Author: Corrine Pritchett

This may feel obvious, but the most important thing for you to do first as an author is write a great book! Rest easy knowing that the time you are taking to perfect your writing is an important step before tackling book marketing and social media. 

Once you reach the book promotion step of your author journey, you can consider if social media is the right tool for you specifically to promote your book. While there are ways to leverage your author brand and book on various social media platforms, it can also be a time consuming and daunting process. There are so many ways to promote and market your book, so don’t assume social media is the only route to being a successful author!

When social media is right for you

If you enjoy posting to social media and have a particular platform or two that you find inspiring and fun, then utilizing that platform as a tool could be beneficial to you! First, consider which platform genuinely inspires you — and which you have time for.

Three of the biggest platforms right now are Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, and each platform has its own unique audience and content. (Read more about other social media platforms here).

Instagram 

If you are going to tackle Instagram as an author, you should keep in mind what people are coming to the platform for, and what they would be coming to your specific profile for. It is full of users who share about their daily lives — whether that be a grocery store, clothing or book haul, a day in the life on Instagram stories or just feed posts of beautiful photos from around their community, home or travels. Instagram is all about the aesthetic!

Within Instagram is a community rife with book knowledge, booklists and pretty bookstacks called “Bookstagram.” Bookstagrammers post reels and photos of books artfully arranged lying in flowers or set out on a desk with a coffee, booklists of their favorite reads of the year, TBR stacks, you name it. Each one of these individual accounts has specific books and genres that interest them that they share with their followers. This is a wonderful target audience that you can tap directly into if you have the time and interest in doing so!

TIPS FOR SUCCESS ON INSTAGRAM:

• Posting aesthetically pleasing reels and photos of your life as an author: Posting things to your feed or stories such as a book unboxing, a launch day post, a photo of your writing desk, your favorite indie bookstores, your favorite Bookstagram accounts to follow, books you are currently reading, reels about your writing process as you make your morning coffee or type away at your computer, book giveaways or local events you are attending are all content ideas that Instagram users would likely enjoy!

• Following and engaging with your target audience: Go follow fellow authors in your book’s genre and see who is following them or engaging with their content. Give those accounts a follow and engage with their content as well! Check out various Bookstagram accounts and follow the ones who post about your book’s genre. Engage with posts, and respond to anyone who engages with your posts!
• Shouting out fellow authors, bookstores and Bookstagrammers: Making a post of what you’re currently reading and tagging the author of the book in the post, resharing photos to your story or feed that Bookstagrammers posted of your book, tagging the bookstores you frequent in posts about their store and why you love it. Spread the love, and maybe they will return the favor!

Also keep in mind that the audience on Instagram ranges from 18-34. Make sure the target audience for your book is within that age range!

Facebook 

Facebook is a family-oriented and business-driven site. Posts on the platform that see the most success include links to blog posts, guest articles and review coverage, while also sprinkling in family photos and personal posts. The platform sees more success with business-related books such as self-help, nonfiction and lifestyle, but you can also find an audience as a romance, historical fiction or mystery/thriller writer on the site.

This is just a general rule of thumb, and there are plenty of other genres that can find success! For example, there may be moms on the platform looking for children’s books for their kids or adults searching for interior design ideas that would love to come across a Facebook video of your design tips. The options are endless, and it boils down to what feels authentic to you and on which platform.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS ON FACEBOOK:

• Create an author page: You can find instructions for creating a business page here. This is essentially a public Facebook profile so you can reach a wider audience outside of your friends and family on your Facebook profile.

• Post about the book coverage you receive: Like mentioned above, Facebook is a great place to include actual links to the coverage you are getting. Post about the various guest articles you are writing for outlets and the reviews you are getting across various websites and platforms!
• Join Facebook groups: Facebook groups are a large part of the platform, and they range anywhere from specific groups with author tips, author groups who share each other’s work, various conferences or writers’ guilds within your local area, specific book genre Facebook groups, etc. These can be a great way to get in with your target audience on a smaller scale.

The age range on Facebook is largely millennials but also an older demographic of 40-60.

TikTok 

TikTok is one of the fastest growing social media platforms, but finding success on TikTok can be tricky and everchanging. The platform is all about trends and humor, and there are ways to put your own spin on those as an author, if it feels authentic to you!

There is an extremely large and engaged community called “Booktok.” This is essentially a subculture within TikTok where users discuss all things books, and like Instagram, it can be a great place to tap into if you go about it the right way and have the right book for their audience!

