in self-publishing services , we’d love to help you publish and market your book. 

Here are some other articles you might find useful: 

• Top 10 Book Formatting Software for Authors in 2024
• What Is Amazon Self-Publishing? Pros, Cons & Key Insights

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150 Book Marketing Ideas for Every Author

Book marketing… some authors shudder at the concept, and reasonably so. Marketing your book can be terrifying, especially if it pulls you out of your comfort zone and into uncharted territory. 

You’ve just written a book and courageously shared your words for all the world to see. That in itself is a fear many don’t conquer!

And now, you’re on to the next big challenge. How do you get your published book into the hands of readers amidst the ever-growing sea of competition? 

Fact: Your book marketing plan will make or break your book’s success.

No matter what your writing goals are ( to build a writing career, grow a business, or impact thousands of lives ) the consensus is clear: Effective book marketing is key to your book’s success.

Otherwise, your book, along with hundreds of others, will be lost at sea – never to be discovered by the readers you want to reach.

Do you know what you need to have a successful book launch? 

In today’s post, we’ll explain everything you need to know about book marketing: what it is, why it’s important, and 150 book marketing ideas that you can start implementing today.

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This Guide to Book Marketing Will Cover:

What is book marketing.

Book marketing is the process of promoting, selling, and increasing awareness about your book. It involves promotion techniques , advertising strategies , and outreach. If you’re learning how to become an author , book marketing is part of the process!

What is a Book Marketing Plan?

A book marketing plan relies on differentiated, specific strategies to get your book into the hands of your target audience (this is who you wrote your book for!). 

Effectively marketing your book will ensure your book reaches the right readers, promote your name, and allow you to grow your author platform . 

Book Marketing vs Book Promotion

The terms book marketing and book promotion essentially refer to the same concept, and the phrases are often used interchangeably.

Book marketing should be viewed as the “big picture” and can include an overall plan with specific strategies and tactics.

Book promotion is what fits under the big picture, and it can be defined as the specific tactics that fall under the overall book marketing plan.

What Does a Book Marketer Do?

A book marketer carries out activities intended to get books into the hands of the right readers. You can market your own work as an author or hire specialist book marketers to act on your behalf.

Why is Book Marketing Important?

You wrote and published a book , and crickets . That’s the trap many authors fall into. 

Don’t think that your work ends as a published author once you’ve published the book. Some would argue that’s when the real work begins. But let’s be honest, the entire publishing process can be tricky to navigate – book marketing included.

The importance of book marketing lies in being proactive in gaining new readership and selling more books. 

To avoid releasing your book to an audience that’s not listening because they don’t know your book exists, it’s crucial to devise a solid book marketing plan. 

Here are some reasons why book marketing is important for every author: 

• It helps you reach more readership and get new book fans.
• It helps you get more book reviews on Amazon .
• It enables you to generate more book sales.
• It is a lead-generator to networking.
• It helps you establish a substantial audience and community interested in your book(s).

When is the best time to launch a book marketing plan? 

The biggest mistake many authors make is to think a book marketing plan only needs to cover the initial book launch , right after the book is published. 

In reality, a book marketing plan is most successful when it’s evergreened – or, continuously happening before, during, and way after the book has been published. 

While this sounds like a lot of work, you’ll find that there are a ton of book marketing ideas that help you automate your book writing plan. 

You need to learn how to market your book and devise a strategy early on in your book-writing journey. 

Pre-launch book promotion

Start marketing your book a year or more prior to publishing . This tactic will enable you to establish a solid fan base and gain authority. 

Ideally, this is the best time to create your author website and grow your email list by creating valuable content for your readers.

Also, create and optimize your social media profiles, and grow your followers and email list (we’ll cover more on this later). 

It will make marketing your book during your launch a breeze.

During-launch book promotion

The launching period is the peak time to market your book. As a self-published author , you should launch your book at the ideal moment – when the book topic is trending. 

The key is to do your research and find the optimal time to set a release date and/or host a book launch party based on your book’s topic.

An example: If you’re writing a recipe book, the ideal moment is during the holidays when people are trying new recipes and cooking at home a lot. Launch your business book during the graduation season when graduates are looking for ways to earn money. 

Post-launch book promotion

Don’t stop book buzzing simply because you’ve launched it and you have a sizable readership. 

Keep marketing your book and grow as an author . Continue building your readership base. It will make it easier to sell your other books, especially if you are writing a series .

You can market your book after launching through your email list, attending book forums , interviews, and speaking in book-related events and discussion forums.

150 Book Marketing Ideas to Boost Your Sales

Book marketing isn’t rocket science, so try not to feel intimidated if you’re not familiar with marketing as a whole. 

When it comes to your book, you’re passionate about what you wrote, and the message you are sharing. Let that passion fuel your motivation to effectively promote your book so that you can impact more lives and grow your reach.

Let’s look at the book marketing ideas you can leverage and use to increase both readership and book sales.

Build an Online Presence

1. Create a professional author website . One of your best book marketing options is your author website. If you don’t have one, it’s really hard to build your online brand! Luckily, it’s super easy to learn how to create an author website . 

2. Start a blog related to your book’s theme or genre . Blog content is an ideal way to draw traffic to your site. The content can be in the form of book updates, brief descriptions about your book, blog posts sharing tips on your writing journey, etc.

3. Optimize your website for search engines . SEO-optimized content can help you gain organic traffic to your website and have your books appear on Google searches. You should optimize your blog content and your web pages. 

4. Guest post on popular blogs in your niche . You can write on more than just your own blog. Why not write a guest post for another author in your genre to gain exposure with their readership, too? 

5. Participate in online forums and book-related communities . Posting regularly in online communities can help to boost your visibility online. People may also come to trust your advice or feel more connected with you as an author. 

6. Utilize social media platforms consistently . If you use social media (and you should), it’s important to use it regularly. People will forget you if you only post once in a blue moon, and they may even decide to unfollow you. 

7. Host virtual book launch events or parties . Not every book launch party needs to be in person. You can host some online, too! Try creating some book launch events for your subscriber list and in different online groups and forums.  

8. Create and share engaging content on YouTube . YouTube is a great way to connect with your readership. You can talk about your writing process, life story, pronunciation tips for your book, you name it! Let the passive income roll in. 

9. Join relevant online book clubs and discussion groups . If there are book clubs for your book, genre, or adjacent genres, JOIN THEM. You can connect with your readership and find lots of new potential readers in the process. 

10. Offer exclusive content or sneak peeks on your website . One book marketing idea is to offer a sneak peek of your next book on your website. Then you can spread the news far and wide via email and social media. 

Make the Most of Social Media

11. Run targeted Facebook and Instagram ads . You should be sending ads to your target readers, not just throwing money around and hoping something sticks. Create some social media ads that are targeted directly to your different reader personas.  

12. Use popular book-related hashtags on Twitter and Instagram . Take some time to look through the hashtags on social media. What is trending in the bookish sphere? Are there any that are specific to your book or genre? Use them. 

13. Collaborate with other authors for cross-promotion . Reach out to other authors on social media to see if they will promote your book on their channel in return for you promoting theirs. 

14. Conduct live Q&A sessions on social media . A chance to pick the author’s brain!? Readers will FLOCK to you. Doing a quick live Q&A session on social media is a fun and easy book marketing idea. 

15. Share behind-the-scenes glimpses of your writing process . Readers love to see what goes into the making of their favorite books. You can gain interest by disclosing information about the writing process. 

16. Create shareable graphics with quotes from your book . Pick a few quotes from your book and make cute graphics out of them. You never know who will share them on social media, and you can reach a lot of new potential readers that way. 

17. Run social media contests or giveaways . An easy book marketing idea is to create a giveaway on social media. Tell people to tag their friends or answer a question in the comments for a chance to win a book or related swag! 

18. Share positive reader reviews and testimonials . A super easy book marketing strategy is to post positive reviews of your books online. Spread testimonials on your social media platforms, author website, etc. 

19. Leverage social media analytics to refine your strategy . Social media analytics are there for a reason, so you should learn how to use them to your benefit. They can be extremely helpful in optimizing your book marketing strategy. 

20. Interact with your audience through polls and surveys . Polls and surveys are fun for your readership to take, and they also help you to understand your target audience better. That will make your future book marketing efforts more effective!

Spend Some Time on Email Marketing

21. Build and grow an email subscriber list . Email marketing is one of the robust ways to market your books as a self-published author. Use your author website to grow your email list , and send out engaging content to your subscribers list. 

22. Send regular newsletters with updates and exclusive content . Regular email updates will keep your subscribers engaged, and if you offer exclusive content via email, all your readers will want to get on your email list! 

23. Offer a free eBook or bonus content to new subscribers . It’s always a good idea to have a lead magnet to draw in new subscribers. This could be an excerpt from your new book, a short eBook, or other content your readers would enjoy. 

24. Personalize your email campaigns based on reader preferences . You don’t need to have one generic email series for every subscriber on your list. Learn who reader personas are and create some personalized emails for each one. 

25. Use compelling subject lines to increase open rates . Words sell. It’s a fact, or you wouldn’t be an author. Craft the subject line of your emails like you would the hook of a story. You want that email opened STAT! 

26. Collaborate with other authors for joint email campaigns . Just as you can collaborate with authors on social media, you can collaborate with email campaigns. Why not make the most of BOTH your email lists!?

27. Encourage readers to forward newsletters to friends . Giving a little nudge to your readers every now and then can be super helpful for book marketing. Ask them to share your announcements with their friends. 

28. Create a segmented email list for different reader interests . Remember I said that email campaigns should be targeted to different reader interests? You can even completely segment out your email lists for different groups to help you keep track. 

29. Include a call-to-action (CTA) in every emai l. If you don’t have a CTA in each and every email, you are missing out on easy book marketing opportunities. Link to your new book, your social media posts, your new blog post, etc. 

30. Run limited-time promotions exclusive to subscribers . Running short promotions for subscribers not only gets subscribers excited to buy in, it will also help to grow your subscriber list once the word gets out. 

Get Savvy With Content Marketing

31. Write articles related to your book’s themes for guest posts . Are you writing a book on public speaking tips? Why not do some guest posts on creating an on-stage presence or overcoming stage fright? You will totally pull in some new readers from your helpful tips. 

32. Create a podcast discussing your book and related topics . Podcasts are a fabulous book marketing tool. It’s simple to make your own book-related podcast, too!

33. Develop a content calendar for consistent blogging . Sometimes blogging becomes an afterthought for authors, but it’s really one of the BEST ways to draw traffic to your author website. A content calendar will help keep you accountable. 

34. Utilize Medium to reach a broader audience . Have you written on Medium.com before? If not, it’s a really easy way to expand your readership and earn a little cash on the side. 

35. Create and share infographics related to your book . You can use Canva or Visme to create enticing, book-related infographics for potential readers. Put these up wherever you have an online presence. 

36. Participate in virtual summits or webinars . Look for upcoming writing or book-related webinars and participate in them. You can meet other participants, market your book, and maybe even network to host a summit of your own next time.  

37. Write guest articles for local newspapers or magazines . Reach out to local newspapers and magazines to see if you can write any articles for them. This will get your name out there, and if you can plug in some book marketing, even better. 

38. Offer to write a regular column for relevant publications . You don’t have to stop at one guest article. Why not ask for a column? You are a published writer, after all. Use your book as leverage, and then use your column to leverage your book. 

39. Create a book trailer and share it on video platforms . Book marketing isn’t all about written content. You can create an exciting book trailer for your latest release and share it on YouTube and other popular platforms. 

40. Share excerpts from your book on various platforms . Find a riveting (but spoiler-free) section of your book to share on social media platforms. This is an easy book marketing option. Hook them with the excerpt and they will want the whole book. 

Work on Collaborations and Partnerships

41. Partner with book influencers for reviews or shoutouts . Book influencers have, well, a lot of influence. Book bloggers, Bookstagram, BookTok – reach out to all the influencers and offer them a free copy of your book for an honest review. 

42. Collaborate with bookstores for in-store events or promotions . Call up some local bookstores to see if any of them are willing to partner with you for an event. Maybe you can do a reading or book signing , or host a writers’ workshop!

43. Join author collectives or networks . Author collectives can be an amazing networking tool, and you can form book marketing collaborations with many of the members. 

44. Partner with non-profit organizations for themed promotions . Are there any non-profit organizations you would like to help? You can both boost visibility for each other with a joint promotion. 

45. Collaborate with artists for book-related merchandise . Look for some artists whose style you love and reach out to them for a collaboration. Maybe they can make some bookmarks, mugs, or clothing related to your book. If people can wear your book marketing merch out and about, even better! 

46. Team up with other authors for anthology projects . If you want to do some smart book marketing, why not write some extra content related to your book? Maybe a short story, or an adjacent story set in the same universe? Then, partner with authors in the same genre or theme and put together an anthology with them. 

47. Participate in virtual book fairs or expos . Look up virtual book fairs and events that are coming up and contact the organizations to see if you can get involved. This can be a great book marketing opportunity for you. 

48. Offer signed copies through independent bookstores . Small bookstores are often looking for collaboration opportunities to boost their sales. They are more likely to partner with new authors, and offering them signed copies of your book can sweeten the deal. They will be thrilled to display your books front and center in their stands. 

49. Collaborate with book-related subscription boxes . Book subscription boxes are all the rage, from Illumicrate to Once Upon A Book Club . Browse through some subscription companies and reach out to the ones you think might use your book. 

50. Partner with libraries for author talks or readings . Contact local libraries to see if you can do a one-time author talk or recurring readings for their patrons. You can read your book, or bring your book up during your talk or reading. 

Get Some Publicity 

51. Write and submit press releases to local media outlets . Getting in the media is wonderful for book marketing. Write up some press releases and submit them to your local media groups. 

52. Pitch your book to book review bloggers and websites . Look up some popular book review websites and write to them about your book. If you explain a bit about it and yourself, and see if they will review your book if you send them a free copy.

53. Reach out to book podcasters for interview opportunities . If you don’t have time to create your own podcast, why not pop on someone else’s? Reach out to your favorite book podcasters and see if they would be interested in interviewing you about your book. 

54. Attend and participate in literary events and conferences . Book fairs are the only events where you can do some book marketing. See what other literary events are available in your area and sign up! 

55. Submit your book for literary awards . If you aren’t aware of all the literary awards out there, now is the time to start doing your research. If any awards apply to your book, submit your book for them! You might win, or get visibility from an honorable mention. 

56. Create an author media kit with high-quality images and press materials . An author media kit is like your resume or portfolio. It’s what you should be sending to people when you try to market your book. If you don’t have one, make one! 

