Book Marketing is hard. Really hard.

That book marketing is the hardest bit for indie authors is no surprise … I mean, that is what Publishing Houses are for, right?

Still, how hard can it be?

Well … it is even harder than I expected. Much harder. Lots of people have lots of advice… usually involving you signing up for their newsletters or webinars or buying their eBooks—I hope you see the irony here—and come on, just put it on BookTok, and you’ll be rich in no time.

Yeah, right …

The Plan

So this is my list of things to have and things to do …

The Basics 

• A great book and cover, blurbs etc.
• Clearly defined goals
• Author’s website (this is important to target campaigns)
• Author’s newsletter (best direct marketing tool)

The socials 

• Maintain social media profiles on Facebook, Instagram (Bookstagram ), TikTok (Booktok) and Twitter
• Author profile on Goodreads and other reader communities that work with your genre (Wattpad, …)

Review, reviews, reviews

This is where it gets hard. Ask, plead, beg. 

• Reader reviews on Amazon and Goodreads 
• Don’t give in to the temptation to buy customer or reader reviews
• Chose a few industry publications that offer paid editorial reviews

Ads 

This is where it gets expensive—experiment before committing to a budget. 

• Paid ads—BookBub, Google, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, Kobo … 

‘Door to Door’

• Local press and media
• Submit your book to awards
• Submit your book to blogs or podcasts in your genre
• Submit guest posts to blogs or podcasts in your genre
• Organise Book tours on social media or blogs

Create a world around your book

• Publish bonus material

If this is all a bit too much, there is one piece of advice that is free and is more in the realm of what you love doing

Keep writing

\(^-^)/