Trying to figure out a book marketing plan but don’t know where to start? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered with 176 resources ranging in advertising tips, to places to book blog tours, to content marketing, and more. A few of these resources were published in 2019, when the world was different, so you may need to adapt accordingly.
Contents
Advertising
- Kindlepreneur course
- Resurrecting Books
- “Why use Amazon Advertising” on Promote Your Book
- BookAds
- “Mastering Amazon Ads: An Author’s Guide – Beta Group” on Facebook
- “Amazon Book Ads – A Remarkable Case Study Reveals Untapped Potential“ on Kindlepreneur
- “Advertising on Amazon w/ AMS via KDP—Is it Worth it?” on Chris Mcmullen
- “AMS Ads Learning” on Kboards
- “Amazon ads case study | Promoting book directly on Amazon” on University of Solitude
- Publisher Rocket
- “Amazon Eliminates Two Promotional Options” on Self Publishing Review
- “BookBub Reviews offer an Alternative to Goodreads and Amazon: It’s Not Just for Pricey Ads Anymore” on Anne R. Allen
- Share Local Media
- “Platform and Feature Updates Nov 2019 — Jan 2020” on Omny Studio
- “The Best BookBub Ads of 2019” on BookBub
- “Knowing When To Retarget (And What Data To Bank It On)” on Marketing Land
- “Scaling Programmatic Advertising With Dynamic Ads” on Marketing Land
- “Using Second-Party Data To Expand Reach & Improve Your Retargeting” on Marketing Land
- “From A to Z: How to Set Up a Google Remarketing Campaign” on Neil Patel
- “Why Remarketing Keywords Is Key to Driving Sales” on WordPress
- “Book Promotion: Do This, Not That – BookBub” on The Book Designer
- “‘Get while the getting’s good’: Publishers look to cheap Facebook ads to increase subscriptions” on Digiday
- “About Multi-Channel Funnels” on Google Analytics
- “AdsWizz Adds Dynamic Creative Optimization Capabilities to Its Audio Advertising Platforms” on Business Wire
Author Website
- “How to Create a Lottie Widget Download Button” on YouTube (for downloading ebooks)
- “How to Survive and Thrive in a Clickless World” on NewsCred Insights
- “Thin Content: Why You Should Fix or Remove Low-Quality Web Pages” on Content Marketing Institute
Blog Book Tours and Book Reviews
- “The Awareness Tour: Children’s Book Blog Tours” on The Children’s Book Review
- YA Bound Book Tours
- Bewitching Book Tours
- Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
- iRead Book Tours
- Xpresso Book Tours
- R&R Book Tours
- “An Author’s Guide to Book Bloggers” on Wow
- “Book Fans Package For Authors” on Book Luver
- “Freebies Package For Authors” on Book Luver
- “Amazon Editorial Reviews: Are You Using This Incredible Section?” on Jane Friedman
- “Book Blog Reviews and Bookstagram: How Influencers Help Authors Reach Agents, Publishers, and Readers” on Anne R. Allen
- “How to Get Blurbs: A Case Study” on Book Launch
- “Where to Send Review Copies of Your Book – To Get More Book Reviews, Clients, Media Attention, and Other Opportunities” on Nonfiction Authors Association
- “How to Get Editorial Reviews for Your Self-Published Book” on ALLi
- “No Sales or Lackluster Sales: It Isn’t the Reader, It’s the Book…Really” on Kristen Lamb
- “How To Get Honest Book Reviews in 2020” on Self Publishing Review
- “The Toughest Critics: When Kids Review Children’s Books” on Reader Views
Book Launch and Events
- “6 Tips to Create a Memorable Virtual Book Launch” on Jane Friedman
- ““ on Ingram Spark
- “Anatomy of an Attractive Book Description – Part 1” on WildFire Marketing
- “Razzle-Dazzle: The Art and Craft of the Elevator Pitch” on Anne R. Allen
- “You CAN Tell an (e)Book by Its Cover” on The Book Designer
- “Kindle Keyword Strategy For Fiction Authors“ on Kindlepreneur
- “How To Choose the Right Kindle Keywords“ on Kindlepreneur
- “Planning Your Book Launch” on The Book Designer
- “How to Leverage Book Signings” on ALLi
- “Fill All the Seats at Your Webinar With These 6 Steps” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Selling on Amazon? Watch Out for These 10 Categories!” on Merchant Words
- “Stop Guessing: Split Test Your Cover with PickFu” on The Book Designer
- “How I Had My Best Book Launch Ever (and You Can, Too)” on ALLi
- “A Guide To Writing Your Author Bio” on Sterling & Stone
- “Does Establishing Thought Leadership in Your Space Really Matter for Business Owners and Creators?” on Teachable
- “Should Engagement Really Matter to Marketers Anymore?” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Keywords – what are they, how do you use them and some new research for KDP users!” on The Empowered Author