57. Offer to write op-eds or articles for newspapers . See if any newspapers are covering tangential topics to your book. Maybe you can write an op-ed to go alongside one of their upcoming editorial pieces. 

58. Engage with book journalists on social media . Look up the social media accounts of some book journalists you like and start interacting with them. Who knows if this will turn into a book marketing opportunity over time?

59. Request interviews on local radio and TV stations . Podcasts aren’t the only place you can interview. Maybe a radio or TV station would like to interview you too! 

Create a list of possible questions and answers so they know what your interview would look like. 

60. Utilize platforms like Help a Reporter Out (HARO) for media opportunities . HARO is a wonderful book marketing opportunity. You can sign up for their daily email and see if there are any reporters looking to cover a topic related to your book.

Just respond to them through HARO, and you might book yourself an interview! 

Perfect Your Book Launch Strategy

61. Plan a dynamic virtual book launch party . Planning the perfect book launch party is key to your book’s success on launch day. Make it a fun and dynamic experience that people want to tune in for. 

62. Offer limited-time discounts or promotions at launch . When launching your book, you should try selling it at a heavily discounted price for a limited time. This will help your book marketing by getting you tons of early reviews. 

63. Encourage pre-orders with exclusive bonuses . Make pre-orders enticing with special discounts, limited editions, or extra merchandise that is JUST for pre-order purchases. 

64. Leverage Amazon’s Author Central for enhanced book pages . If you don’t have your Amazon author page set up, now is the time to do it! Amazon Author Central allows you to make interactive eBooks with visual and audio elements. 

65. Utilize book launch countdowns on social media . Keep the buzz going with multiple countdown posts on social media. Continue reminding people when your book is coming out and tell them to mark their calendars! 

66. Organize a blog tour leading up to the launch . What is a blog tour? It is a week or two where your book will be promoted across a bunch of websites and blogs. Reach out to potential websites well in advance to coordinate this with them. 

67. Create a launch-specific landing page on your website . It doesn’t hurt to create an SEO-optimized launch page for your book on your website. Once the launch has died down, you can repurpose that content into a product page for your book. 

68. Host a launch day giveaway on social media . Offer free copies of your book (or some free book-related merchandise) to your social media followers on launch day. This will generate buzz around your accounts, and probably get followers to share the information with their friends. 

69. Collaborate with influencers for launch day shoutouts . Contact some book influencers (and other influencers you like) to see if they would be willing to talk about your book on launch day. 

70. Leverage book launch hashtags for increased visibility . Take a look at what hashtags are trending for other books that authors are currently launching. Use those hashtags for yourself! 

Do Some Offline Marketing

71. Attend local book fairs and author events . Look up local author and book events in your area and sign up for them. These can be fruitful networking events for book marketing. 

72. Partner with independent bookstores for signings . Speak to some local, independent bookstores about setting up some book signing events as part of your book marketing strategy. 

73. Create visually appealing bookmarks and distribute them . Make some bookmarks using pictures or quotes from your book. You can collaborate with designers to create a professional and dynamic design. 

74. Offer to do readings at local libraries or book clubs . Send some emails out to local book clubs and libraries to see if they would like you to do a reading from your book. 

75. Create eye-catching posters for book-related events . Work with a designer to create some professional book posters to put up around town or at libraries, bookstores, and book events. 

76. Utilize traditional media like radio and local TV . Talk to radio and TV stations to see if you can get an interview or even a mention of your book release. 

77. Sponsor local events or community programs . If there are any events coming up in your community, see if you can sponsor them! You can get your name out there, and maybe even have the events mention your book. 

78. Participate in book swaps with other local authors . Reach out to some local authors and ask if they would be interested in doing a book swap. You can agree to write reviews or testimonial quotes for each other’s books. 

79. Set up a booth at farmers’ markets or craft fairs . Look up local farmers markets and fairs and see if there is space for you to set up a book with your books and book marketing materials. 

80. Place promotional materials in local coffee shops or businesses . Ask local restaurants, cafes, and businesses if they would be open to you displaying your book posters and flyers in their stores. 

Boost Reader Engagement

81. Respond promptly to reader emails and messages . Don’t ignore your readers! Respond to their emails and comments as soon as you can. And, if you don’t have the time, train a ghostwriter to do some of it for you. 

82. Create discussion guides for book clubs . Put together a discussion guide for book clubs with open-ended questions about your books. Make sure these are questions that will create multiple opinions and provide for a good discussion. 

83. Conduct online book clubs or reading groups . If you have your discussion guide created, why not host your own book club online? Readers will be thrilled to discuss alongside the author of the book. 

84. Encourage reader-generated content (fan art, reviews) . Don’t shut down fan art. If you see fan art you like, reshare it on your social media channels! Promoting your fans will create a more loyal readership, and is great for book marketing, too. 

85. Run polls on social media for reader input . Put some polls on social media to see what your readers think about your book and your writing. Who are their favorite characters? What were the most exciting chapters? What did they take away from your book? 

86. Offer signed bookplates for physical copies . Entice readers to buy physical copies of your book by offering them with signed bookplates. This will make the books more special and cause readers to want to buy a physical edition. 

87. Share book-related quizzes or trivia on social media . Everyone loves a good quiz. Take a look at Buzzfeed for inspiration and make a quiz or two related to your book that you can share on your social media channels. 

88. Host online book-related games or challenges . Why not create an interactive challenge or game that your readers can play online? This can be a lot of fun for your readers, and will create a sharable buzz. 

89. Engage with book-related memes and trends . Make book marketing super fun with some memes! See what is trending across social media platforms and follow the trend (with hashtags) in a way that suits your book. 

90. Show appreciation to long-time readers with exclusive perks . Remember how we talked about segmenting your email lists? Maybe you could have one just for your early subscribers, and give them some special perks for their support. 

Work on Your Visual Elements

91. Invest in professional cover design . They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but we absolutely do. Contact a professional book cover designer to ensure your cover markets your book FOR you! 

92. Create visually appealing promotional graphics . If you aren’t sure how to make the graphics yourself, partner with a graphic designer to create promotional materials that can’t be looked away from. 

93. Utilize eye-catching images in social media posts . Use Canva to create beautiful images for your social media posts, or work with a designer for a more professional look. 

94. Share character aesthetics or inspiration boards . Create a Pinterest board based on the look of certain characters or locations in your book so that others can be inspired by the aesthetic. 

95. Create interactive graphics (choose-your-own-adventure style) . Create some choose-your-own adventure graphics (think a chart with yes and no answers) to help people decide what book to buy or what character they are, etc. 

96. Design merchandise featuring your book cover . Work with designers to create posters, bookmarks, scarves, or shirts with your book cover on them. 

97. Use visually striking quotes as overlays on images . You don’t have to create just a quote graphic by itself. Why not layer a transparent quote over a book-related image? 

98. Share the evolution of your book cover design . Did you go through multiple book cover designs before you landed on a winner? Why not share your process? Everyone loves a fun, behind-the-scenes peek. 

99. Create a mood board for your book and share it . Use Canva to design a mood board for your entire book. Put it up on social media, Pinterest, and anywhere else that you deem appropriate. 

100. Use visually consistent branding across platforms . Make sure you have your author branding down to a T, and ensure your branding is consistent everywhere you post your book marketing content. 

Utilize Data and Analytics

101. Monitor sales data and adjust marketing strategies accordingly . It’s important to keep an eye on sales to understand if your book marketing efforts are paying off. Take a close look at the numbers and pivot as needed. 

102. Use Google Analytics to track website traffic . Google Analytics is a really incredible tool to see what content is most engaging to your readers. If you see certain blog posts resonating more, try creating some related social media and blog posts.

103. Utilize social media analytics for performance insights . Your social media platforms have their own analytics, so don’t forget about them! Social media analytics can help you make smarter decisions with your book marketing posts. 

104. A/B test different marketing messages . Try using some A/B testing to see which ads work best in different demographics. You might be surprised to see what resonates most. 

105. Monitor email open and click-through rates . Don’t stop at just getting names on your subscriber lists. Dive deeper into email marketing by checking statistics to see which emails are actually performing for you. Make more just like them. 

106. Analyze reader demographics for targeted marketing . You should already know what your target market is for your book, but if you don’t, it’s time to learn! 

Of course, sometimes we end up with a readership that surprises us, so it’s a good idea to check reader demographics and target ads to your specific readership groups. 

107. Track the success of various promotional channels . Not every channel is going to perform equally. You might discover that you do great on YouTube and TikTok but aren’t performing well on Instagram. 

Put your money where it performs, and assess strategy elsewhere. 

108. Use heatmaps to understand visitor behavior on your website . A website heatmap is a visual representation of user interaction with a web page, displaying areas where users tend to focus, click, move the cursor, or spend more time. 

Use this information to change your content or target your book marketing ads. 

109. Set up conversion tracking for online campaigns . Make sure you track the success of your campaigns, otherwise you’ll be throwing money at the wall and hoping something will stick. 

110. Use reader surveys to gather feedback and improve strategies . Surveys are a great way to understand your readership better. Take opinions and feedback seriously so you can target your marketing accordingly. 

Market Internationally

111. Translate your book into other languages . Why focus on book marketing in just one country? If you hire some translators for your work, there is a whole world out there for you to market to. 

112. Collaborate with translators for foreign markets . You can form relationships with translators to translate not only your books, but your marketing content as well. Who knows, you might be the next bestseller in Norway!

113. Utilize international book fairs and events . We’ve already covered local book fairs, but there are big international book fairs where you can promote your book, too. Look up upcoming events online and pitch your book to them. 

114. Target international readers through online advertising . Create some Amazon display ads and ads personalized for other platfroms that target different countries to build your readership abroad. 

115. Offer international shipping for signed copies or merchandise . If you aren’t offering international shipping, you are missing out on lots of potential sales! While you don’t have to offer it on everything, merch and signed copies are a great place to start. 

Repurpose Your Content

116. Turn excerpts into shareable quote graphics . Take some short book excerpts and make graphics out of them, just like you would a catchy book quote. These graphics make for easy book marketing on social media. 

117. Convert chapters into serialized content for social media . You can release chapters one at a time on social media platforms to keep readers coming back for more. 

118. Create audiobook versions or snippets for promotion . Some people prefer audiobooks to physical books. You can even create special dramatized or extended edition audiobooks to get readers to revisit your story again and again. 

119. Repurpose blog content into engaging social media posts . If you have a blog on your author website (which you should), you can reuse some of your content on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. 

120. Turn book-related research into informative articles . Did you do any interesting research for your book? Whether it’s business research, historical research, or research on the native flora and fauna of your book’s setting, someone is bound to find it exciting. 

Turn it into an article! 

Focus on Long-Term Strategies

121. Plan a one-year anniversary celebration for your book . Your book marketing doesn’t stop after your book launch – you will always be thinking ahead with your marketing strategies. Why not have a special one-year anniversary celebration for your book?

122. Continue engaging with readers even after the initial launch . Keep talking with your readers via social media, your email list, and your blog. Don’t become irrelevant! 

123. Release bonus content or extended editions . Just because your book is published doesn’t mean you can’t republish it! Add extra content, like a special forward, an epilogue, or an additional chapter from another character’s point of view. 

124. Plan a sequel or related book to keep the momentum . Even if it’s going to take you three years to write, announce that you are writing your next book. Then, down the line, drop the title, then a quick paragraph excerpt. Keep the excitement going. 

125. Offer special editions or collector’s items . Partner with book cover designers to create special editions of your book or limited-edition box sets if you have a series. You can also create collectible merchandise related to your book. 

Do Some Interactive Marketing

126. Create a choose-your-own-adventure social media campaign . Everyone loves an interactive campaign. You can create a single graphic with charts to different answers, or have links to separate threads for people with different answers. 

127. Host a book-related online escape room or puzzle challenge . Online escape rooms are almost as fun as the real thing – I know, because I did a ton of them during the pandemic lockdown. Why not host one related to your book? 

128. Develop a book-themed mobile app or game . If you have the chops to create a game yourself, then knock yourself out! Otherwise, reach out to some app or game creators to make a book-themed product. Hogwarts Legacy doesn’t need to have a monopoly on the market! 

129. Engage with augmented reality (AR) for interactive experiences . Could you partner with an AR company to bring one of your book settings to life? This would be an incredible book marketing event to invite your readership to. 

130. Create interactive quizzes or personality tests related to your book . Create some character quizzes, where would you live quizzes, what house are you quizzes, what marketing style are you quizzes – you get the picture. 

Surprise With Unique Promotions

131. Organize a book-related scavenger hunt . Work with local businesses to create a fun scavenger hunt related to your book. Think up some riddles and clues and pick book-related locations for people to visit as they scavenge. 

132. Offer limited-time book-related merchandise . Create some limited edition book merchandise and post it all across your social media channels. Make sure readers know the merchandise is scarce! 

133. Collaborate with a local bakery for book-themed treats . Reach out to a bistro or bakery to see if they would make some recipes inspired by your book or some sugar cookies decorated in your book theme as part of your book marketing. 

134. Host a virtual cooking event based on your book’s setting . Is your book set in medieval times? Or maybe in romantic Tuscany? Pull up some authentic recipes for your setting and host a fun cooking event online for your subscribers! 

135. Create a book-related playlist and share it online . I can’t even count the number of times a song has reminded me of one of my favorite book characters or scenes. Make the perfect playlist for your book and it will take off like wildfire. 

Create Educational Initiatives

136. Offer educational resources related to your book’s theme . Your readers may want to learn more about your book’s theme or topic. Offer some additional resources to educate them further, whether they are website links, webinars, or mini workbooks. 

137. Conduct virtual or in-person workshops . Educate your readership (and potential readership) through writers’ workshops. You can form a closer bond with participants and talk with them about your book.

138. Develop a curriculum for schools or book clubs . Is your book the perfect book club book? Write up some potential questions and topics for book clubs to discuss! Think it would be good in class? Draw up a curriculum for teachers. They will be thrilled to use it. 

139. Partner with educational institutions for author talks . We’ve discussed author talks in bookstores, but why not in schools? See if any schools would like to host you in their libraries, classrooms, or auditoriums. 

140. Share insights into your writing process for aspiring authors . Sharing information about your writing process is incredibly helpful to people who are learning how to write a book . They will be interested to read your own book afterward, too! 

Do Some Seasonal and Holiday Campaigns

141. Create themed promotions for holidays . If there is a holiday coming up, don’t miss out! You can create special themed ads and promotions for Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, you name it. 

142. Develop a winter, spring, summer, and fall marketing plan . Book marketing can look wildly different from season to season. Create some marketing plans targeted to seasonal trends. 

