The indie publishing journey: Marketing 101

Many of us groan at the word “marketing”, but having a sound marketing strategy is vital when publishing an indie book. But how do you create a marketing strategy? What platforms, tools, and materials should you use? How do you ensure your book launch is a success? Take a look at this post to learn all about the marketing aspect of indie publishing! →

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The importance of a marketing strategy

For many of us, the knee-jerk reaction when we hear the word “marketing” is to groan dramatically and run and hide under a rock. If this is you, you’re not alone! 😅 But having a sound marketing strategy is a vital part of the indie publishing journey. Since you don’t have the marketing power of a traditional publishing house behind you, it is down to you to make readers aware of your book. After all, if they don’t know about your book, how or why are they going to buy your book?

But what actually is book marketing? Sometimes our minds immediately leap to the idea of paid advertising, but marketing is more than just that. I really like this simple definition:

[…] book marketing is the combination of strategies that authors use to get their book in front of their target readers with the goal of selling more books.
—from What is book marketing? (Aryn Van Dyke, LinkedIn, June 2023)

The great thing about this broad definition is that it means your marketing strategy can be anything you want it to be! But here are a few things you’ll want to consider when crafting your marketing strategy:

Who is my target audience? Neither you nor your book can be all things to all people, so have a good think about who you want to target with your marketing strategy. Who will be reading your book, given the genre and age range of the story? You might want to think about other indie authors too!

Where do I find my target audience? Most of us are online in some capacity these days, but what platforms are your target audience using? Are they keen TikTokers, or is Facebook more their jam? This can require a bit of research, but your demographic stereotypes can be quite useful here… 😉

What kind of content does my audience enjoy? Once you’ve found your target audience, have a look at the types of content they engage with. Do they like commenting on pretty Instagram posts? Are they reading informative blogs? Or are they on the hunt for bookish artwork and merchandise?

How do I convert engagement to sales? A critical—yet difficult—step is to figure out what prompts your audience to take that step from engaging online to buying your book. What convinces them to fork out the money? This can take a bit of trial and error, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself.

Marketing platforms, tools, and materials

The world is your oyster when it comes to the platforms, tools, and promotional materials available for indie authors these days! Once you’ve asked yourself the questions outlined above, you’ll probably start to see which are most popular with your target audience. There are so many things you can do by yourself—and for little to no cost—if you’re willing to put in the time and effort.

So what’s out there to support your marketing strategy? Here are a few of the most widely used tactics you might like to check out. Feel free to play around and see what works for you!

Website/blog: The author website is the heart of your marketing strategy, as it provides a central location for all your info and for readers to find you online. You can even include a blog if you like, so you can share more detailed and informative posts with your followers.

Email newsletter: Setting up an email mailing list can be a bit hit and miss with authors, but it’s still an excellent way to ensure content reaches the people who want it. You can provide news and updates, exclusive offers, and early access to opportunities.

Social media: Love it or hate it, social media is a powerful method of promoting your book and yourself as an author. There are so many platforms out there (e.g. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter/X, Threads, Pinterest), and each have their own unique uses.

Book reviews: These are an invaluable tool for drawing the right reader in and boosting your book’s visibility, so try and get as many as you can. Sites like Goodreads and Amazon are among the more popular places for book reviews to be published.

Sales and incentives: Temporarily dropping your book’s price can encourage more readers to buy it. Incentives might also be effective if you’re donating some profits to a cause or giving customers a reward for buying. And everyone loves the occasional free giveaway!

Merchandise: Everyone loves bookish merch! This can be a bit of a cost for an indie author, but you can often draw new readers in if you also sell bookmarks, posters, post cards, art prints, drinkware, candles, and other items that are related to your book.

The best thing is: you don’t have to wait until you have a finished book before you start marketing it. In fact, it’s recommended you begin well before your book is complete so you can build your following and generate interest. That way, you should have a bunch of readers who’ve followed your journey and will go out and buy your book when it finally hits the shelves. This is also a great way to connect with the indie author community and learn from other people. 😊

Preparing for a book launch

While you can market your book whenever you like, you’ll want to have a specific strategy in place for your book launch. The first few weeks after a book is published is so critical to its success, so you it’s important to start building interest and hype heading into release day. You may even want to enable pre-orders for your book so you can convert interest to sales early!

But what are some elements of a successful book launch? What should you be doing to prepare for release day to give your precious book baby its best chance at success? Here are a few things you might want to look into:

📚 Send out Advance Reader Copies (ARCs): ARCs are early version of the book that can be sent to readers a few months before publication. They are distributed free to readers, usually in exchange for the reader posting a review online. This is a great way of getting reviews out there for others to consider before your book is formally published. You don’t have to send out hardcopies, either, as this can be expensive; it’s perfectly acceptable to provide ebooks as eARCs.

👨‍👩‍👧 Establish a street team: A “street team” or “launch team” is a dedicated group of people who help support your book launch. They can promote your book on their own online platforms, participate in reveals (see below), and get other readers talking about your book. You’ll want to set clear expectation for your street team, and if you can, be sure to provide them with a reward such as a free copy of the book or some bookish merch for all their hard work!

😍 Host a title/blurb/cover reveal: Reveals are a great way to generate anticipation amongst your online followers. Rather than providing all information about your book upfront, space out specific reveal events to announce your book’s title, its blurb or release date, and best of all, the cover. Counting down to reveal dates will give your followers something to look forward to and keep them thinking about your book for longer. Use your street team or put out an open call for participants.

🎉 Have a plan for launch day: Plan out what you’re going to do for the day your book is officially published (and the weeks after that). More established indie authors might hold proper book launch events, but you could do something as simple as post about the launch a couple of times online. However, make sure you take a moment to kick back and celebrate with your loved ones! Have a little party if you like, because publishing a book is a LOT of work, and you’ve earned it!