Alt-text: Eight pieces of luggage in two colors on a hotel luggage cart. Text: Book Launch Marketing. There are lots of options—you don't have to use them all.

In “Party Time! How to Plan a Book Launch Celebration,” I offered advice on planning a celebration of your hard work publishing a book. Yes, celebrate! But don’t stop there. Book launch marketing entails more than one event. It spans the months before and after your publication date and typically involves planning and executing a full strategy.

In this article, I offer broad strokes of what a book launch marketing strategy might look like. I also provide links to articles from other sources that provide checklists or discuss various approaches. It’s important to understand there are multiple “right” ways to launch your book into the world. You can’t do everything, so don’t get tangled up in trying to mimic others.

Also, let me be super transparent: I don’t do marketing for my clients. While we discuss marketing strategy, I’m not the right person to help you develop or execute a full marketing plan. I’ve got my consultant hat on here to discuss the big picture, but you’ll need to do more research to develop the right book marketing plan for you.

What’s your larger strategy?

First of all, go back to basics:

What is your goal for your book? Some authors are focused on book sales—they want to make money on the book itself. Others want to use their book to market services such as consulting, coaching, and speaking. Still others are focused on reaching as many people as possible with their message regardless of the financial return.

These different goals are not mutually exclusive, but they can lead to strategies that involve different tactics, time commitments, and budgets.

Next, who is your book for? Your target audience influences where and how you market your book.

Third, what is your existing platform? That is, what is the audience reach you already have—an email list, social media engagement, speaking audience, and so on.

Finally, what does success look like to you? How would you measure it? Possibilities: book sales, consulting leads, new speaking engagements, new email subscribers, number and quality of reviews.

Focus on these basic questions first, because when you start digging into all the available articles on book launch marketing, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. “Do I really have to do all that?” By answering these questions, it becomes easier to decide which marketing elements apply to you and which you can set aside for now.

Book launch marketing phases

Think about your launch marketing in phases: pre-publication, publication week (including the big day!), post-publication, and the transition to ongoing marketing.

Phase 1: Pre-publication

Goal: Increase awareness and excitement about your forthcoming book.

Timing: Anywhere from one month to one year, depending on your goals. Three months seems like plenty for most of the clients I work with.

Typical tasks:

  • Create a book page on your website.
  • Develop marketing graphics, e.g., for use on social media.
  • Get endorsements (a.k.a. book “blurbs”).
  • Encourage pre-orders.
  • Send regular emails that connect your book to topics your audience cares about (not just “On sale Sept 1!”).
  • Do regular social media posts that feature you and your book (same caveat as above!).
  • Appear as a podcast guest, asking the host to release your interview during Phase 2 or early in Phase 3 if possible.
  • Develop a launch team to help generate excitement at publication; create the tools they need to help you, e.g., social media graphics, suggested language.
  • Send pitches to media that might want to cover your book during Phase 2 or 3; position any pitch in relation to a newsworthy event or topic.
  • Schedule readings for Phase 2 and 3 at bookstores, libraries, book clubs, etc.

Phase 2: Publication week

Goal: Make a big splash during a short period.

Timing: Your official publication week.

Typical tasks:

  • Send celebratory announcement emails, and post similar notices on social media, especially on the big day.
  • Activate the launch team to spread the word about your book.
  • Offer price promotions, such as a 99-cent sale on your ebook.
  • If you’ve been encouraging pre-orders, watch the Amazon bestseller lists for your categories; capture screenshots if your book nears the top of the chart.
  • Hold a launch party and/or bookstore event(s).
  • Promote the media coverage or podcast interviews that get released this week.
  • Possibly run ads, e.g., on Facebook, Amazon, BookBub.

Phase 3: Post-publication

Goal: Maintain excitement and sales momentum.

Timing: One to three months after publication, or longer; how quickly you move through Phase 3 to Phase 4 depends on your broader goal.

Typical tasks:

  • Ask for online reviews.
  • Encourage more media coverage and podcast interviews.
  • Hold a post-launch party and/or events at bookstores, libraries, book clubs, etc.
  • Possibly run ads, e.g., on Facebook, Amazon, BookBub.
  • Continue regular email and social media content (more than just “Available now!”).
  • Continue to identify and approach targeted markets for your book, e.g., offer to write an article or do a presentation for organizations your book is relevant to.