143. Offer holiday-themed merchandise or bonuses . The holidays are the perfect time for book marketing. What book lover doesn’t love a special holiday-themed bookish gift!? Offer promotions, bonuses, or special-themed merch during the holiday season. 

144. Run special promotions during book-related awareness months . There are so many awareness months and days that it can be hard to keep track of them, but there is bound to be one your book could tie into. Create some special marketing ads around awareness. 

145. Tie your book into major cultural events or celebrations . If there are any cultural events or celebrations going on in your area (or abroad!) you can tie them into your social media posts and subscriber content. 

Learn How to Handle the Challenges

146. Address and adapt marketing strategies during crises . If there is a crisis going on, don’t just continue with your regular book marketing strategies. Be sensitive to the crisis and pivot your marketing as needed to address it. 

147. Use your platform to contribute positively during challenges . As an author, you have a voice. Use it! If people see you standing up and helping during challenging times, they will be more likely to support you and your books. 

148. Offer promotions or incentives to support readers in tough times . If you know your readership is going through a slump, offer them some promotions to make their day! Extending a helping hand doesn’t go unnoticed. 

149. Share personal stories or experiences to connect during adversity . Sharing stories during a time of adversity can help to humanize you with your readership. Just make sure not to overshare or make the problem about you. 

150. Show resilience and adaptability in your marketing approach . Your book marketing ideas are not set in stone. Depending on what is happening in the world, you may have to pivot your strategy, but that’s what makes for successful marketing. 

Remember to tailor these ideas to your specific book, target audience, and personal style. Combining multiple strategies and experimenting with different approaches will help you discover what works best for your book marketing efforts.

Get Your Book Noticed!

If you’ve already published your book, you can start implementing these book marketing ideas now.

And if you haven’t yet published, you can start working these ideas into your book launch plan.

There are tons of book marketing and promotion ideas to start conversations around your book. We’ve covered the essential ways on how to market your book, but the real rewards will come when you start implementing them and seeing which book marketing ideas work for you. 

Part of the difficulty with book marketing is that what works for another author, may not necessarily work for your genre. 

That’s where research comes in! Start researching similar authors in your niche and learn from what they are doing well with book marketing. 

Pretty soon, you’ll have a good idea of what kinds of tactics to approach for your own book promotion. And, you’ll be able to creatively implement new techniques!

If you need extra help with book marketing or self-publishing, the team at selfpublishing.com is here to help. You can book a free strategy call with our team today to get started. In the meantime, here is a helpful book launch checklist to keep you on track for successful book promotion.

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Book Promotion with Forbes Books

Fast-forward the success and reach of your authority with our book promotion plans. Our team works with you to craft a custom book promotion strategy that will position your book where it can be seen, trusted, and purchased.

Book Promotion Essentials

Each tier of Forbes Books publishing programs includes the following.

Book Seeding Initiatives

Reader reviews are critical to a strong book launch campaign. They influence how, when, and where the Amazon algorithm recommends your book to buyers. It also provides those potential buyers with the social proof needed to feel confident in their purchase decision.

The most fruitful source of early reader reviews is your author network. Your Book Promotion Manager will advise on best practices for seeding books with your network for potential review. This includes providing timing, copy, and support. They will educate you on the ins-and-outs of the Amazon algorithm and consumer review system.

In addition, the book seeding campaign includes members of the NetGalley and Goodreads communities. This includes offering digital books for download and giveaway to two of the largest online reading communities.

These online communities boast 650,000 and 90 million registered members. Additional advertising opportunities are available to increase visibility with American Library Association librarians, American Booksellers Association bookstores and avid readers and reviewers with an expressed interest in your genre.

Amazon Optimization & Targeted Advertising

Amazon accounts for up to 80% of all online book sales. This makes it imperative that your book is available, discoverable, and optimized. By accomplishing this, you can turn Amazon browsers into buyers.

Your Book Promotion Manager will research and recommend Amazon keywords and categories that best position your book to achieve bestseller status. They will work with you to setup and populate your Author Central author profile.

Our award winning team of designers develop A+ Detail Content that highlights your book’s value proposition. This supports conversion from browser to buy. Lastly, your manager will create an Amazon targeted ad campaign that reaches readers as close to the point of sale as possible.

The Amazon targeted ad campaign reaches readers with an expressed interest in your book’s genre and competitive titles. We do this through both online and email placements.

Throughout the campaign, you will receive robust weekly analysis. This includes insights into buying behaviors and book sales as a direct result of the advertising. Our team of Amazon certified ad specialists optimize the ad strategy and tactics based on real-time results.

Forbes Select Promotions

Our intermediate publishing package includes the above in addition to these promotions.

6-Month Book Launch Publicity Campaign

Our Book Launch Publicity Campaign provides local and national exposure. We seek placements in consumer and special-interest newspapers, magazines, journals and trade publications and more. Our relationships and proven strategies secure placements for clients in top-tier publications. This includes USA Today, Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

Kindle Bestseller List Program

The Kindle Bestseller program provides a high number of sales at a discounted price. This supports the necessary sales to make the top-five on an Amazon Bestseller list. Those who see your author name on page one of Amazon’s search results will almost certainly recognize you as a leading authority on your subject.

The program includes:

• Advice on the best categories for your eBook in order to get maximum visibility
• Reaching #1 or at least the top five spots on the Amazon Bestseller lists
• A seal and screenshots of your book reaching the Bestseller lists for further marketing or PR

Forbes Books Exclusive Promotions

Our most exclusive Forbes Books publishing package, Forbes Books, is designed to boost both the prestige of your book and your book sales. In addition to the above, you’ll gain access to two more exclusive promotions.

Strategic Airport Bookstore Placement

Airport bookstores are one of the best ways to get high visibility for your book with one of our author’s top target audiences: business travelers.

We work with four airport retail chains – Hudson Booksellers, Paradies Lagadere, WH Smith, and Newslink – to secure competitive and coveted placement for your book. This ensures that your title is strategically placed in the key markets that align with your brand and your message. In select locations, we have Forbes Books branded placement opportunities to further highlight your book’s connection to our prestigious publishing imprint.

Book Launch at Forbes on Fifth

Host a book launch party at Forbes’ elegant midtown Manhattan entertainment space, Forbes on Fifth.

Located at 24 Fifth Avenue, the 7,500 square foot space is used by Forbes to further its legacy of high-end entertaining. The space includes a main hall, a ballroom area, a 23-foot long, full-service bar and a large media wall and can be configured to entertain 50-100 guests .

Add On Promotions

Publishing award submissions.

For your book to be considered by reputable independent business book awards, we submit your book to IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards, Porchlight Book Awards, Foreword Indies, and Axiom Book Awards. Awards are generally submitted late the year of publication and awarded early the following calendar year.

Publishing Industry Reviews

Being recognized by the publishing industry with a review or award can bring credibility and visibility. Additionally, it provides the opportunity to market your book to new readers. This can contribute to increased interest for your book by consumers, booksellers, and librarians.

We submit your book to Booklife by Publishers Weekly, Foreword Clarion, Kirkus Indie, and Readers Favorite. They provide a guaranteed review from their editorial staff with the option to archive the review. Reviews are typically available 6-8 weeks after submitting. You can use the reviews on retailer book pages, marketing materials and more.

Increase Your Sales with Book Promotion

Find out if you qualify to be a Forbes Books author.

Best Book Promotion Sites 2024 (Updated July 2024)

by Paid Author | 03 | Author Resources , Publishing , Writing

Some of the best book promotion sites for 2024 are listed here. We’ve used each of them to promote our own books (Hey! We’re authors too after all!) and we’ve only listed the ones that we’ve had good results with, and we’ve included our review of each of them. Some of them promote Kindle books exclusively, and some promote all the ebook formats (Kindle, Nook, iTunes, Smahswords, Kobo etc.). Some of them promote free books only, some when it’s on sale, and some will promote when you have a new release, so you should have no trouble finding a promotions group that matches your chosen price point, format, as well as your budget and your goals for ebook marketing. Below you’ll find our Top 10 Book Promotion Sites!

KbookPromotions Coupon Code: PAIDAUTHOR for 5% Off!

A lot of their readership seems to be book bloggers as well, so you will often get additional promotion when the readers list their reviews on their own site as well as Amazon, and sometimes other sites such as Goodreads also.

You can find more information about how their Kindle book promotions work by clicking HERE .

Their two most popular packages are their “ 3 Week Review Express ” package, which gets your books in front of their most consistently active reviewers, and (depending on the package selected) will usually result in between 10 and 30 reviews as people finish reading your book. This option is best for authors with books that haven’t had any reviews thus far, or at least not many.

Their other popular option is “ 2 Day Best Seller Promotion ” package, which throws the net a bit wider in terms of readership, so you’ll get more sales (and therefore rank significantly higher on the Amazon bestsellers list) but won’t neccesarily get as many reviews as with the option focused specifically on reviewers.

Their smallest package promotion costs $149, but you can get a  5% discount on ANY marketing package when you list Kindle Book Promotions COUPON CODE: PAIDAUTHOR when you submit your book. You can get the full list of pricing here .

Like most of the better book sites, Kindle Book Promotions doesn’t list every book that gets submitted to them. Each book they receive goes through a manual review to make sure it’s a good fit for their readership, as well as making sure it’s something that their network of bloggers and reviewers would actually have an interest in. It’s also important to note that they don’t GUARANTEE reviews, rather, they send your book to their network of reviewers, which generally results in a high percentage of them leaving a review for your book.

Just Kindle Books Coupon Code: PAIDAUTHOR for $5 Off!

They already have over 49,500 Facebook fans , as well as a thriving email subscription list of over 51,000, but perhaps most importantly, they have recently merged with eReader Nation , and Booksliced so any promotion you run with Just Kindle Books will run on both these sites as well.

They are one of the few remaining promotions companies that will promote erotica, although they do have some guidelines and stipulations, which you’ll find on their submissions page.

For our promotion, we made our romance novel What We Search For free for a 5 day period. Over that time frame we did zero promotion other than using the cheapest option for Just Kindle Books. We got a total of 1,086 downloads, which works out at less than a cent per download, which is a sensational result.

The author of What We Search For has several other books as well, so being able to discover new readers for less than a penny each is probably one of the best book marketing results you’re likely to find.

Check out the review video below for some more information about the book promotion.

They also have an option to promote an entire book series and an option for authors who want  an article   to showcase their work and to pull quotes from for use in book descriptions.

If you want to try them out, make sure you use  Coupon Code: PAIDAUTHOR  which will get you a $5 discount. You can submit your book to Just Kindle Books HERE .

Their prices vary depending on how much exposure you want, as well as the cost of your book. They also have specific deals for promoting boxed sets of books, or an entire series. They also offer 66% discounts if you’re self-published or with a smaller publishing house. .  but the Big 5 publishers still have to pay full price.

We chose the $50 Silver package for our test, and we made our book free on Amazon Kindle for the full 5 days allowed by Kindle Direct Publishing during every 3 month period.

We ended up with almost 1,700 downloads over the 5 days, which was a very good result for such a small outlay.

So if you want to know how to promote your KDP free days, you can check out there book promotion pricing HERE .

BooksGoSocial Coupon Code: special10 for 10% Off!

Let us   leverage the colossal reach of Amazon, Facebook, and our own robust social media   networks for you.

Not just an advertising group, BGSAuthors is a comprehensive marketing solution, ensuring your book shines brightly amidst the multitude. Included in most of our dynamic packages is a three-month membership, providing you regular email promotion, engaging blog posts,   unparalleled access to review networks , and   unfailing personal support   to make your book the success it deserves to be.

Uniquely,   we stand firmly behind our promise of exceptional performance with an ironclad 60-Day Money Back Guarantee . So, you can confidently direct your valuable book marketing budget toward BGSAuthors , knowing your investment is protected.

But the rewards don’t stop there! With our membership, we’re offering a complimentary NetGalley listing, a game-changer for securing critical reviews.   Typically, this would set you back $375 – but we’ve got it covered!

Our services include: 1. Exclusive   “Done For You” Amazon ad services , featuring precision AI laser targeting for your book – and we cover the ad costs for you.

2. Unique   “Done For You” Facebook ad services   targeting genre-specific audiences to ensure maximum reach.

3. Impactful   email marketing campaigns reaching out to 250,000 dedicated readers , causing a significant spike in sales when you need it most.

With prices including   free book description revisions   and category support, we leave no stone unturned in maximizing your book’s potential.

The Book Tweeters Coupon Code: PAIDAUTHOR20 for 20% Off!

Book Tweeters is a promotions group that gets the word out about your book by tweeting it to their network of over 475,000 Twitter followers.

Their two main accounts are the Ebooks Habit Twitter , and The Book Tweeters Twitter , both of which have about 250,000 followers.

One of the great things about BookTweeters is that they promote books from a wide range of genres, as well as promoting new releases, book related Kickstarter projects, or Kindle Coundown deals (as well as ebook freebies!)

They’re also one of the very few book promotion groups that will promote your audio book, whether it’s excusive to Audible, or available on all the other platforms as well (such as iTunes or Kobo).

Their prices start at $11, which includes one full day of tweeting through their network every hour, up to $51, which is for 5 full days of tweets.

At the moment they offer readers from PaidAuthor.com a discount of 20% when using the Book Tweeters Coupon code PAIDAUTHOR20 upon booking, which goes a long way towards reducing the price of the promotion!

Click the link below if you’d like to read more on their homepage.

Book Reader Magazine Coupon Code: PAIDAUTHOR for $5 Off!

A featured promotion with these guys is priced at a very reasonable $20, but if you use Book Reader Magazine Coupon Code PAIDAUTHOR you’re get a $5 discount, bringing the cost down to just $15.

Along with getting your book posted in the Book Reader Magazine page on Facebook , you’ll also get the details of your book mailed out to their subscriber list, and displayed on their website’s homepage for a full 7 days. Hard to find a better value way to spend $15 on promotion.

The video below shows our results for Book Reader Magazine. We used our KDP Free Days and made the book free for a total of 5 days, which resulted in 765 downloads across that time-frame, which was a very successful result for a book that had been out for several years.

Book Lemur Coupon Code: PAIDAUTHOR10 for 10% Off!

Their prices vary by genre, from $25 on the cheap end, to $35 on top. They are offering our readers a 10% discount when you use Book Lemur Promo Code PAIDAUTHOR10 which reduces the price even more.

While they do offer promotions for books at any sale price, they prefer submissions that are on sale: ideally free, but also books priced at 99c tend to work well also.

There are quite a lot of author testimonials regarding their services, and your can read those testimonials here .