TIPS FOR SUCCESS ON TIKTOK:

• Recreate the trends: There are new trends every single day on the app, so we don’t recommend hopping on every single one. But if a trend comes across your For You Page that you find interesting and can put your own spin on, try it out! You never know who it may reach.

• Follow and engage with your target audience: Like Instagram, this is a key for TikTok as well. Go through authors and Booktokers within your genre and follow and engage with their content!
• Post frequently and consistently: This is the caveat of TikTok; you have to be consistent and frequent on the app. The algorithm will serve you if they see you are on the app often, engaging with other users but also posting on your own profile. If you don’t have the time for TikTok, maybe skip this platform!

Around 50% of TikTok users are under the age of 34, and the majority of them are teens.

When social media may not be for you 

Did reading all of that feel extremely daunting for you? Does reading “social media is not a necessity” feel like a breath of fresh air? If so, getting on social media is likely not for you! And guess what? That is totally OK. You do not need to run yourself dry trying to force something that doesn’t feel authentic. The worst thing you can do is fake a presence on social media because all that will do is overwhelm you, waste your resources and time, and your followers will probably be able to sniff out that you are not truly invested in it! There are plenty of other useful tactics you can utilize to market your book.

Ways to market your book if social media is not for you 

Create an author website

This is a great place for you to start if you want to market yourself but social media is not your cup of tea and you do not have time for it. You can read more about author websites and tips for building them here and here.

Get coverage through other outlets

There are plenty of other avenues you can go down to create buzz around your book. Work with blogs to feature or review your book, set up a Goodreads giveaway to engage with their active reader audience, work with bigger outlets on guest articles or reach out to podcasts to schedule interviews for their audiences. Again, the options are endless!

Work with social media influencers to review your book 

This is within the realm of social media technically, but would not involve you having to actively post on the platforms. Find some Bookstagrammers or Booktokers who would be interested in your genre and reach out to them! A lot of accounts have paid sponsorship posts, which can get pretty pricy (not a necessity if it’s out of your budget), but some smaller accounts with loyal, engaged followers will post about your book for free in exchange for a book copy!

Set up local events 

Reach out to local independent bookstores, libraries or even restaurants in your area to see if they’d be interested in stocking your book or setting up a launch or in-conversation event with you! This can be a great way to get the word out about your book within your local community.

If you decide to do social media, you can of course post about all of the above ideas to your platforms. But that is definitely not a necessity! Just getting the word out there organically through these other tactics can be a successful way to spread the word about your book and find your key demographic.

And just remember the purpose for all of this — to get your story out there. The goal is to reach your target audience, connect with your readers, and get your book in their hands. But social media is not the only way to do so.

As the world’s largest online retailer for books, accounting for 80 percent of ebook sales and more than 50 percent of the overall print market, Amazon is an ever-evolving website with a large impact on publishing. Whether you’re a debut author, self-published author or well established author with a 20-book backlist, Amazon is a platform almost all authors and publishers have worked with in one way or another.

Amazon has changed drastically over the past few years and continues to do so, especially in the world of books! Though we cannot predict all the ways Amazon will continue to change, below we have some explanations and tips that will help authors navigate Amazon, and optimize their profiles and books!

What is the difference between an Amazon Author Central account and a Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) account?

The main difference between Author Central and KDP is that Author Central is used for managing author profiles and displaying books, while KDP is used for publishing books through Amazon. Authors can create either an Author Central account or a KDP account without having to create the other, but it is easier to have a KDP account first to create an Author Central profile. Author Central is essentially set up as a feature within KDP, but again, you can create it separately if you do not use or need a KDP account.

Amazon Author Central

The Author Central dashboard can be found by searching for an author through search engines or within Amazon, and looks like this:

Having this page up-to-date and complete out helps with search engine optimization across the internet and within Amazon, and showcases everything anyone would need to know about a specific author or book. Creating an Amazon Author Central account allows authors to add their biography, a professional author headshot, and promotes the most popular or most recent books within their backlist. Users can easily click into each of the author’s books to see the full Amazon book listing, click on their bio to learn more, etc..

Authors can create an Amazon Author Central account here.

KDP

KDP is a program that allows authors and Amazon publishers to self-publish ebooks, paperbacks and hardcovers on Amazon. Every publishing path is different, which means some publishers do not have a KDP account and rely on other websites to handle their distribution through mediums such as IngramSpark.

There are also other distribution options for self-published authors such as Draft2Digital and PublishDrive.

Having a KDP account also allows authors or publishers to create a product detail page, which is the book’s Amazon listing. Authors can edit their book’s listing directly within a KDP account. Having the book listing well-optimized gets it in front of target audiences by sparking the Amazon algorithm with important keywords for the specific book and author. 