- “The Ultimate Guide to Finding the Right Readers for your Book” on ALLi
- “How to Get More From Your Livestream After the Broadcast” on Content Marketing Institute
- “How to Identify the Target Audience for Your Book” on miblart
- “How to Identify the Target Audience for Your Book” on miblart
Book Marketing (General)
- “The Ultimate Guide to Book Marketing” on Nicholas Erik
- “Encore Month: Why and How to Build a Book Project Plan” on Self Publishing Advice
- “Self-Publishing A Book On Amazon | How to Choose the Right Niche” on YouTube
- “EP213: Children’s Marketing with Georgina Atwell” on The Bestseller Experiment
- “How To Find Your Comp Authors” on David Gaughran
- “A Simple Book Marketing Timeline for Holiday Sales” on ALLi
- “Is a “Personal Relationship” with Authors What Readers Want?” on Anne R. Allen
- “Engineer Success with a Good Marketing Strategy” on The Book Designer
- “Ethical Marketing: Are You Crossing the Line?” on Content Marketing Institute
- “A guide to developing an actionable marketing framework [Infographic]” on Brafton
- “The Introvert’s Guide to Book Marketing and Author Platform” on We Grow Media
- “Finding and Using Competing Book Titles in Your Book Marketing” on Anne R. Allen
- “How I Hit a Bestseller List with a Traditionally Published Book” on BookBub
- “How to Execute an Integrated Marketing Campaign [TEMPLATE]” on NewsCred Insight
- “How to Write a Book Proposal to Yourself” on ALLi
- “How to Create a Business Plan for Your Indie Author Business” on ALLi
- “When Your Book Isn’t Selling” on The Writing Life
- “WI15: Treeline Readies Targeted E-Marketing Product for Indies” on Publisher’s Weekly
- “Marketing-Help Articles for Self-Published Authors Received Record Readership in 2019” on Cision
- “Why Two Top Indie Authors Are Publishing 150 Books This Year” on Forbes
- “How to Clearly Define Your Target Audience So You Can Build Your Platform and Sell More Books” on Nonfiction Authors Association
- “A Grab Bag of Tools and Tips” on Writer Unboxed
- “The Reinvented Writer – 7 Steps to Publishing Success” on Your First 10K Readers
- “The Periodic Table of Self-Publishing Services” on ALLi
- “More on Standing Up to the Competition: The Complete Package” on The Pop Newsletter
- “How to Release Your Self-Published Book via the Top Distributors and Aggregators” on Rebel Seed Studio
- “Awesome Time-Saving Tools for Authors” on Self Publishing Review
Broader Distribution
- “Six Steps to Get Your Self-Published Book into Libraries” on Funds For Writers
- “Make Inroads Into The Homeschool Market” on Book Baby Blog
- “How to Get Your Book Into Libraries” on ALLi
- “Your Book in Libraries Worldwide Quick and Easy Guide” on ALLi
Content Marketing and Promotion
- “The Quick and Easy Guide to Fiction Content Marketing” on ALLi
- “How to Boost Your Content Marketing Team’s Efficiency” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Why Guest Posting Isn’t the Answer in 2020” on Content Marketing Institute
- “How to Optimize Your How-to and List Posts” on Content Marketing Institute
- “How to Use a Virtual Scavenger Hunt for Team Building at Work” on Girls Guide to PM
- “No Need to Survey, You Already Have Data for Great Storytelling [Examples]” on Content Marketing Institute
- “How to Create a Content Marketing Playbook” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Tools to Help Your Content Marketing Team Be Successful” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Who Should Be at the Center of Your Sales and Marketing Alignment?” on Content Marketing Institute
- “6 Things to Improve Your Content Performance” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Encore Month: How to Increase Your Global Reach” on Self Publishing Advice
- “Helping publishers and users get more out of visual searches on Google Images with AMP” on Google Webmaster Central Blog
- “How To Add Schema Markup To Improve Search Results & CTR” on SEO Works
- “Getting started with schema.org using Microdata” on Schema.org
- “What Is Content Engineering?” on Simplea
- “Measurement Framework: How to Document Content Marketing ROI” on NewsCred Insights
- “Fast and Easy Book Trailer Videos Using Canva: A Step-by-Step Guide” on Author Imprints
- “Recommended Content Strategy Resources & Tools” on Qordoba
- “Pick an idea and make it happen with Google Images” on Google
- “Use unusual September holidays for book promotion” on Build Book Buzz
- Open Publishing Awards
- “Awards Deadline Fast Approaching” on Reader Views
- “No Product Ready at Launch? Content to the Rescue (B2C CMY Finalist)” on Content Marketing Institute