Pretty Hot Books Coupon Code: PAIDAUTHOR for $10 Off!

As well as their website, they also have over 12,000 followers on Twitter , 6,000 fans on Facebook , and a well established email list.

A basic submission to Pretty Hot Books is free, but if you want extra exposure you can get a Featured Book Listing for just $25 which keeps your book displayed on their homepage for an entire week.

The $25 regular price is reduced by a full $10 if you use the  Pretty Hot Books Coupon Code PAIDAUTHOR for a $10 discount, dropping the price down to a mere $15.

Even though the name may seem like it’s primarily for romance or erotica books, they actually take books in a multitude of categories, including: Cooking, Fantasy, Health Books, Horror, Humor, LGBT, Memoirs, Mysteries, Paranormal Romance, Poetry, Religious books, Sci-Fi, Thrillers, Young Adult, and even a dedicated Writing Tips category.

For our test of the service, we made our book free through KDP for a full 5 days, and ended up with 490 downloads, which is a quite strong result for just a $15 investment. You can check out the video below for more details of our review and our results.

Discount Book Man Coupon Code: PAIDAUTHOR for $5 Off!

You can submit your book to Discount Book Man free of charge, or get a Featured Book Listing for just $15 which keeps your book displayed on their homepage for five full days.

A featured book listing is even cheaper if you use the  Discount Book Man Coupon Code PAIDAUTHOR for a $5 discount, bringing the cost down to just $10.

They promote almost every genre, which means that you won’t have any trouble getting your book accepted by them no matter the category it’s in.

The video below shows the results we had for our ebook promotion with the Discount Book Man. Our promo lasted 5 days, and was free through Kindle Direct Publishing.

We ended up with 1,600 downloads of the free book, and had an increase in sales of about $100 over the next 7 days, which was a very strong result.

As always, for Kindle promotions like this, it’s usually a good idea to synchronize them with other book promotions on the same day, as this will get you even higher in the rankings, and gain exposure to more readers who are just perusing the Amazon bestseller lists.

Despite the potentially high price tag for a promotion, and the fact that BookBub promo codes or BookBub coupon codes that offer discounts are also completely unheard of, a BookBub promotion is almost unanimously considered by authors to be an excellent investment. Many authors show a ROI (Return On Investment) of 200% on this ebook promotion site, and sometimes significantly higher.

It’s not all as easy as it sounds however: BookBub has notoriously strict submission guidelines , and even when those guidelines are met, the fact that BookBub only accepts about 10% of submissions means most authors will struggle to get approved.

You can Submit your book to BookBub here .

Though their ebook promotion pricing is very competitive, being between $25 and $110 depending on your promotion, they do have a list of Promotion Requirements that they adhere to strictly, which includes no erotica, as well as the requirement that your book is over 125 pages (except for Children’s Stories or Cook Books).

As well as advertising books on Amazon Kindle, they also advertise books for Barnes and Noble – Nook, Apple iBooks, Google Play, Kobo and Sony Reader.

They also have a dedicated Christian Fiction Promotion section, so if your book falls into that category, ENT is likely to be one of the best promotions groups for you ebook.

For our Ereader News Today review and test run, we decided to make a book free for a period of 5 days, and we promoted it in the Action and Adventure category, which cost us $35.

We ended up with a massive 5,396 downloads of our Kindle book over those 5 days, at a cost of less than a cent per download.

You can submit your books to Ereader News Today via their Ebook Submission Page .

There pricing system is rather simple: $20 for Scifi, Fantasy, Horror, and Dystopian books, and $35 for Romance, Steamy/Erotic, Thriller, Mystery, and Nonfiction Authors.

They do however only take a certain number of books in each genre for a particular day, so it’s definitely better to book with them earlier rather than later. Their website will show you the dates available during the submission process, so you’ll know pretty swiftly if your dates are available.

For our Robin Reads review, we decided to promote a Thriller than was free for a 5 days period. We got a total of 1,548 downloads over a 5 day period, for a total cost of $40. That works out at about 2.5 cents per download, which is a bargain if you’ve got other book that those readers might then go and buy.

You can submit a book to Robin Reads here .

Their pricing for standard books ranges from $40 for smaller categories with perhaps 30,000 subscribers (such as Children’s Books) up to $100 for their biggest categories (Mystery/Thriller/Romance etc).

They also have a very large Facebook page, with over a quarter of a million fans , and any promotion you do with Freebooksy will get shared on their Facebook page as well as with the subscribers of that genre.

Though they approve most submissions, they’re well-known enough with authors that you often have to book at least a week ahead to be sure of getting the date you want, and sometimes even longer than that if you’re looking to promote a book in one of the larger categories.

We’ve made a video of our Freebooksy review below, and it shows our results and statistics from a recent Freebooksy promotion that we ran.

Along with their 20,000+ Facebook fans , they also have a thriving email subscriber list filled with people looking for their next read.

They’re also one of the few sites that use separate links for people from the various Kindle reading countries, such as the US, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, and Australia. This is quite an effective way to get into some of the smaller Amazon markets, which can often let an author hit a higher ranking than they every expected by focusing on only the main Amazon.com site.

For our review, we promoted a book called The Unbeliever. We made the book free through Kindle Direct Publishing for a 5 days period. Over that time we had a total of 1,385 free downloads, which is a very good result for a $25 investment. In the few days after the promotion, the increase in Kindle Unlimited pages read actually increased by 4,200 pages read, which virtually covered the cost of the promotion in the very first week.

Check out our video review below, or you can submit your book to BookRunes here .

They have a broad range of genres that they market, although you’ll often need to book as much as a month in advance for some of the more popular categories, as they tend to fill up fast.

You can submit a book to up to two categories at once, and if you do you’ll receive a 50% discount on the cheaper of the two categories.

Their main requirements are that the book has a minimum level of 10 reviews and a 4.0 rating on Amazon, or 20 reviews and a 3.5 rating. If you have 10 reviews split between Amazon’s various stores — like US and UK — your book is still eligible, although they don’t count reviews from non-Amazon sites like Goodreads and such.

For our video review of The Fussy Librarian, we promoted a free book using their Romance and Erotic Romance categories, which cost us a total of $25. We ended up getting about 1,100 downloads over the 5 days that we made the book free for, which works out at about 2.4 cents per book downloaded, which is a pretty solid result.

Their prices start at $75 and increase to $100 for “prominent placement in all communications”, which includes not only their Facebook page, but also their email subscription list. They also offer free ebook promotion  if your book is on sale or free, but submission to that list does not guarantee placement.

Like most high quality book promotion sites, they do have some restrictions , one of which is no erotica.

For our review of OHFB, we decided to promote a free book, and we decided to use the $75 promotion option.

We had a total of 1026 downloads over the 5 days that we had the book available for free, which works out at about 7c per download.

Check out our OHFB review video below for more details on our results.

EbookSoda Promo Code: PAIDAUTHOR-5

As befits a smaller kindle promotions group, their pricing is very straight forward: $15 to promote your Amazon Kindle or Nook novel, and an additional $6 if you want your book to be shared on the EbookSoda Twitter page.

Ebook Soda is offering our readers a $5 discount when they use EbookSoda Promo Code PAIDAUTHOR-5 in the COMMENTS section when booking their promotion.

For our test of their book marketing services, we ran a 5 day free promotion through KDP and had a total of 1,770 books downloaded over that time-frame, which works out at less than a cent per download.

You can promote your book with Ebook Soda Here .

Red Feather Romance  is a dedicated romance and erotica ebook promotions site which boasts a largely female audience that focuses on the spicier side of life. Their readers are avid, consuming several books per month in an almost exclusively e-book format.

Their prices vary based on the price you’re book will be, but generally cost between $80 and $125 dollars..

They do have some restrictions regarding the books they promote, which starts with the book being 3.5 stars or higher, and at least 50 pages in length. All books also need to pass an editorial review (which basically means they won’t promote a book they don’t think their readers will enjoy).

Along with a sizable email list, they also have about 10,000 Facebook Fans , and a budding group of Twitter followers.

If you choose to advertise, your book’s details will go out to over 675,000 Kindle readers, including:

600,000+ people accessing the blog via the  free reader app  or the  Collections app  for their Kindle Fire, and 150,000+ people via an  e-Ink Kindle subscription ,  email  or social media subscription, or directly on the blog’s website, or via an RSS reader.

Prices for promotion vary based on the price of the book you’re promoting as well as whether you want it to be an “Exclusive” posting, meaning that your book will be in it’s own post, rather than having to share a post with other people’s books.

Prices start from about $25, and go up to $200 for the exclusive option. For our FKBT review, we chose to make our book free, and to promote it with the “Free Kindle Book Posting” option. We had a total of 530 downloads over the 5 days of the promotion, and we saw enough of an increase in book sales as well as Kindle Unlimited pages read to make the promotion worth the investment and show a good ROI.

You can submit your book to FKBT here .

Over the past few years, Kindle Nation Daily we have built a community that they call “Kindle Nation” into a large community of Kindle enthusiasts and ebook readers. They are in contact with over 178,000 Kindle owners every day via web posts, email blasts, Facebook , and also Twitter.

They have a huge number of book promotion options, starting at $29.99 to promote a free book, up to $229, which will let you email a short excerpt of your book to KND’s email list, as well as an additional sponsored post on Facebook.

For our Kindle Nation Daily review, we chose their cheapest option: $29.99 to promote a free book.

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Kindlepreneur

Book Marketing for Self-Publishing Authors

Want To Sell More Books?

I've taught major publishing companies and millions of self publishers how to sell more books. Now I want to teach you too.

"Gain insight from Kindlepreneur on how you can optimize marketing for your books."

We teach people how to Self-Publish a book and sell more copies online.

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Carefully crafted content to help you at every stage of your self-publishing journey

• Book Marketing
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• Cover Design

Book Publishing

Hi, I'm Dave Chesson

When I’m not lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, or sipping tea with princesses, I’m testing new  book marketing tactics , and helping authors  improve their book sales .

I’ve worked with many New York Times bestselling authors like Ted Dekker, Orson Scott Card, Kevin J. Anderson and more. I’ve also been a paid consultant for multiple major publishing companies and am the founder of Publisher Rocket , and Atticus .

I’ve eve n been calle d “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon when talking about my understanding of how to optimize books for more sales.

In order to help authors reach new levels with their book marketing, I created Kindlepreneur as a free resource with the sole goal of giving you everything you need to take action, and see results.

kindlepreneur

An author who makes money selling books online, especially through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP for short)

Articles that help

The truth on selling books direct: insights from 876 authors, how to sell books direct to readers: the complete guide, how to choose a pen name in 2024 (+ a pen name generator), best book writing software 2024 [writing, editing & focus], how to create a table of contents in microsoft word, what is an isbn 11 facts for self-publishing authors, how to get epub books on kindle: the ultimate guide, amazon book keyword rules explained (2024 update), how to write a book description that captivates readers (and sell books), how to publish public domain books and why you should, amazon kdp account suspension: causes, prevention, and solutions, the best proofreading software to use: 2024 edition, how to change your kindle keywords and why you should, author vs writer: what’s the difference, amazon kindle rankings e-book.

Learn how to rank your Kindle book #1 on Amazon with our collection of time-tested tips and tricks.

We Build Tools for Self-Publishers

Check out some of the resources we’ve built to help you sell more books online

Amazon Sales Rank Calculator

This tool lets you convert Amazon’s Best Seller Rank into a rough estimate of how many Sales Per Day the book receives.

Book Description Generator

Easily generate the HTML code you need for your book description for websites like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, & Rakuten.

QR Code Generator

A tool that lets you create QR codes to any link, and brand it with your author logo or a book cover.

Free Amazon Ads Course

Learn how to advertise your book and creative effective ads on Amazon’s Book AdvertisementSystem , formerly known as AMS.

Free MailerLite for Authors Course

Learn how to setup your author email list and start building your list with this FREE course on MailerLite!

Publisher Rocket

Our premium tool for finding keywords and categories to help you hit best-seller status faster and earn more money in book sales.

Our tool for writing and formatting beautiful ebook and print books. Available on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chromebook!

If anyone wants to learn how to master publishing Kindle books, follow this man's channel and his work, it's game-changing!

Author of "Superfans", "Will It Fly?", and "Let Go"

Kindlepreneur is the go-to, most objective and immediately implementable resource for every author who wants to take their career and success into their own hands.

Author of "Obsidian Son", "Rage", "Unchained" & More

Kindlepreneur is an excellent resource not just for its in-depth and timely information on amazon marketing, but in its perspective in the entire indie publishing business.

Author of "Hunters of Dune", "Sandworms of Dune", "Jedi Search" & More

Dave Chesson has detailed, in-depth knowledge of book meta-data and shares useful, detailed marketing tips for authors in a generous way.

Author of "Stone of Fire, Map of Shadows", "Desecration", "Gates of Hell" & More

Dave Chesson’s passion for publishing success is fueled by his seemingly limitless curiosity about the latest and greatest book marketing ideas and techniques.

We understand everyone learns a little differently. Here are all the different ways you can learn more about self-publishing on kindlepreneur.com.

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Want help with your author marketing? Get our FREE ebook and cheat sheet: 6 Steps To Getting More Readers.

By subscribing, you agree to get emails from me, Matt Ziranek. I’ll respect your privacy and you can unsubscribe any time.

27 Book Marketing Services for Self-Publishing Support

Even a well-written book will never become a bestseller, if no one knows about it. This makes book marketing almost as important as the writing itself.

There are many cogs that turn in the machine of book marketing, and it can be overwhelming to try and accomplish all of them on your own. 

Rest assured! Below we have listed out 27 categories of book marketing services and service providers, so you can research to your heart’s content. We hope these book marketing service providers give you the shortcut you need to get your book to more readers.

Note: The following book marketing services are not owned by, or officially connected with, Rocket Expansion (except when we’ve recommended ourselves!) Before using them, please do your own thorough research to ensure they fit your needs.

Author Website

We’re in the 2020s now and most of the world lives online! Everything can be found online, authors included.

You want a potential reader or a new fan that’s searching for your book or your author name to find you immediately and get sucked into your world and buy all your books! Or at least one book.

An author website can do the trick. It’s your home online that’s open every hour of every day for your target audience to discover and engage with. 

Building an author website can be time consuming, difficult and confusing to do on your own, so you need experts to help.

We love making author’s website dreams come true, so let us help with yours!

Author Website Service Provider

Rocket Expansion

Book Launch

A successful book launch will bring awareness to your book while allowing you to celebrate your accomplishment and connect with your readers. 

