Must-Know Strategies for Marketing Your Fiction Book
You’ve completed your fiction book — congratulations! No doubt you’ve spent countless hours pouring your creative energy into the pages of your new book and now it’s time to release it into the world. By now you might be wondering how readers will find the book you so carefully and passionately wrote.
The answer is: by marketing it! The book marketing process might not be as soul-nourishing as the process of writing your book, but it’s just as important. By implementing the right marketing strategies, you’ll attract the most readers… and that’s the ultimate goal, right?
Let’s dive into four of the most impactful strategies for marketing your fiction title.
Start with a Strong Platform
First and foremost, you want to be sure you have a strong author platform in place well before your book is released; even the best marketing tactics won’t be as effective without the foundation of your platform.
Be sure to build a website that prominently features your book, has an “about the author” page, a page for reviews and media placements (we’ll discuss ways to get those next!), links to your active social media pages, and clear direction and links for purchasing the book.
Choose one or two social media platforms — ideally the ones your target audience uses most — to commit to posting consistently on. Sharing about your book, having an up-to-date presence on these accounts, engaging with your followers, and linking back to your website will show readers that you’re active and will draw more attention to your book.
Additionally, don’t forget to set up your author page on Amazon, which serves as a sort of mini-website to house all of your book information (if you have multiple titles), your author bio, headshot, reviews, and more. You’ll also want to make sure you have a profile set up on Goodreads (more on that below!).
When combined, these elements will form a strong foundation for your promotions efforts.
Secure Book Reviews
It should come as no surprise that securing book reviews is a massive part of marketing your book. Like having a strong author platform in place — crucial to securing book reviews — submitting your book for reviews should happen before your book is published. A reputable publicity firm can help you navigate timelines and submission guidelines for maximum success.
In general, plan to submit your book for review about four months prior to publication. If you’re submitting on your own behalf, be sure to check each individual review outlet and their guidelines, as each has their own set of submission rules. Some of the most commonly sought after outlets for fiction reviews include: Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Foreword Reviews, as well as major publications like LA Times, The New York Times, Real Simple, O Magazine, etc. Keep in mind that top, national outlets are extremely competitive – but with your platform in place and by following submission guidelines, you’ll give yourself the best chance possible at scoring one of these coveted reviews.
Connect With Bloggers
Don’t fall into the all too common trap of assuming those big book reviews are the only way to gain traction while marketing your fiction book. Bloggers and other “smaller” book reviewers are your friends and some of your greatest assets when it comes to building your audience and getting more eyes on your book.
Research which bloggers have interest in your book genre, then begin compiling your list of bloggers to reach out to. Provide your bio/background, a short synopsis of your book, and a complimentary review copy. When you pitch them, be sure to include why you think it would be a good fit for their blog and readers (remember, they want to offer value to their audience too!). Though electronic book copies are inexpensive and easy to send, many bloggers — especially those who are also social media influencers — will prefer hard copies of your book. This enables them to take their own pictures to use as part of their review and keeps their content appealing and on brand.
Another creative way to engage bloggers is by setting up a blog tour. Once you have a list of bloggers you’d like to reach out to, choose a handful to pitch a tour to. Choose the dates of your tour (you can start with a one-week period) to align with the release of your book for the most momentum, and reach out to each blogger asking them if they would be interested in being part of your blog tour. Offer them a review copy of the book and a date during the time period of your tour, with the idea that they will post a review of your book on that date and link to the next blogger on the tour. Bloggers are usually fans of this, because it helps to drive traffic and new followers to their own site.
Never underestimate the power of outlets with smaller, but loyal, followings! This is the modern day “word of mouth” and is an important part of your marketing plan.
Hold Giveaways
Earlier we mentioned the value of setting up your Goodreads profile as part of your author platform, and this next marketing tip is one of the reasons why it’s so beneficial. Goodreads giveaways are a great way of boosting reviews and giving you something to promote to your following. One of the coolest features about Goodreads giveaways is that it automatically adds the book to the entrant's “Want to Read” tab, which means that the entrant will get notifications for book and author updates.
Goodreads also follows up with winners about 8 weeks after the giveaway has ended reminding them to post reviews. Print giveaways typically perform better than Kindle giveaways as far as number of entrants, but require more work from the author up front. That being said, shipping copies to the winners gives authors an extra touchpoint to include a note about where to post honest reviews and which accounts to tag when they do!
Ebook giveaways are quick, easy, and pretty much run themselves once they're set up. Give away as many copies as possible to maximize the effect of the promotion and post about it on your social media and newsletter. You can also run giveaways for previous books in a series to help promote new releases. Apple Books’ eBook promo codes are another great (and low cost) option for giveaways.
While marketing your fiction book might not seem as exciting as actually writing your book, the results of implementing these strategies certainly will be. Seeing reviews come through, watching your audience grow, feeling the buzz surrounding the launch of your book, and — ultimately — selling copies of your book will all underscore just how important a solid book marketing plan is.
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Jennifer Tucker is the Marketing Strategist at Smith Publicity, the most prolific book marketing agency in the publishing industry, with thousands of books promoted since 1997. From first-time, self-published authors to New York Times bestsellers, Smith Publicity promotes every genre, and has secured media coverage for authors and books with every top media outlet in the U.S. And Canada. Sign up to receive news and updates from Smith Publicity here. Contact Smith Publicity at info@smithpublicity.com.
This post includes contributions from Smith Publicity’s Olivia McCoy.