Case Study Category: Bestsellers

Maximizing TikTok Momentum to Land Major Publishing Deal

Thomas R. Weaver had already used his entrepreneurial startup savvy to begin creating buzz for his indie-published sci-fi technothriller Artificial Wisdom in the U.K. before Books Forward came on board to help launch his book in the U.S. This tiered-launch approach created a great foundation for our team to build on and expand his audience.

It didn’t hurt that the book was absolutely stellar, shocking and terrifying in the best way!

In order to reach as wide an audience as possible, we first focused on garnering critical acclaim from premiere trade publications to validate the book’s credibility. Then we developed a strategic social media campaign to get his book directly in front of consumers and boost reader reviews. Weaver understood the value in building readership and not solely focusing on a quick ROI.

We designed a custom PR box — themed to the book and eco-friendly — for an extensive Bookstagram and BookTok campaign. We sent influencers who really loved the genre early review copies of the U.S. edition in order to coordinate organic coverage, and we also arranged some sponsored influencer promotions to get more high impact exposure.

Our goal was to spark word-of-mouth buzz among avid readers by helping Weaver’s book gain traction on Instagram and TikTok — and that’s exactly what happened.

Two reviews in particular helped the book’s visibility skyrocket, with more than 230K views and more than 110K views on their review videos, respectively. The influencers genuinely loved the book so much that they continued to post about it multiple times.

One of the reviewers even chose it as their book club pick for more than 12,000 members, prompting more than 700 4-star reviews on Fable’s book club app and a surge in Goodreads and Amazon reviews as well. The book also saw traction within the Reddit community, both through our paid advertising campaign and organic posts from reader fans.

With the book selling well and reaching number one in the technothriller charts and top 20 sci-fi on Amazon, Weaver leveraged the book’s viral success to approach a prominent literary agent, who ultimately represented the book and helped land a six-figure, two-book publishing deal with Del Ray, an imprint of Penguin Random House. This was especially welcomed news after Weaver, years ago, had queried and received rejections from 35 literary agents before moving forward on establishing his own indie press to initially release Artificial Wisdom.

Throughout our promotional campaign, Weaver was an excellent partner in publicity. He maximized our efforts to his best advantage. He initially created a strong foundation that we were able to build upon, and he in turn built upon the buzz we helped him create. We formed the ideal publicity partnership that ultimately helped him reach well-deserved success!

Building an Indie Bestseller into a Traditional Book Deal

Since 2015, we’ve had the pleasure of working with historical thriller author Samuel Marquis, and our partnership has spanned 12 books and counting. For his debut novel, we helped Marquis make a splash by coordinating a comprehensive book publicity campaign and ensuring his anticipated strong launch event sales landed him at #1 on the Denver Post bestseller list — a pivotal achievement for his first book.

First, we created a robust publicity foundation for his early releases. We secured positive reviews from industry publications Kirkus Reviews, Foreword Reviews Magazine, Midwest Book Review and many other reviewers. We submitted each book for multiple awards, where they consistently won top honors.

We also leaned into Marquis’ commitment to factual history in his thriller novels, which eventually segued into his later nonfiction work. We placed guest articles with Writer’s Digest, Military.com and other publications. Marquis become a regularly consultant on American history for media outlets, including the History Channel and The Historians podcast. And he turned speaking opportunities into engaging historical presentations at book conferences, bookstores, book clubs, alumni and rotary club events, and other opportunities.

As his books garnered critical praise and recognition, we designed a savvy digital marketing campaign to keep traffic flowing to his sales pages. We coordinated BookBub features and ran other strategic promotions for his ebooks and backlist titles, timing these deals around new releases. As a result, he consistently topped Amazon bestseller charts, and his positive reviews continued to skyrocket. This approach not only kept his growing audience engaged but also expanded it, building excitement for each new title.

Since those early days, Marquis’s fanbase has grown exponentially. He says:

“Thanks to Books Forward, I now have over 20,000 book reviews on Amazon, Bookbub, Barnes and Nobles and Goodreads, with an average of 4.3/5…Great work by Books Forward.”

As a result of his literary success — particularly for his Blackbeard biography, which won a Kirkus Reviews Book of the Year Award and has been the top-selling book about Blackbeard on Amazon for over 5 years — in 2024 Marquis signed a traditional publishing deal with Diversion Books for his upcoming title, Captain Kidd: A Tale of Treasure and Betrayal. We are thrilled to continue partnering with him from indie success to this exciting new chapter!

Hitting the Southern California Indie Bestseller List

When Kristen Kittscher launched her second middle-grade mystery, The Tiara on the Terrace, our team had terrific fun working on out-of-the-box promotions!

First, Books Forward organized a special mailing to booksellers and librarians nationwide. Our box included some usual goodies–a copy of the book and swag like bookmarks, stickers, etc.–but we wanted to go bigger. Kristen’s mystery relies on code-breaking tween sleuths, so we designed and produced an interactive scavenger hunt game, complete with a decoding activity to solve the final puzzle. Needless to say, it was a huge hit with libraries! 