Preparing and planning for a book launch can be a lot of work for one person, so, here are some book marketing services out there that have curated packages to help your book get released with a bang:

Featured Pick

Weaving Influence

Book Launch Service Providers

Talk + Tell

Self-Publishing

JKS Communication

DigiWriting

Stress Free Book Marketing

Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the most important strategies you can use as an author. It’s cost effective, builds brand recognition and helps you gain more readers. Communicating with someone over email is more personal than any other form of online marketing. You can personalize the emails that you send to your subscribers and create a strong long-term relationship with them.

Here are some top-of-the-line email marketing services that are great for authors:

Philip Duncan (done-for-you email marketing)

Email Marketing Service Providers

Constant contact

Paid Advertizing

Sometimes you have to spend money to make money. That’s what paid ads are all about.

It allows you to reach your target audience on platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Amazon. It takes a lot of effort, planning and time to make paid ads work for you but ultimately it can help you turn strangers that match your reader demographics into fans.

Below are book marketing service providers that can manage your paid advertising for you:

Paid advertising Service Providers

Smith Publicity

Black Chateau Enterprises

Greenleaf Book Group

Cameron Publicity & Marketing

The Bookish Elf

Ghost Book Writers

Mindstir Media

Scribe Media

Book Reviews

In order for your book to have a chance at hitting bestseller status you need to have reviews come in on the day of release. You can get reviews by reaching out to important figures in the industry (such as well-known authors, bloggers, influencers, etc.) or creating a group of readers to read and review your book by the launch date. 

There are some book marketing service providers that help you get book reviews or endorsements as part of their offering. Check them out:

Black Rose Writing

Book Reviews Service Providers

Publish Drive

Jane Wesman Public Relations

Palamedes PR

FriesenPress

Author House

Self-Publishing Review

Book Reviews: DIY Services

There are also some services that you can reach out to yourself to ask them to provide you with a professional book review . Take a look:

Book reviews DIY Options

The Young Writers Initiative

Kirkus Reviews

Artisan Book Reviews

US Review of Books

Book Tours and other Events

As an author you need to network and connect with industry professionals as well as hold events to promote your book to connect with your readers and potential readers.

Whether it be at speaking engagements, a book tour, blog tour , a book signing or any other type of event, there are plenty of ways to connect with others. 

Booking these events or setting them up yourself can be daunting, so these book marketing service providers below help do it for you.

Book Events Service Providers

Wildbound PR

Story Monsters

Nissen Public Relations

Publicity 

Marketing and publicity are 2 very different strategies but PR ultimately helps sell your book. It’s all about building your author platform and spreading the word about your book.

PR can involve book press releases, reaching out to have your book nominated for an award, having journalists write about you and your book (through newspapers, blogs, magazines, etc) booking interviews on TV, radio, Youtube, podcasts, etc.  

Below are book marketing services that can help with some of the above mentioned PR tactics:

Publicity Service Providers

Author Marketing Expert

Kelly & Hall

PR for Books

Social Media Book Promotion

The best part about using Social Media as an author is engaging with your audience and showing them who you are and getting them excited about what you’re working on or releasing. 

But maintaining your social media accounts by posting consistently can be very time consuming. You have books to write!

So, you can get help with managing your social media platforms, for example your Facebook Author Page , from the below book marketing services.

Social Media Book Promotion Service Providers

Book Marketeers

Seacoast Press

Author Bios + blurbs

It can be tough finding the right words to describe your book…or even yourself! There’s popular keywords and strategies to take into account that can make your book blurb or author bio attention-grabbing for new readers.

These book marketing services help you write your blurbs and author bios:

Author Blurb Service Providers

The Urban Writers

Content Marketing

Authors have tons of great ideas but not as much time to get them all out, so you can’t always be spending valuable book writing time on content writing for blogs, social media and other platforms. 

Below are some book marketing services that can help you get your content churning out like butter!

Content Marketing Service Providers

Independent Book Review

Author Branding

Your author branding is a vital part of how you market yourself and your books. It’s about what comes to mind when others think of you. But you have to get them thinking the right things!

These book marketing services will help your author brand be seen exactly how you want it to.

Author Branding Service Providers

Want To Give Your Readers An Engaging Online Experience?

Get an author website that showcases your books, grows your list, and attracts publishers and promoters.

Book Cover Designs

Your book becomes easily marketable when it can make a good first impression. This is why your book cover matters. Authors are artists with words…but we reckon there’s not too many that can create high quality book cover designs on their own.  

You can get one of the book marketing services below to help with book cover creation.

Book Cover Design Service Providers

Australian eBook Publisher

Elite Authors

Savvy Book Marketing

Book Cover Designs: DIY Services

If you’re an author that’s ready to embrace the world of book cover art then here are some DIY options:

Book Cover Design DIY Options

eBook Launch

The Book Designers

Amazon Services

Amazon is the largest online retailer and selling your book through a program like Kindle Direct Publishing (DP) can be super beneficial to you. It can be a strenuous activity to master selling books on Amazon because there’s a lot to consider. For example, there’s the Amazon reviews section which helps books rank, perfecting your author central page , polishing your book’s page, getting the most out of Amazon listing and acing KDP.

If you’re looking for help with selling your books through Amazon, then these are some book marketing services you can try:

Amazon Book Marketing Service Providers

Ebook conversion.

The world is going more and more digital every day, so having a perfect eBook format is a must. The following book marketing services can help you with that:

Ebook Conversion Service Providers

Book marketing planning.

The Book marketing planning phase can be a daunting one. There’s a lot of research that you have to do to find where your target audience is, how to engage with them and the steps you need to take.

If you’re tripping up at the beginning stages then these book marketing services can help you get the gears turning.

Book Marketing Planning Service Providers

Beta, alpha and arc readers services.

Beta readers , ARC readers and Alpha readers are great resources for helping you with creating your book and with marketing it too! They can form part of your launch team for getting book reviews and doing their best to spread the word.

Below are some services you can use to find these readers:

Beta, Alpha and ARC Reader Service Providers

Beta, alpha and arc readers: diy services.

See these DIY options if you’d like to approach Beta, Alpha or ARC reader services on your own:

Beta, Alpha and ARC Readers DIY Options

Writeful Books

Hidden Gems Books

Social Media Boosting

You need to maximize your reach when releasing your book, and these book marketing services go the extra mile by promoting your books and authorship on their social media.

Social Media Boosting Service Providers

Book club outreach.

Another great way to promote your book would be to have it in the book club circles. This can be a great way to get more reviews and more buzz around your book. 

Below are some book marketing services that can reach out to book clubs to read your book.

Book Club Outreach Service Providers

ReadingGroupGuides

Book Movement

Silent Bookclub

Other Distributors

Amazon is usually the preferred method for buying books, but there are other distributors like Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, etc. 

These book marketing services will help you with distribution to those platforms.

Other Distributor Service Providers

Australian Ebook Publisher

Book Fairs, Festivals and Exhibits

Besides the normal book events that you could have, you could also attend book fairs, festivals and exhibits to help promote yourself and your books. 

Check out these book marketing services that’ll help get you into these types of events.

Book Fairs, Festivals and Exhibits Service Providers

Book fairs, festivals and exhibits: diy services.

Below are book exhibits you can submit to try and be a part of:

Book Fairs, Festivals and Exhibits DIY Options

The Combined Book Exhibit

Publishers Association

Promotional Material

When you’re promoting your book you need promotional material that fans and potential readers can buy or win in a giveaway (like posters, T-shirts, mugs and other merchandise) to further propel your book into the public’s eye.

You also need stuff like headshots, bookmarks, business cards and banners for when you’re having book signings or want to network with industry professionals.

You can use one of these book marketing services to help you make these:

Promotional Material Service Providers

Author Packages

Promotional Material: DIY Services

If you want to make promotional material yourself, here are some DIY services that can help you achieve that:

Promotional Material DIY Options

Spreadshirt

Everything Branded

Book Trailer

People love aesthetically pleasing pictures and watching entertaining videos. So, making book teasers and book trailers will be an easy way to grab the attention of your target audience. 

The following book marketing services can help you create book trailers for your book promotion.

Book Trailer Service Providers

With the shift to a more digital focused world, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a must if you want to be easy to find online.

SEO requires a lot of time and effort with keyword research, implementation of the right copy on different platforms, trial and error, etc.

If you want someone to help you or do it for you, look at these book marketing services:

SEO Service Providers

Customized approach.

If you’re looking for someone to measure your needs and draw up a plan and strategy that fits exact, then you may want to check out book marketing services that take the customized approach:

Customized Approach Service Providers

Author Marketing Experts

Literally Public Relations

Miscellaneous

Some book marketing services offer some interesting marketing strategies and tactics as a part of their packages. Check them out:

Miscellaneous Book Marketing Service Providers

Black Chateau Enterprises – Podcast

Author House – Cinema Ads

Mindstir Media – YouTube Advertising, Goodreads Author Profile assistance

Author House – Reader’s Digest Marketing

Scribe Media – Giveaways on Goodreads

Stress Free Book Marketing – YouTube Channel assistance

Author House – Book to Cinema pitches

Sometimes you just need a guiding hand to show you the ropes and let you slowly take over and handle all the book promotion once you’re comfortable.

These are the book marketing services that do coaching:

Coaching Service Providers

Marketing books.

There’s a lot to learn in the world of book marketing and if you’re interested in knowing more, you can take a look at the following marketing books that will be helpful to authors:

Online Marketing for Busy Authors: A Step-By-Step Guide – Fauzia Burke

Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers – Seth Godin

Sell Your Book Like Wildfire – Rob Eagar

Reader Magnets: Build Your Author Platform and Sell more Books on Kindle – Nick Stephenson

How to Write a Sizzling Synopsis – bryan Cohen

How to Market a Book by Joanna Penn

Let’s Get Visible: How To Get Noticed And Sell More Books by David Gaughran

Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered by Austin Kleon

After Marketing Your Book

Once you’re done marketing your book, all the hard work put in is not wasted since it’ll be online for years to come!

New readers will find your books through keywords and trailers online which is wonderful. A great place to store all your book marketing and promotional material is your author website. It’s a fun rabbit hole that you want potential readers to fall through to learn everything about you and what other books you’ve written.

Fill in the enquiry form and we’ll be happy to help give your book marketing strategies a head start.

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The Best Book Promotion Sites to Promote Your eBook

Hey authors! So, you’ve written a book? First, congratulations. That’s a huge accomplishment. Now it’s time to get your work out into the world. The best way to get your book in front of people is by featuring it with a book promotion company. Their job is to spread the word about what you’ve written!

How do book promotion companies work?

By using a book promotion company’s services, you are paying to reserve an advertising slot with them. This slot might be on their website, newsletter, or both. Some companies will even advertise your book in social media posts on their Facebook page and more. 

By advertising this way, you will tap into an entirely new reader audience simply by utilizing that company’s email list.

What is an email list?

Email lists are made up of subscribers. Subscribers are people who choose to receive certain emails. You’re likely on email lists for all your favorite restaurants, venues, and stores. By tapping into an email list, companies have the power to advertise specific material that their subscribers are very interested in and are likely to purchase or learn more about.

Readers, for example, may sign up for the Freebooksy newsletter because they want more free eBooks. This gives you the perfect opportunity to promote your free eBook to that ready-to-read audience!

Are book promotion sites worth it?

Our short answer… YES! We have found that promoting your book with one of these services is an effective strategy used by countless authors to build their reader audience.

Promo sites, like ours at Written Word Media , can help authors drive book sales, reviews, and increase in rank on retailers like Amazon. They are one of the most effective ways for indie authors to boost their business.

How do I get my book ready for promotion?

Before beginning to market your book, it always helps to make sure it is set up for success. Having a high quality cover , a well-written description and a call to action in your backmatter will all make any promo more successful.

Once you have your book ready to promote, you’ll need to decide where you’ll run your promos.

As you’ll see below, there are many reputable book promotion sites that each have their own requirements for authors. Some sites will require a limited number of Amazon reviews, while others may be more inclusive and will only need basic information like a live Amazon link for consideration. Our rule of thumb is to carefully read each site’s requirements before making your booking. Have questions about a particular site? Their customer service team should be able to give you specifics on how to get promoted by them.

Promo Stacking 101

What is promo stacking? It is one of the most powerful marketing tactics for authors. It is essentially the act of combining several book marketing tactics within a specific timeframe to amplify their impact. 

Promo stacking goes beyond a single marketing push and instead focuses on a coordinated approach across various platforms and audiences. The key benefit? Promo stacking helps your book’s retailer rank stay higher, for longer. This means you get all the sales from your promos AND more sales as readers happen across your book on the retailer charts. You can learn more about this popular strategy here .

Best Option for Promo Stacking

As discussed in the previous section, running a multi-day promo stack is one of the most effective ways to build your book’s rank on retailer sites. Written Word Media’s ready-made Promo Stacks makes this process simple by offering a range of curated stacks that include the Written Word Media portfolio of brands and a growing list of popular partner sites. 

This means less work for you changing between promo sites and filling out forms, but the same great results.

Promo Stacks are available for both free and $0.99 eBooks in a variety of genres. Click here to learn more about ready-made promo stacks.

Best Free & Discounted Book Promotion Sites

Free or discounted promos are a great way to drive a lot of readers to your book pages. Free promos, where you make your book free permanently or for a limited time, don’t drive immediate revenue, but they result in a surge in downloads and attention that can drive sales of your other titles. Discounted promos, where a book is priced $4.99 or below, will drive immediate revenue, but will result in less of a rank increase.

Different strategies work for different authors, so testing to see what has the biggest impact on your author business is always a great idea.

Most interested in new readers? Making your book free is the right move. If your book is free and more than 50 pages in length, Freebooksy is the book promotion site for you. With over 539,000 registered readers in mystery, romance, fantasy, nonfiction, literary, and kids and teens genres, you’re guaranteed to find new readers. Each promotion includes a post on the Freebooksy homepage that includes your book cover and a short description, placement in our daily email, and promotion on social media outlets.

Freebooksy also offers series promos , which drive readers to your series page on retailers. These promos tend to perform quite well and are popular with authors.

BookBub is a book promotion site that offers email placement, but at a higher price point and with a much higher editorial threshold than many of the other options on this list. With millions of subscribers, BookBub offers incredible exposure for authors. Plus, their books and a feature with them can catapult you into bestselling lists. Unfortunately, their editorial standards may result in rejection, so it is hard to rely on them to be a consistent part of your marketing plan.