- “How to Develop a Content Strategy: Start With These 3 Questions” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Search helps you find key moments in videos” on Google
- “Four Engagement Metrics Your Content Marketing Program Is Probably Misinterpreting” on NewsCred Insights
- “How to Adopt a Growth Mindset for Your Content Marketing” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Trust or Transactions: A Reflection [Video]” on Content Marketing Institute
- Caption Writer
- “The One Way to Stand Out in the Crowd of Content” on Content Marketing Institute
- “I’m Promoting My Book — Where’s My Sales Spike?” on Indies Unlimited
- “New Edelweiss Tool Will Create Personalized Emails” on Publisher’s Weekly
- “Clean Up Your Newsletter’s Subscriber List” on The Book Designer
- “Now You’re Segmenting With Science: How to Use Quantitative Psychology” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Do You Really Need a Marketing Expert on Your Team?” on The Pop Newsletter
- “What to Include in Your Author Newsletter” on IndieReader
- “SEO for Authors: Google Search Algorithm Changes” on ALLi
- “Amazon Accidentally Sent Out Their Email Template” on Better Marketing
- “Campaign URL Builder” on Google Analytics
- “We researched five CMSs to kickstart your CMS transition” on Poynter
- “How to Use Keyword Research to Sell More Books” on IndieReader
- Active Campaign
- “What to Put in Your Author Newsletter” on Career Authors
- “Catalogs: A Marketing Tool for Indie Publishers” on Fiction Notes
- “Reach inside my “private vault” and use 50 of my best word-for-word email scripts to reach the unreachable… get the ungettable…and send the perfect
message — every time.” on I Will Teach You To Be Rich - “Create engaging infographics and reports in minutes” on Infogram
- Pivot Animator
- Spark Toro
- “Good Abandonment on Search Results Pages” on Nielsen Norman Group
- “Long-Tail Keywords: The ‘Secret’ to Getting TONS of Search Traffic” on Ahrefs
- “How To Create A One Minute Book Promo Video in 4 Easy Steps” on Kunzon Publishing
- “Content Strategy for a Team of One” on Modus
PR and Media Coverage
- “How to Land Local Media Coverage” on Marketing Christian Books
- “A Guide to HARO for Content Creators and Marketers” on Elegant Themes
- “How to DIY PR for Indie Authors” on ALLi
- “What’s an Influencer Worth to Books?” on Publisher’s Weekly
- “Use celebrities for book promotion” on Build Book Buzz
- “The Art of the Elevator Pitch” on HBR
- “8 Ways to Make Your Book’s Press Release Work Harder” on The Book Designer
- “How Tom’s of Maine Found Success in Micro-Influencer Marketing” on Content Marketing Institute
Publishing News
- “Facts and Figures about Self Publishing: The Impact and Influence of Indie Authors” on ALLi
- “Apple Discontinuing iBooks Author on July 1, Encourages Writers to Transition to Pages” on MacRumors
- Mailchimp Presents By the Books
- “Book publishing statistics” on Build Book Buzz
- “Self-Publishing increased by 40% in 2018” on GoodeReader
- “Self-publishing News: What Strategy for Amazon?” on ALLi
- “Can Amazon Finally Crack the Bestseller Code?“ on New Republic
Social Media
- “Just got a new follower? Starting today, we’ll show their profile in your notifications.“ on Twitter
- “Instagram Creator Accounts – Should I Switch?” on Tailwind Blog
- “How To Publish And Schedule Posts To Instagram From Facebook Creator Studio” on Wersm
- “Create Story Pins” on Pinterest
- “Social Media Marketing: Cutting through the Hype” on ALLi
- “Now, you can hide replies to your Tweet, so you have more control over your conversations.“ on Twitter
- “How Should Brands Measure Success On Instagram If ‘Likes’ Are No Longer Relevant?” on NewsCred Insights
- Twitterific on Elizabeth Spann Craig
- “How to Handle Your Social Media During a Crisis” on Social Media for Writers
- “How to Sell Your Books in the Holidays with Smart Social Media Marketing” on ALLi
- Pinterest Trends
- “PenguinTeen Finds Success on TikTok with Viral Video” on Publisher’s Weekly
This post was originally published July 2020.
One tool you did not mention is our very own ‘Gordon’s Radio List.” It is a database of radio shows throughout the United States that interview authors and other guests. Its users include publishers, publicists, and professional speakers. The list includes all the relevant contact information, descriptions that would help you decide whether a particular show is right for a particular author, and the hosts’ political leanings. Sample listings are available on request.