Second, we coordinated her national book tour with over a dozen events at prestigious bookstores, including Warwicks, Chevaliers, RJ Julia and a massive NYC launch party at Mysterious Bookshop. We also organized school visits for Kristen, so she could connect with her favorite audience–her middle school readers! 

Last but not least, we organized great media coverage for her with School Library Journal’s Fuse #8, a Publisher’s Weekly Photo of the Day and a book trailer feature in Shelf Awareness. 

We’re pleased to say that The Tiara on the Terrace hit the SoCal Indie bestseller list. It was a royal win!

Organizing the World’s Longest Book Tour

A book tour can be a great way to make a splash, and when you’re working with an author as great as Jenny Milchman — it’s an opportunity to create a tsunami! 

Books Forward helped Jenny launch her highly anticipated thriller, Cover of Snow (Ballantine Books), at the venerable Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan. Next, we arranged for her to speak to hundreds of bookstore owners and booksellers at the Southern Independent Booksellers Association trade show. Jenny and her novel made a lasting impression; more than a dozen bookstores requested her for events! Although Cover of Snow takes place in upstate New York, the SIBA booksellers fell in love and hand-sold the thriller so that it hit the SIBA bestseller list right out of the gate. 

And that was just the beginning; Jenny is an all-star networker, and she ultimately received 300 bookstore event invitations thanks to her extensive list of contacts that she cultivated in the book industry. She partnered with us on what Shelf Awareness dubbed the “World’s Longest Book Tour,” as she and her family hit the road for an epic cross-country tour over nine months. Our team worked tirelessly alongside Jenny to garner local media attention in every city and town she visited.

After her first epic trip, we teamed up again for the launch of her second book and a brand new tour opportunity: “100 Events in 100 Days.” We assisted with event organization, coordinating private book parties and dinners for her in multiple cities. We also secured reviews and media coverage for Jenny’s amazing efforts. Not only did she get to make new connections and meet tons of her reader fans, but it was like a homecoming when she returned to the independent bookstores who supported her from the start. 

Today Jenny is a USA Today-bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author. We’re thrilled to report that her current publisher has recognized the value of her book-touring skills and sponsored an extensive national tour for her latest novel! 

These days, writing an incredible book is only the first step; authors must also be willing to throw as much energy into promoting a book as writing it in order to be successful. When you make the effort to personally connect with readers and booksellers, and grow your network, the results can be amazing!

Creating an International Bestseller

The book market is crowded with memoirs every year. But when Books Forward first encountered Barbara Donsky’s incredible true story of her mother’s disappearance, we knew we were onto something special, and the media agreed!

Barbara’s memoir, Veronica’s Grave, caused something of a media frenzy (with a little help from our team!). Books Forward carefully crafted the press materials to emphasize the book’s unusual story and narrative strengths. We also strategically pitched her story as a Mother’s Day feature to a targeted number of Bronx and Manhattan media outlets (Barbara’s home and the setting for her book), emphasizing the book’s local connections.

And the hook worked. The New York Post, New York Magazine and NY1 News all ran features on Barbara’s book. In fact, the story started trending on The New York Post, becoming the outlet’s most viewed story of the day and landing on the home page. From there, Barbara’s story was shared by Bravo TV Online, Yahoo News, Gannett News and the Independent Journal Review.

Coupled with a national radio tour and features on Shelf Pleasure, Women Writers, Women’s Books and Book Pleasures — the fusion of unusual, gripping storytelling, great timing and targeted outreach made Veronica’s Grave a success. The international rights were ultimately purchased by a traditional publisher, and this small press winner received a second life as a traditionally published book!

Becoming a New York Times Bestseller

Andrew Maraniss’ debut Strong Inside (Vanderbilt University Press) powerfully told the true story of Perry Wallace, the first African American basketball player in the SEC. Our team was honored to represent such an inspirational book, and we wanted to help make the launch an epic success. 

Andrew coordinated a launch party at the legendary Parnassus Books (owned by bestselling author Anne Patchett) in the story’s birthplace of Nashville, Tennessee, featuring an author Q&A led by Nashville Mayor Karl Dean. It was a sold-out success! And he went on to celebrate with widely attended events at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C. (where The Washington Post heralded the book) and at several other venues across the country.

Books Forward targeted national media, from snagging a “Book of the Month” pick in Southern Living, to organizing national television interviews with Meet the Press and The Keith Olbermann Show. We also arranged features for Andrew in book industry publications like Shelf Awareness and Writers Digest. 

The buzz around such an important book elevated its status, and we were so proud when Strong Inside landed on the New York Times bestsellers list!

We were just as thrilled when Andrew returned to Books Forward for the promotion of his second book, Games of Deception (Philomel Books), his YA nonfiction about the first U.S. Olympic basketball team. We secured literary and local media coverage in outlets nationwide, including Book Riot, BookPage, Read Brightly and more. 

To this day, Andrew’s work continues to be a slam dunk!