Bargain Booksy

Looking for a boost in sales? You can make your book more appealing to readers by discounting it, and Bargain Booksy promotes eBooks priced between $0.99 and $5.00. As long as your book is more than 50 pages long, Bargain Booksy is the book promotion site for you. With over 317,000 registered readers in mystery, romance, fantasy, nonfiction, literary, and kids and teens genres, you’re guaranteed to find a boost in sales. Each promotion includes a post on the Bargain Booksy homepage that includes your book cover and a short description, placement in our daily email, and promotion on social media outlets.

Hello Books

Hello Books wide-reaching reader network spans a diverse audience of book enthusiasts in multiple countries, allowing authors to connect with readers through its weekly promotions. This site promotes both free and $0.99 eBooks.

The Fussy Librarian

Want to promote a bargain or free eBook? Then The Fussy Librarian might be right for you. While they strongly suggest that books be priced at $0.99 or $2.99 for a bargain promotion, the only real limitation to one of these features is that it must be listed below $5.99. For both their bargain and free newsletters, promotions include a slot in their email. Freebies are listed on their website.

Ereader News Today

Ereader News Today (ENT) has been delivering highly rated free and bargain ebook deals to avid readers since 2010. Every day, ENT subscribers receive an email with books that have been hand-picked and tailored to each subscriber’s individual reading preferences.

Robin Reads

Another highly-regarded book promotion site is Robin Reads. This service promotes free or $0.99 books that are full-length. They currently have around 190,000 subscribers signed up for their daily newsletter and also include daily deals on their website for reader consumption. It’s of note that Robin Reads cannot promote books listed within the last 90 days, so be sure to double-check your promotional calendar before scheduling this ad!

If you have a book listed on Amazon, Apple, Nook, Kobo, or Google Play, then it can be promoted on BookRaid as a freebie or deal book. One particularly interesting feature of BookRaid is that they charge you per click. Instead of a flat fee, you only pay for clicks that your book earns in its newsletter – plus, they’ve got a maximum spend of $60 so you won’t blow your budget. BookRaid has over 30,000 active subscribers.

eReaderIQ’s Daily Deals & Steals email list has over 47,000 active readers and promotes eBooks priced between free and $2.99. This is one of the more affordable options available for authors with a starting promo price of just $5 and goes up to $40.

Best Email List Building Sites

List building sites are a great way for authors to add readers to their email lists. If you have an email list on an email service provider (like MailerLite for example), you can run a promo with one of these sites as a way to add new readers to your email list.

Subscriber Surge Giveaways

Subscriber Surge Giveaways is designed specifically to help authors quickly grow their newsletter subscriber base with engaged readers via the power of eBook giveaways. The Subscriber Surge Giveaways team does all the heavy lifting, from prize logistics (they buy your book and gift it to the winner) to advertising and subscriber email list delivery.

BookFunnel is an author service that specializes in ebook and audio distribution, sending ARCs, and creating tools that save indie authors time and sanity. One of the most popular ways authors use BookFunnel is by using its landing page to offer a free reader magnet. In exchange for giving away a free eBook, readers give their email address to the author.

BookSweeps helps authors instantly grow their email list, social media following, and more with a powerful suite of book marketing tools. Its multi-author email list-building promos are a great way for authors to grow their subscriber base. 

Best New Release Book Promo Sites

Have a new release coming up? These sites are equipped to get your newest title out into the world with a bang.

New In Books

Releasing a book soon? Or maybe you’ve released one in the past 90 days? NewInBooks is a book promotion site that exclusively promotes new releases. Book Launch Packages include placement in the weekly new release email, an SEO-optimized Book Recommendation List, social media promotion, an author interview, and an in-depth report outlining promotional activity and engagement. This is for you if you’re seeking sales, reviews, publicity, and buzz!

BookBub offers a couple of promo options for authors looking to get their new release in front of readers. The first is a New Release Alerts dedicated email which can be sent to an author’s BookBub follower list. The other option is its New Releases for Less email that sends a curated list of lower-priced new releases to readers.

Best Genre-Specific Book Promo Sites

Red feather romance.

If you’ve written a romance book that would make your family blush, Red Feather Romance is right for you. Whether you’re looking for readers or sales, you’ll find the best way to promote your eBook since Red Feather Romance promotes both free and priced eBooks and audiobooks. Each promotion includes covers featured on the Red Feather Romance homepage, placement in one of their highly curated emails, and promotion on social media outlets.

Red Roses Romance

Red Roses Romance offers amazing deals and freebies for romance and erotic eBooks to over 46,000 email subscribers every day.

Book Barbarian

Book Barbarian delivers free and discounted eBook deals in the science fiction and fantasy genre to over 55,000 email subscribers in a daily newsletter.

Book Adrenaline

If you are a mystery & thriller author, Book Adrenaline is a great tool to get your free or discounted eBook in front of a list of over 41,000 readers in a daily email promo.

Best Social Media Advertising Promotion Sites

Reader reach ads.

Reader Reach helps authors find a new audience of eager readers across Facebook, Instagram, or Amazon. Reader Reach transforms the daunting task of running Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram) and Amazon ads into a stress-free, hands-off experience, allowing you to focus on what you do best – crafting incredible stories.

Best Audiobook Promotion Sites

Audio thicket.

Have an audiobook that needs to be promoted? You’ve come to the right place. Audio Thicket, one of the child sites of Written Word Media, drives sales of audiobooks on Audible, Apple, Google Play, Audiobooks.com, Nook Audiobooks, and Kobo Audio through their newsletters and website. With several types of email options targeting specific listener audiences, you’ll be able to find the right audience for your content.

Chirp is an audiobook retailer powered by BookBub that highlights discounts on audiobooks. This platform is a little different, as it doesn’t promote your audiobook deal on retailers like Audible, Apple, Google Play etc. Because they are a retailer, authors must sign up for a BookBub partner account and submit their audiobook for approval to sell on the platform.

And there you have it! Now you have a host of promotion site options to kickstart your book launch! Free or discounted, new or old, just pick the site that best fits your title and get your stories into the hands of new readers!

Get more articles like these!

21 comments on “ the best book promotion sites to promote your ebook ”.

Thanks for the big list. It really mean a lot for me as an author for promoting a book.

Glad you found it helpful Durgesh!

How in the world can an author make money by an e book been totally free? By the weekend I will have four books available as an e book and paperback on line. I have also printed my own books with linen hard covers and dust jackets and the three latest ones are very tough, attractive, large font, spiral with plastic covered exteriors. So how does one make any money by giving it away? OK so the author’s name becomes visible and then who will pay for any book if it given away? Explain please if it possible.

Hello, free promotions are most effective for authors with multiple books or books in a series. If a reader downloads the free book and likes it, they’ll be more likely to pay for the other books. Free promos can also generate reviews and boost the book up the charts even after it is no longer free.

It seems none of the sites are free.

Hey Alexander, I was referring to running a promotion where the book is priced as free.

You’re absolutely right Clayton. Free promotion works. I haven’t experienced it, but I still set up my books for free, according to advice given by most experts.

I also love Artisan Book Reviews and Chick Lit Cafe. They are both great book review and promotion websites that get great results for me and other authors.

• Pingback: Episode 185 – Promotions: Results and Analysis – Stark Reflections

Good information to help new ebook author

I have nine novels on a UK site called Feed-A-Read. They( the publisher) do nothing other than display the book and make it visible for sale. So, I am stuck unless I move to another Vanity (Self) Publisher. I can’t afford a website so it’s cobwebs all round. (I do get plenty of partnership publishing proposals but … once bitten. Sad story, ain’t it.

While these sites mentioned do work, I feel they should be used as part of an overall strategy when it comes to ebook marketing.

Using Amazons free or even countdown feature with these book sites could also work well.

Thanks Craig for listing these ones but there are many more book marketing sites out there that deserve a mention I believe.

I’ve been too busy writing for the last few years and now I’m going to concentrate on promotion. Thanks to everyone who mentioned different promo sites. I agree with the “freebee” arguments. Authors deserve to get paid for their work. We are not like some huge corporation who can afford to constantly be giving away our work. We need to get paid. When I was just an avid reader, I bought books from my favorite authors. Keyword being “bought,” I would rather pay for a good book than get a bad one for free. So, I wonder, are these freebee readers worth it?

Thanks for these amazing resources, the only problem was the way your linking work. you may consider the different way it is somehow annoying sorry

Useful resources, thanks.

Could I mention Profilecritics.com ? It’s completely free for indie authors and enables them to be seen alongside more established writers

I also suggest that Amazon Kindle is worthy of Mention here. It is free and you still get paid for pages read even if you’re struggling to make sale

Thank you! I needed some good sites to expand my audience, and its article was brilliant!

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It seems all the recommended sites to promote a book are connected with Amazon Kindle. I did not publish my book through Kindle, I don’t have an Amazon ASIN– as was requested for all those I looked at.

Hey Dianne! How are you published? I would recommend also publishing via Amazon if possible as it has the largest market.

This is amazing, I will definately use these sites to promote the book we are publishing on post partum depression. Thank you so much for the infomation.

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50 Free Book Marketing Ideas for Writers & Authors

Marketing your book does not have to cost a fortune. Here are 50 free book marketing strategies you can use today to reach more of your audience.

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Book marketing is one of the biggest challenges newly published authors face. Often on a limited budget, it can be hard to purchase advertising or run large promotions. Fortunately, there are completely free ways to market your book – both online and off.

You’ve done all the hard work of writing your novel – now it’s time to get people to actually read it! These 50 free ideas are sure to help you connect with your audience and promote your book so others can enjoy all of your hard work!

Here are 50 Free Ways to Market Your Book

1. create an author facebook fan page.

This is done by going to Facebook and creating a page. Be sure to invite all your friends and encourage your family and friends to share the page and invite their friends.

2. Pin your book cover and link to purchase on Pinterest

Pinterest is a visual bookmarking social network with millions of people. Pin it to boards that are relevant and write a compelling summary on why someone should read it.

Read ways to market yourself as an author on Pinterest here.

3. Use Twitter to Promote Your Book

In 140 characters or less, give your Twitter Followers a reason they need to check out your book.

4. Create Your GoodReads Author Profile

Being on GoodReads will make it easier for those who have read your book to create a review. Be sure to also include some quotes from your book!

5. Create Profile on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great way to network professionals in your industry. It’s a fantastic way to meet with partners who can help you promote your book.

6. Create a Google+ Account

Google+ is another social network that you can network with potential readers and publishing industry leaders.

7. Add Your Book to Your Email Signature

Be sure you have a link to your book with a summary in the footer of every email you send.

8. Forum Signature

If you are active on forums, include a link to your book for others to check out.

9. Write a Press Release and Syndicate on Press Release Distribution Websites

Your publisher may do this for you – be sure to check with them for rules or guidelines on what to write.

10. Guest Post on Blogs

Build relationships with bloggers in your target audience and offer to do a guest post about a subject the blog readers are passionate about. Learn more about guest posting here .

11. Offer Free Review Copies & Giveaway to Target Market Blogs

Building relationships with bloggers that reach out to your target audience can help you get your book into the hands of more people.

12. Create a YouTube Video

This should probably done professionally – but it can help you rank higher in the search engines and bring more people to your author website or to your book sales page. Make a book trailer, or consider releasing an author interview in video format.

13. Create a Presentation for SlideShare.com

Slideshare is a network of slideshow presentations. You can create a slideshow featuring a trailer of your book or an outline of the book. Again, this helps with showing up in search engines and reaching a larger audience.

14. Contact Your Local Libraries

If there’s a library in a 50 mile radius of your house, make sure you visit it and offer to schedule an event to do a signing or meeting with their book club.

15. Create a Book Promotion Kit With Images, Quotes, and Excerpts

The easier it is for others to link to your book on their own site or write about it, the more likely they will.

16. Network With Other Authors in Your Niche

You can do well by networking with other authors and hosting joint giveaways or exchanging ad banners on your blogs.

17. Ask Consignment Shop Owners to Sell Your Book

  Consignment shops are not just for clothes and antiques! This is a great way to gain exposure in your local community! They may very well be interested in carrying a small display of your book, especially when they retain a portion of the sales.

18. Go to Conventions and Conferences

Writer’s Conventions and Conferences are a great way to network, network, network.

19. Join Meetups & Local Writing Groups

Go to Meetup.com to find meetups in your area. There are always a few book clubs and writers groups. Joining a writing group can make a big difference in your writing career!

20. Donate copies of your book

You never know how far a book at a local doctor’s office, non-profit organization or church may go!

21. Email everyone you know

OK, you have to be careful of this because of spam laws, so you do not want to email everyone on the planet all at once.

However, you DO want to email all of your friends and family as well as current business contacts to let them know you have published a book. Keep it personal, and invite them to join your author newsletter  to stay updated.

22. Develop a Book Club Kit

There are a number of book clubs both online and that meet regularly in person around the world. Make it easy for book clubs to choose your book for their meetings. Discussion questions are particularly helpful.

23. Apply for/Nominate Your Book for Awards

There are thousands of book awards out there. These awards can help you establish credibility as a writer . The more you apply for the better!

24. Offer to Do Book Readings at Local Organizations 

There are so many ways to connect with your audience through local readings!

If you wrote a book on alcoholism, you could do a reading at an AA meeting for example. If you wrote a children’s book, offer to read it to a classroom. If you read a book about birds, you might want to consider doing a reading at a local bird watching group.

Doing some research to find potential clubs, non-profits, and groups near you that are interested in your book’s topic is a great way to market your book for free as a writer!

25. Host a Facebook Live, Google+ Hangout or Other Type of Webinar

Facebook Live, Google+ Hangouts, and other online webinars are a great way to host a live event without ever leaving your office – and invite participants from all around the world!

Give your readers the opportunity to ask you questions about anything related to what your book is about or share some special exclusive information just for readers. This is an excellent strategy for non-fiction writers.

26. Use Instagram to Promote Your Book

Instagram is often neglected in the space of book marketing for authors, but there are a lot of possibilities for things you can do!

Take pictures of people reading your book and create a few hashtags your audience can use if they read your book or snap a photo related to the topic.

27. Reach Out To Your Past Schools

Your writing teachers will be delighted to know you are a published author! Your college alumni newsletter may also be interested in including info about your book in their publications.

Even if your teachers have long since retired, it can be a good idea to look them up and see if you can find a way to contact them and let them know that they’ve helped inspire you to become a published author!

28. Ask People to Review Your Book

Potential customers will read reviews on Amazon and Good Reads. Important : Don’t ever pay or bribe people to review a book, as that will get you in a lot of trouble!

All you have to do in most cases is ask nicely. A quick message after a purchase such as, “What did you think of this book? Help others decide whether they should read it by leaving a review!” will typically suffice.