Authors can create a KDP account here.

If you’re planning to run Amazon ads, authors must have an Amazon Author Central account or KDP account. Amazon ads allow authors to track sales, impressions, clicks, etc. made specifically through Amazon advertising. It’s also useful for integrating books and author names into the Amazon algorithm and in front of the proper audience.

What are ways to optimize author profiles and books on Amazon?

Now that we’ve sorted out account types, we have some specific ways to make sure profiles and books are up to industry standards.

• • Optimize the book description: Include important keywords, praise quotes and the book’s key features (such as genre) to improve the book’s visibility in search results and keep the book’s content clear for the reader
  • Use high-quality images: Make sure the book cover photo is high quality and not blurry, and utilize other key picture slots within the book’s listing to promote the book, such as A+ Content
  • Set a competitive price: If your book is self-published, compare book prices to other prices within the book’s genre to be sure it’s up to par with other books, or not priced too highly.

• Add editorial reviews: While we recommend adding some key praise quotes or blurbs to the book’s description, it is also important to add any quotes or blurbs to the editorial review section of the book listing.
• Upload an author headshot: Upload a high-quality headshot to the author page to keep the profile looking active and professional.
• Add an author biography: Make sure the author biography is also complete and well-written, including an author website and social media handles if available.

Need help with creating accounts, Amazon advertising, optimization or A+ Content? Contact us!

Here are Books Forward’s top tips for authors getting starting on their book marketing journey:

You don’t have to be on every social media platform

Find the one that works for you, and stick to it. This will be way less overwhelming, and lead to your content being much more authentic when you actually enjoy what and where you are posting. That being said, you should have a website – even a simple one is fine – with any information that people might need.

Utilize Canva

Canva is a graphic design platform that is used to create social media graphics, posters, presentations, and other visual content. It also has a wide array of templates that authors can utilize!

Develop a press kit

Make a press kit with information about your book and yourself available on your website. This is helpful for media outlets or anyone who is interested in learning about you and your book. It’s an easy document to send to anyone that has all the info they’ll need!

Create Bookplates

Bookplates are stickers, essentially, and a simple way to give a signed copy of your book to readers. We make bookplates for some of our authors, and there are plenty of resources out there that you can use to make your own!

See what your publisher is doing

Discuss with your publisher early on what they will be handling versus what you will be responsible for. Some publishers set up advertising campaigns, and have marketing plans in place etc., but some do not. It’s okay to check in with them so that you know what your extra costs may be to promote the book.

Plan for industry reviews

If you want to get an industry review for your book, you need to make sure copies are available way ahead of your book’s release so you can include any good blurbs on the final copies of the book. All industry reviews typically have a long lead time, even up to three months.

Know your comps

Knowing some comparable titles for your book can be really helpful for marketing and promoting your book. It also can help you determine some authors to partner up with for giveaways, virtual events, etc.

Plan events strategically

It’s okay if you don’t get great attendance at events that you have, or if you don’t get invited to festivals, etc. Especially as a new author, it takes time to build up your following! Throw yourself your own event / launch event and invite all your family and friends. They will be your first fanbase, and can really help get the word out about your book! Have fun with them and celebrate the massive accomplishment of writing a book.

When authors write a book, what is the goal? To sell copies, to create a reader base, to retire from their day job and become full time writers – career goals can vary, but the answer to finding long-term success as an author remains the same: market your book.

A lot of the time, authors think writing the book is enough. It is, of course, a crucial part of being a successful writer, but writing a book and launching it into the world isn’t enough to get the book in front of its target audience to sell copies.

I am not discrediting all the work that goes into getting your book published, whether self publishing, traditionally publishing, or indie publishing. It is a long, tedious, process that takes a lot of work and good writing.

However, not marketing your book is like tripping at the finish line, and you’ll be doing yourself and your book a huge disservice without marketing!

So, what is book marketing?

The point of book marketing is to create awareness among booksellers and consumers for a specific book. The long-term goal of marketing is to generate book sales, but how do we get there?

When looking at famous authors with strong readerships, what do they all have in common?
They follow well-researched marketing strategies that help get their book to the ideal audience. Having a well-written book is important, but a book’s success is also dependent on making sure the right people are reading it.

Identify your genre and target audience

An important pillar to being a great writer is also being a reader. If you want to write thriller books, but never read that genre, how will you know what your fanbase is interested in reading? How will you know what book is missing from the millions? It is important to know the nuances of your genre, as well as the other authors who write what you write.