29. Include Bonus Materials for Readers on Your Website

Have a special section of your website that is private and only those who read your book can access. You can offer free printables, downloads, a free audio version, etc.

These things will make people connect with you as a writer and make it more likely they will want to share your book with their friends and family.

30. Create a Podcast

A podcast will help you connect readers and give them valuable information as well as entice them to read your book. Podcasts are easy to make using simple recording software at home. Who knows? It may even be a great way to help you keep your readers updated!

31. Have an Events Section on Your Website

There are a lot of features you should have on your authors website – and an Events Calendar is super important! Tell your web visitors where you will be and what you are up to. Anytime you attend an event, be sure to post about it on your blog and through your social networks.

32. Offer an Affiliate Program

Selling an eBook? Bloggers will be more enticed to mention your book if they can reap a portion of the sales.

Amazon has a great affiliate program that most bloggers are often already a part of. If you are selling a self published eBook, check out sites such as ClickBank, JVZoo and eJunkie among others.

33. Create a Newsletter Sign Up Form & Send a Regular Newsletter

Newsletters are great ways to connect with people to tell them when you have a new book to publish. Collect email addresses on your website and send a weekly newsletter. Sometimes it can be helpful to have an incentive to get others to join your list, such as a free printable or free chapter of your book.

34. Have a Business Card

You never know who you will meet just while running errands or going out with a group of friends. A business card is a great way to exchange contact info quickly and easily without people scrambling to find pen and paper to write down your name.

35. Merchandise!

You can set up a store with themed print on demand merchandise for free at sites like Printful , CafePress, SpreadShirt, and others.

Your fans may be interested in what you have to offer, especially if it’s unique and ties into your books or message you write about. This can lead to word of mouth marketing.

36. Send out Facebook Event Invites

Some people won’t respond to an email, but they will respond to a Facebook event invite for marketing and promotional events related to your book.

37. Use Analytics on Your Website

Free services such as Google Analytics can tell you much about the people who visit your site, what pages are the most popular and more. Learn to optimize these pages as much as possible to help connect with your readers and make sure they know your book is available for sale!

38. Upload to Scribd

This PDF upload site is another great way for authors to promote their books. Upload a PDF that promotes or supplements your book.

39. Get Listed in Top Online Directories

Directories are a great way to help people find you online. There are paid services such as DirectoryMaximizer that will do this for you, or you can choose to manually submit to the best directories related to your writing topic or where you live.

40. Submit Your Website to Stumble Upon

This is a fun website – you never know what you may stumble upon! And likewise, you never know who may stumble across your website and be intrigued by your book.

41. Optimize Your Website for Search

Many people go to search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing to find new books. Learning how to optimize your website for search with SEO can help people find you easily.

Learn the basics of keyword research to know what type of content you should be targeting. Never spam and be wary of internet marketing companies trying to offer you SEO services – it can have disastrous results. Using tools such as Google webmaster tools is a good place to start.

42. Create visual quotes from the book and Pin to Pinterest

There are so many quotes on Pinterest – people love them! Make a nice graphic with a quote from your novel to potentially reach thousands of people. This is a great way to brand yourself as an author.

43. Interact With Your Readers

The more interaction you have with readers, the easier it is to market your book and yourself as a writer! Ask questions and strike up conversations through GoodReads, Facebook, and Twitter.

Facebook groups are another great way to connect with your readers. Consider creating a group for book clubs around your book topics.

44. Contact Local Newspapers and Magazines

Your local papers are a great way to reach out to your local community. Many people are surprised and excited when a “local” has a new book published!

Many will be excited to interview you or have you contribute an article with a brief bio and possibly even an advertisement spot.

45. Approach Coffee Shops

Coffee shops are great places to meet with people, and some even have meeting spaces available for use. Many coffee shops may be interested in having you do an event at their location to help draw in customers not only for your book, but also their coffee!

46. Have a Sip & Read Event

This is a great idea if you have a local winery near you. If no local wineries are available, find a location that allows others to BYOB and enjoy a night of conversation about books and authors. Be sure to invite any of your favorite local authors to broaden the reach.

47. Have an “Elevator Speech” prepared.

An elevator speech is a quick way to sum up your book in 60 seconds or less. It’s always good to have this prepared in case you are meeting someone new and they find out you are a writer. They will ask you what your book is about, and you don’t want to be umm-ing and ehh-ing your way trying to explain it.

48. Write articles about topics relevant to your book

Many website owners turn to article directory websites such as eZine Articles and others to find free articles they can post on their site. Submitting articles to these article directories is a great way to share your work with a new audience!

49. Brainstorm for People & Organizations to Network With

A little research online and some brainstorming can help you think of new partners to join forces with.

For example, if you write a fiction story about a cancer patient, you could donate a percentage of proceeds to charity or contact organizations to speak about topics relating to cancer.

If you write about sports, you may want to look into ways to network with athletes and sporting organizations.

The possibilities are endless here!

50. Create QR Codes

QR Codes let people scan your book or your marketing materials to access a page of your website. There is a lot of potential for ways to creatively use these in your free book marketing efforts!

There are so many great ways to market your book for free – and we hope these 50 Author Marketing Tips will give you some ideas and inspiration! There is sure to be something here that will help spark your creativity in finding ways to promote your book!

We want to hear from you! Which of these strategies have you tried with success? Are there any additional strategies for marketing on a budget we may have missed? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Chelle Stein wrote her first embarrassingly bad novel at the age of 14 and hasn't stopped writing since. As the founder of ThinkWritten, she enjoys encouraging writers and creatives of all types.

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Free Book Marketing Services: We Will Promote and Market Your Book to #1 Bestseller on Amazon and Beyond

Are you looking for a great free book marketing service?

If so, you’re in the right place.

At TCK Publishing, we know a lot about book marketing and promotion. With 200+ #1 bestsellers on Amazon and millions of books sold worldwide, we’re experienced in marketing and promoting books in all major genres and markets.

Book Marketing Services

Much of the marketing we do for clients is customized depending on the market for the book and the opportunities available to the author. There are definitely some similarities between marketing a romance novel, a short story collection, and a nonfiction business book, but there are some major differences as well.

Because we have experience publishing hundreds of books in so many different markets, you can rest assured knowing that we’ve “been there and done that” when it comes to promoting a book in any major market or genre. (You can see a list of all the different kinds of books we publish on our submissions guidelines page ).

Here’s How We Can Promote Your Book—Free

Here are some of the most common free book marketing services we provide for clients:

Packaging and Branding

• We help you create the best possible title for your book. A great book title is  Memorable, Repeatable and Searchable . It’s the first place a reader will encounter your brand, so it’s important to create a title that readers can easily remember and recognize, using it to find your book online and offline.
• We design a custom book cover that catches the eye both online and in print – readers really do judge a book by its cover! A great cover draws attention to and makes your book stand out from the crowd. We don’t just choose the design for you like some big publishers – you’ll have input and choices every step of the way, as our professional book cover designers send you several mockup designs to choose from.
• We help you craft an engaging, dynamic book description to show readers what your book is about and why they should buy it right now!
• We help you get  social proof of how great your book is and attract more readers by reaching out to respected book reviewers. We create a list of at least 1,000 book reviewers who focus on books similar to yours and then provide outreach to help you connect with those reviewers. You’ll get legitimate, honest, and ethical book reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and blogs from influencers and top reviewers in your niche.

Book Promotion

• We help you learn where to best connect with readers and how to target your books and outreach efforts with thorough market research and competitive analysis for your book and niche (you can learn more about some of the market research tools developed by TCK Publishing CEO Tom Corson-Knowles at  BestsellerRankingPro.com ).
• We get your books in front of thousands of eager, engaged readers at the major book promotion sites, including the two largest ebook promotion sites in the world:  BookBub  and  Buck Books , as well as  other book promotion sites.
• We promote your book on our social media channels with more than 50,000 followers.
• We promote your book to our email list of more than 35,000 active readers.
• We promote your book to key influencers in your market or genre, including professional and amateur book reviewers, bloggers, podcasters, social media influencers, and more.
• We connect you with influencers in your market, authors with similar platforms, and other potential partners through  author newsletter swaps  and joint venture (JV) partnerships that can help promote your book via email marketing and other avenues.
• We create, pay for, and optimize ongoing PPC (Pay-Per-Click) ad campaigns with  Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) book ads  and BookBub ads targeting your ideal readers and customers.
• We help your book hit #1 on various bestseller lists and categories on Amazon, then take screenshots to show how you’ve topped the charts ( see examples here ).
• We submit your book to top  industry trade reviewers  like Kirkus Reviews, Midwest Book Review, Publisher’s Weekly, City Book Review, Library Journal, Booklist, and more. These opportunities are only available to traditionally published authors and can significantly boost your reviews, sales, and branding.
• We pay for email promotions (sometimes called email solos) to promote your book to your ideal readers in your market or genre.
• We do detailed keyword research and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to help your book stand out in search results on Amazon, Google, and other search engines and platforms.

Lifelong Marketing Services and Training for Clients

• We help you build your own author platform that you control and can leverage! If you don’t have a website yet, we can teach you  how to build a website  or we can build one for you. We will also provide ongoing training and support to ensure you know how to manage and grow your website n your own, instead of relying on expensive web designers.
• We’ll help you get started with your email marketing, either building it for you or teaching you how to build it yourself. We will also provide ongoing coaching and support to ensure your email marketing systems, email copy, and landing pages convert more of your readers into subscribers and lifelong fans.
• We’ll help you maximize your marketing or advertising efforts, building your platform and email list. In addition to the marketing we do for your book, we can teach you how to set up your own marketing or advertising system if you wish to invest on your own to grow your brand. (To clarify, we do  NOT  charge any fees or sell marketing services—we teach you how to get the most out of your advertising budget if you decide to spend money on advertising. We simply want to ensure that any money you choose to invest in a marketing program like Facebook Ads is spent wisely.)
• We help connect you with journalists writing articles about your area of expertise, getting you additional publicity and establishing you as an influencer in your field.
• We offer personalized coaching to help you make the most of every part of your career, from writing to marketing and beyond.
• For authors looking for a little extra help staying on track, we can provide accountability coaching, followup, and support to help reach your career goals.

Custom Marketing Plans

These are only our basic marketing services, offered to every client we work with.

What really sets TCK Publishing apart is that we take the time to get to know  you and your needs, desires, and dislikes as an author and entrepreneur!

Not every marketing plan is right for every person. That’s why we help you create a custom marketing plan tailored to your unique strengths, skills, and weaknesses.

We will help you identify your ideal readers and target market, find the best marketing channels to reach them given your personal strengths and skills, and provide you with detailed action plans and support every step of the way.

1. Market Research

The first step in our custom marketing plans is doing thorough  market research for your book.

2. Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Once you understand exactly who your target readers are, what they want, and where they spend their time and money, we’ll help you identify your unique strengths and weaknesses.

We’ll use that to create a clear understanding of the kind of activities you love to do, and the kind you can’t stand. This forms the basis for creating a marketing plan that uses your strengths to help you achieve your writing and career goals.

3. Select the Best Marketing Strategies and Create a Step-by-Step Plan for Implementation

Once you know what kind of work you love to do, we will help you select the best marketing tools and strategies for your niche based on your interests and strengths.

We’ll then help you create a detailed, doable action plan so that you know exactly what to do to help your book succeed. You’ll have help and support every step of the way and understand what to do, when, and how in order to move your marketing and brand to the next level.

If you ever get stuck, confused, or just need a bit of help, our team will be here to answer your questions and get you back on track ASAP.

Here are examples of custom marketing strategies we can help you with:

• Getting media interviews on TV, radio, and podcasts to share your message and promote your book
• Getting booked as a public speaker  at conferences, seminars, industry events, and corporate events
• Sharing your platform and message through guest blog posts for top blogs and websites in any market or niche
• Publishing freelance articles on top news sites and blogs like  Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, Time , and more
• Becoming a thought leader with your own website or blog and using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to attract hundreds or thousands of new email subscribers every month
• Attracting new fans by creating your own video marketing campaigns and YouTube channel (and getting paid for creating videos)

Getting Started with Book Promotion

If you’re ready to take your author career and book marketing to the next level, check out our submissions page to submit your manuscript for review.

If our editors love your book, we’ll offer you a publishing deal, and you’ll get all of our book marketing services for free!

If you have any questions about our book promotion services, feel free to email our support staff at [email protected]

More Book Promotion Options

If you’re looking to learn how to do book promotion and marketing on your own, these free guides will help:

• List of Sites To Promote Your Free Amazon Kindle Books
• Top Kindle Book Promotion Sites for Paid Kindle Books $0.99 and Up
• 9 Amazon Book Promotion Programs That Can Help You Sell More Books Every Day

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More From Forbes

Marketing innovation in book publishing: lessons from steve hamilton.

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As this scene from City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, California demonstrates, getting a new ... [+] book noticed is not an easy endeavor. Some authors, like Steve Hamilton, are turning to innovative marketing tecnhiques (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)

In 2019, I wrote a column showcasing noted crime fiction author Steve Hamilton and exploring how he, working with an innovative company called The Story Factory , was “disrupting” the conventional business practices in the publishing industry. Essentially, publishers were devoting fewer resources to marketing support for most new books, forcing authors to look for other mechanisms to get the word out regarding their books or turn to publisher following such practices. As a recent survey of more than 5,699 authors by the Author’s Guild showed that the median annual gross income an author received from a book was just $2,000 while total writing-related income authors was only $5000, a lack of marketing support has applied even more pressure on a profession where median income is below poverty level.

Steve Hamilton's long-awaited third installment in the Nick Mason series is being released on August ... [+] 27, 2024

Five years later, it makes sense to revisit both the author and the ultra-competitive industry in which he’s still working. The timing is especially good because, as it happens, when I spoke to Hamilton in 2019 he had recently put out the second book in his Chicago-based Nick Mason series ( Exit Strategy ) followed by the eleventh book in the northern Michigan-based Alex McKnight series ( Dead Man Running ). Covid hit in 2020, and even if it didn’t shut down the business completely, it certainly did change the way books were published and promoted. Steve collaborated with mega-bestselling author Janet Evanovich that year on a book titled The Bounty , but neither writer was able to do a single public appearance. The author book tour, which has been a staple of book marketing for over a century (going all the way back to Mark Twain), was suddenly impossible.

“The closest we could come to a traditional book event,” Hamilton told me, “was doing a split-screen Zoom call hosted by a bookstore. The store owners were there, alone, with absolutely no customers allowed through the doors, and Janet and I were each sitting at home, talking into our laptops.”

Hamilton, a University of Michigan alumnus, worked on yet another collaboration in 2023 – Stay Sane in an Insane World, How to Control the Controllables and Thrive – a motivational book written with Greg Harden , former Associate Athletic Director of Athletic Counseling for the Wolverines and best known for his work with 7-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, Heisman Trophy winners Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson, and 23-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps. While the book did extremely well, fans of Hamilton’s two series of books were forced to wait a bit longer for new material.

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Which finally brings us to 2024, and Hamilton’s first solo publication in six years: An Honorable Assassin (coming August 27 from Blackstone), the long-awaited third book in the Nick Mason series. This will be his sixteenth book tour since breaking in with his first book in 1998 (the Edgar Award-winning A Cold Day in Paradise ), and I caught up with him just as he was about to get on a plane to Arizona.

Edgar award winning author Steve Hamilton

“Publishing has changed,” Hamilton reports. “That’s my first headline. It honestly feels different to me now, even in just the past few years since the last time we talked about it.”

The most significant change of all, once bookstores reopened to a post-Covid world, was an unprecedented contraction among the major publishing companies. In 2022, a federal judge blocked the merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, an acquisition that would have effectively reduced the number of major publishers from five to four.

Even without such a drastic reduction in the remaining number of major players in the marketplace, buyouts and layoffs have swept through the industry – the largest coming to Penguin Random House in 2023 and to Little, Brown & Company in 2024 .

“There’s no longer any continuity in who you’re working with,” Hamilton says. “I was talking to an author whose book began the production process just a few months ago. Between that time and now, every person who had been assigned to that book, in any capacity, was no longer employed by the publisher. Literally every single person who touched the book, gone . For an author, that’s a helpless feeling.”

Yet another complication in many writers’ lives came when the Writers Guild of America went on strike in May of 2023 , joined quickly by the members of SAG-AFTRA. It was the biggest labor interruption to the film and television industries in history. While it didn't directly affect traditional book publishing, the overlap to a writer like Hamilton – who has done some work in the film and television arena – was unsettling. Even now, months after both strikes have ended, the effects of the stoppage are still putting a heavy damper on the number of projects currently in development across all studios.

The seismic changes to the industry continue even further with the emergence of AI as an existential threat to the livelihood of working authors everywhere. (Going back just five years to my original column, could anyone have even imagined this development?) It’s no wonder that so many authors – especially those still trying to establish themselves in the marketplace – are having such a hard time of it.

“We talked about ‘disrupting’ the marketplace before,” Hamilton says, “but it seems like the business of publishing has been doing a fine job of disrupting itself without any help. I’m afraid it really feels more like a question of pure survival right now.”

Hamilton feels fortunate that his publisher, The Story Factory is still representing him and a few other authors and is finding new ways to maintain stability in an unstable business. It’s a production company and literary agency for novelists founded by screenwriter, producer, and director Shane Salerno (with many writing credits of his own, including Avatar: The Way of Water , the highest-grossing film of 2022, as well as the documentary Salinger and the bestselling companion book). Hamilton was The Story Factory’s second client (after Don Winslow ), joining in 2013. In 2015, his first book with the company, The Second Life of Nick Mason , became his first New York Times bestseller.

When I first wrote about The Story Factory in 2019, the company was just getting ready to promote The Chain by Adrian McKinty – an author who until that point was driving an Uber to make extra money and avoid losing his house. When that book debuted on the New York Times bestseller list, it was the 19 th book put there by The Story Factory. Five years later, despite all of the turmoil in the industry, the company is celebrating its 32 nd bestseller with Worst Case Scenario by T.J. Newman .

“We all work as a team,” Hamilton says, “and we celebrate our successes together. Shane has more energy than any two other people I’ve ever known, and he’s always coming up with new ways to market books.”

A huge part of that marketing strategy is based on building a “storm” of cross-media publicity in the weeks leading up to a book’s publication. For the launch of first-time author Greg Harden’s book in 2023, Salerno knew that getting him as much television time as possible was the key. While 60 Minutes had once done a profile on Harden, that was back in 2014. Now that he had worked with Steve Hamilton to put his inspiring message into a book, he needed to be properly reintroduced to the book-buying public.

Leading up to the publication of Stay Sane in an Insane World , The Story Factory was able to book Harden on several television programs, including Good Morning America , CBS Mornings , and The Rich Eisen Show . By August 14, 2023, the day before the book was published, it had moved up to the #1 spot among all books on Amazon.

“Obviously not everyone can do that,” Hamilton told me, “because few people can reach through the television screen and grab you the way Greg Harden can. But it’s a prime example of how you need to think about marketing a book right now. Just putting it out there and hoping it’s good enough and that people will find it… If that approach ever worked, it doesn’t anymore.”

Naturally, social media continues to be another important venue for book marketing. Don Winslow, Hamilton’s stablemate at The Story Factory, currently has nearly one million followers on X (formerly Twitter). It’s the perfect platform for “book trailers,” another specialty of The Story Factory. They’re short videos made to promote upcoming books, with the same high productions standards as movie trailers.

Whatever the platform, whatever the method, an author like Steve Hamilton continues to show that innovative thinking in marketing allows for a way to keep moving forward, even in the most volatile of marketplaces. Hamilton’s resiliency in such a harsh environment is admirable, and he surely deserves to enjoy his upcoming book tour .

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The Real Estate Agent’s Guide to Understanding Website Analytics

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August 21, 2024

In an era where most homebuyers and sellers initiate their searches online , understanding website analytics is essential for real estate agents. By interpreting key metrics and utilizing insights for strategic decision-making, real estate professionals can enhance their online presence, attract qualified leads, and ultimately achieve success in the ever-evolving landscape of real estate marketing.

Find It Fast

Why tracking website analytics is important

It’s imperative to understand how your website is performing. Analyzing this data allows you to:

• Optimize website performance : Data on site speed, mobile friendliness, and navigation issues help agents build the perfect website to support a smooth user experience, which can lead to higher engagement and conversions.
• Understand audience behavior : Analytics provide detailed information about who is visiting your website — including demographics, location, and interests — which helps you tailor your marketing strategies. Metrics such as page views, session duration, and bounce rate reveal how users interact with the website, indicating which content is most engaging and what might need improvement.
• Evaluate marketing campaigns : By tracking traffic sources (meaning where your visitors come from, whether that’s organic search, social media, or email campaigns), agents can determine which marketing efforts are most successful. This data is critical to assessing return on investment.
• Track lead generation and conversions : By determining what drives form submissions, calls, and other conversion actions, agents can identify potential leads and measure the effectiveness of their lead generation strategies.
• Gain a competitive advantage : Benchmarking performance against competitors helps agents understand their market position, spot opportunities, and stay ahead of economic changes.
• Maximize search engine optimization (SEO) and content strategy : Targeting specific keywords and search terms brings traffic to a website, allowing agents to optimize their content for better search engine visibility . Tracking the performance of blog posts, resource guides, property descriptions, and other content helps agents understand what resonates with their audience, guiding future content creation.
• Form data-driven decisions : Website analytics provide the data needed to make informed decisions and the ability to quickly identify and address issues such as high bounce rates or low engagement on certain pages, which can improve overall website performance.

At Luxury Presence, we take a comprehensive approach to our clients’ platforms. We see agent and brokerage websites as the central hub, working seamlessly with other marketing and communication strategies. Learn how our experts can ensure your website is fully optimized for lead generation and conversion.

Expert website design services

Every day, Luxury Presence creates and manages real estate websites for some of the biggest agents, teams, and brokerages in the country. Learn how we can transform your online presence.

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Evaluate and set goals for your website

Before diving into the intricacies of website analytics, it is crucial for a real estate agent to first take stock of their real estate website and determine their goals for its performance. Think about what your primary business needs are first, and determine how your website can deliver them.

Then begin an initial assessment, which involves a comprehensive review of your website’s current state, including its design, functionality, content, and user experience. By understanding the website’s strengths and weaknesses, you can identify areas that need improvement and prioritize enhancements that will have the most significant impact.

This process also entails setting clear, measurable goals that align with your broader business objectives. Goals might include increasing the number of property inquiries, improving lead conversion rates, enhancing user engagement, or boosting search engine visibility.

These goals create a focused roadmap for website development and marketing efforts, ensuring that all subsequent actions are purposeful and aligned with an agent’s desired outcomes. This strategic approach not only helps in efficiently allocating resources but also in tracking progress and measuring success over time, ultimately leading to a more effective and profitable online presence.

The most important website analytics to measure

The data you choose to track will depend on your goals for your business and your website overall. But it’s still helpful to develop a high-level understanding of each data point in order to choose which metrics to drill down on and to be able to quickly analyze an overview of your web performance.

Each time a page is loaded in a user’s browser, it counts as a page view. This metric helps website owners understand how often their content is being accessed and can indicate the popularity of specific pages. High page views on particular sections of your website can signify greater interest from visitors, whereas low page views might suggest that certain content is not as engaging or discoverable.

Sessions refer to a group of interactions one user has with a website within a specific time frame. A session can include multiple page views, events, social interactions, and e-commerce transactions. A session starts when a user arrives on the website and ends after 30 minutes of inactivity or when the user leaves the site. Sessions help website owners understand user behavior and engagement during their visits, providing insights into how visitors navigate the website and interact with its content.

Traffic sources

In website analytics, a traffic source refers to the origin from which visitors arrive at a website. It indicates how users found the site and can include various channels such as:

• Organic search (from a search engine results page)
• Paid search (ads from search engines)
• Direct (typing the URL into the browser or clicking on a bookmark)
• Referral (clicking a link from another website)
• Social media (links from platforms such as Instagram or LinkedIn)
• Paid social (ads from platforms such as Instagram or LinkedIn)

Understanding traffic sources helps website owners identify the most effective channels for attracting visitors and tailor their marketing strategies accordingly.

Bounce rate

This refers to the percentage of visitors who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page. It is an indicator of how well the website engages its visitors.

A high bounce rate suggests that visitors are not finding what they are looking for, the content is not engaging, or there are usability issues (such as a long page load time). Conversely, a low bounce rate typically indicates that visitors are exploring multiple pages, implying better engagement and interest in the site’s content.

Session duration

Session duration refers to the total time a user spends on a website during a single session. It is calculated from the moment the user lands on the site to when they leave or become inactive. This metric helps website owners understand how engaged visitors are with their content; longer session durations generally indicate higher engagement and interest in the website’s offerings.

New and returning visitors

New visitors are those who are accessing the website for the first time from a specific device or browser, whereas returning visitors are individuals who are coming back after having previously accessed it. Note that not every new visitor is seeing your site for the first time; a user who deletes their cookies and returns to your site will count as new, for example.

One type of visitor isn’t necessarily better than the other, but the proportion of new to returning visitors can reveal a great deal about your website. A high number of returning visitors indicates your content and services are compelling enough to attract repeat sessions. A greater share of new visitors shows your outreach efforts to attract new users are effective. New people visiting your site means more future clients entering into your sphere, while returning ones may be moving down the funnel toward a transaction.

Click-through rate (CTR)

This represents the percentage of users who click on a specific link, advertisement, or call to action (CTA) compared to the total number of users who view the page containing the link, ad, or CTA. It measures the effectiveness of a particular element in encouraging users to take the desired action. A higher click-through rate typically indicates that the element is compelling and relevant to users.

Conversion rate

Conversion rate is the percentage of total visitors who complete a desired action on a website, such as filling out a contact form, signing up for a newsletter, or any other goal the site aims to achieve. It is calculated by dividing the number of conversions by the total number of visitors and multiplying by 100.

The best tools for traffic and website analytics

Real estate agents can monitor their website analytics effectively by leveraging a combination of tools, strategies, and practices. Below we offer tips on the best ways to use the many tools that may be available to you.

Google Analytics

• Ensure Google Analytics is properly set up on your website, which means creating an account, adding a tracking code to the website, and configuring goals and events.
• Customize dashboards to track key metrics such as traffic sources, user behavior, and conversion rates.
• Enable Google Analytics to email you regular reports summarizing the key performance indicators you’ve identified.
• Track referral traffic in Google Analytics to see which websites and search engines are sending visitors to your site.
• Set up goals in Google Analytics to track specific actions, such as contact form submissions, property inquiries, and newsletter sign-ups.
• Use event tracking to monitor specific interactions like button clicks, video views, and downloads.

Google Search Console

• Google Search Console tracks a website’s performance in search results, including keyword rankings, click-through rates, and indexing status.
• Address any indexing issues, errors, or security problems that Google Search Console identifies.

Your website builder’s analytics dashboard

• Some website builders track key metrics in the back end of agent sites. For example, those with a Luxury Presence website can take advantage of our proprietary dashboard, which pulls data from Google Analytics into an easy-to-use report that’s relevant to the real estate industry.
• On WordPress, you can use the Yoast SEO plugin to optimize content and track SEO performance directly from the dashboard.
• This displays user interactions, such as clicks, mouse movements, or scroll behavior, on a webpage. Areas with higher activity are represented by warmer colors (like red or orange), while areas with less activity are represented by cooler colors (like blue or green). This visualization helps you see how users interact with different elements on the page, enabling you to make informed decisions about website design, layout, and optimization.
• SEMrush and Ahrefs can help you monitor organic traffic, keyword rankings, and backlinks. They also provide insights into competitors’ SEO strategies and help you decide which keywords you should target.
• Track the performance of email campaigns — including open rates, click-through rates, and conversions — sent through your CRM .
• If your website syncs with your CRM, you can also track the behavior of your contacts when they navigate your site. For example, Luxury Presence integrates with Follow Up Boss, Sendgrid, MoxiWorks, Compass’ CRM, Christie’s Pl@tform and Zapier.

Regular review and adjustment

Weekly and monthly reviews are essential practices in website analytics. By dedicating time to analyze your data, you can identify trends and patterns in user behavior, traffic sources, and engagement metrics. These reviews allow you to stay informed about the performance of your website and make timely adjustments to your strategies as needed.

Moreover, leveraging the insights gained from analytics enables you to make data-driven decisions about various aspects of your online presence. Whether it’s optimizing website content, refining design elements, or adjusting marketing efforts, having access to accurate analytics empowers you to make informed choices that align with your business goals and objectives.

Website analytics + Luxury Presence

Your website is the central hub of all of your marketing and communications efforts. Not only should it be beautifully designed and optimized for lead generation, but you need to make sure you’re accurately tracking its success.

Consider hiring a digital marketing agency specializing in real estate to handle advanced analytics and provide strategic insights. At Luxury Presence, our sites benefit from our experience, expertise, and comprehensive tracking and reporting systems. If you’re ready to skyrocket your website’s performance, let’s talk about what we can do for you.

Book a strategy call today

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