Along with identifying your genre comes identifying your target audience. If you write thrillers, go see who authors in your genre are following and who follows them on social media. That is a great way to start finding your audience members and engaging with them!

Build relationships with authors and readers

Once you’ve established your niche in the world of books and readers, start interacting with the people who appreciate what you appreciate! Message the authors you followed on social media, and start networking with them. Consider collaborating with authors. This could be as simple as a social media post about them and their book, or a joint book giveaway.

A 2017 study from Digital Book World said that 95 percent of books were sold by word of mouth. Readers talk to other readers! There are so many books I would have never known about if I didn’t hear about them on Bookstagram or Booktok. If you want to be part of the conversation, interact with your readers. Send select readers with large engagements a copy of your book in exchange for an honest review or post about your book. This is a great way to start garnering attention for your book, as well as a loyal fanbase!

Get active on social media

Trust me, I know social media can seem like a daunting place. It’s one of the biggest concerns and questions I get from the authors I work with.

You can go in many directions with social media, but if the idea of getting started overwhelms you, start small. Start with the platform that feels easiest to you, whether that’s Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, or Twitter!

The idea is to make sure readers can find you, see who you are and what you write, and to stay updated on your books! It’s also the perfect place to find readers and authors to interact with.

Again, if we’re starting small, there’s no need to come out the gate posting 3 times a day. Start with two posts a week, and plan them out ahead of time. Sit down one day of the week for a few hours, plan two posts, schedule them out, follow new accounts, engage with users, and be done for the week. As you get more comfortable with it, you can add in more posts, more engagement, and more platforms!

Run Facebook ads.

There are so many strategies just through Facebook advertising you can get started with. But again, start small!

If you’re new to social media, specifically to Facebook and/or Instagram, you can run Facebook Page Like ads. This is a great way to gain more followers on your social media platforms. When you create a Facebook ad, as long as your Instagram is linked to your Facebook, the ads will also go to your account on Instagram.

You can also run Sales ads, which will redirect users to your book on your website, Bookshop, Amazon, anywhere you choose! People will be able to see your ad, interact with it, and immediately buy your book.

Utilize Amazon Author Central

Amazon is the largest book retailer in the world, and has completely changed nearly everything about the way we market and publish books. Having an Amazon Author Central account is one of the most important things you can do for yourself as an author.

There are multiple ways to utilize it, and the most important is to optimize your author page. Make sure you have an updated profile picture, bio, social media and website links, and that all of your books can be found under your author page.

You can also update your book’s categories on Amazon. This means you can change the categories your book falls in. For example, if you write thriller books and your book is in the thriller category, that’s great. But that category is so broad and encompasses every single thriller book on Amazon, so being more niche benefits the book. For example: thriller books with women sleuth leads.

The benefit of having niche categories is that it gives your book a better chance of hitting number one in that category on Amazon, which is another great marketing tool you can use if you do hit number one, or even if you hit the top 100 list in a category.

Run Amazon ads

Amazon ads are another useful strategy to get your book out there. You personally choose keywords for advertising on Amazon through keyword targeting. For example, again if you write thriller books, you can use “thriller books” as a keyword, and your book will pop up as a sponsored option when people search for thriller books on Amazon. This is a broad category, so it makes sense to be quite niche when it comes to choosing your keywords as well.

Amazon lets you update and trade out keywords as much as you need to until you find the ones that are targeting the right audience to sell your book.

Make videos

Making videos is a fun marketing strategy that is blowing up in 2022. This doesn’t mean you have to be active on TikTok, posting videos every day, but we cannot deny the huge reader base that interacts with video content. Videos are a huge way to get engagement, and you can also post them on any social media platforms, not just TikTok.

There are also a lot of authors out there who have book trailers, but in today’s day in age, it seems to make more sense to make a personalized video. That can be anything from behind the scenes of your writing process, a book aesthetic video, a video of you unboxing your books, a tour of your writing desk, you thanking your readers, whatever feels natural to you!

Start small

As you can see with all of the above marketing strategies, you just have to start small. Nobody is expecting you to do every single tip above, to have 100k followers on social media overnight, or to sell 500k copies of your book in a week. However, these strategies are all a great way to build up your author brand, books, and audience to get where you want to be as an author.

If you strategically look at where you feel you need growth as an author and start there, you’ll be able to look back and see how far you’ve come in a matter of months, even if that growth is just selling 10 more copies of your book, or gaining 100 Instagram followers! All of it builds on itself, so take it one step at a time and remember to enjoy the journey of gaining readers for your books.