Phase 4: Transition to ongoing marketing

Goal: Encourage steady sales (especially important for “long-tail” books).

Timing: Whenever you are ready to pivot away from emphasizing the new book and want it to be integrated into the ongoing marketing for your business or author presence.

Typical tasks:

  • Put your book into the rotation of topics you post about on social media.
  • In emails/newsletters/blog posts, mention the book when relevant (e.g., to support an argument), including a link to where it is available for sale.
  • Update your website so your book has the appropriate positioning, e.g., if it has been the star of the home page, it might be time to rearrange.
  • Keep using your book as a tool to help pitch yourself for speaking gigs, consulting engagements, and the like.
  • Do periodic book promotions at times when there is a natural link to your book, e.g., on National [Your Book’s Topic] Day.

I want to emphasize (1) these lists are not all-inclusive, (2) you don’t have to do everything on the lists, and (3) your timing may vary.

Sample book launch marketing strategies

Here are a few examples of what a high-level strategy might look like for authors with different goals and platforms.

Example 1: Nonfiction book for a known expert

The author is an expert in their field and has a traditional publisher. They have a robust email list and a large following on Facebook and Instagram, are a frequent guest on well-known podcasts, and regularly speak at events. Their primary goal is to sell books, both at launch and long-term. The strategy is to leverage their broad reach:

  • Start publicity six months ahead of publication with existing basics (website, blog posts, newsletters, social media), encouraging pre-orders; begin to develop TikTok presence; seek high-profile endorsements; appear on podcasts, scheduling release dates near publication; develop a launch team from the email list; pitch to media; develop a bookstore tour schedule.
  • During launch, focus heavily on social media (launch team), featuring any news coverage and podcast interviews; monitor bestseller lists; run ads on Facebook and Instagram.
  • Continue focused marketing for another six months, including bookstore events, podcast interviews, social media ads, and asking for reviews.
  • Eventually, integrate the new book into the author’s regular marketing processes with their other books and services.

This author goes pretty much all-in on marketing. What’s not included: price promotions (the publisher controls the price), advertising on TikTok where the author is still building their presence.

Example 2: Business book for consultant

The author is a consultant who speaks regularly, has a podcast and a regular newsletter, and has a strong LinkedIn presence. The primary goal is to use the self-published book as a marketing tool for consulting services. The strategy is to focus on existing marketing strengths:

  • Before publication, create book visibility on LinkedIn, in newsletter, and on podcast; find podcasts to be a guest on to expand audience reach; get professional endorsements.
  • At publication, make a splash on LinkedIn and via emails; offer a launch-week price promotion on the ebook; highlight any podcasts; hold a launch event.
  • After publication, ask for online reviews; continue newsletters, LinkedIn posts, and podcasts (both guest and host); target specific markets for speaking engagements, using the book as a marketing tool; give copies of the book to prospective consulting clients.
  • Shift relatively quickly into marketing integration, continuing to leverage the book content in LinkedIn posts and newsletters, and using the book as a marketing tool to get speaking and consulting engagements.

Notice what’s not included: expanding to new social media platforms, building a big launch team, doing ads.

Example 3: Memoir not linked to business

This self-publishing author has a demanding career only tangentially related to the book, with no significant marketing platform. The memoir has an educational, self-help-type message, and the author’s goal is to share it as much as possible with limited time. The strategy is to focus on marketing basics and promote the book opportunistically:

  • Pre-publication activity is limited: create an author website; get endorsements; find podcasts to be a guest on; post 2x/week on Facebook (the author’s only social media account) with emphasis on life events related to the book.
  • At publication, do a few celebratory Facebook posts and promote any podcast interviews; email friends, family, colleagues; hold a launch party.
  • After publication, continue podcast interviews and regular Facebook posts; identify potential audiences to write an article for or speak with; update the website with events, and if there’s time, add blog posts.
  • This author has no other business to integrate the book with, so as things slow down, they simply maintain the website and watch for opportunities to share the book.

Notice what’s not included: heavy pre-publication publicity, starting a big launch team, doing price promotions or advertising, expanding to new social media platforms.

Sources for reading more about book launch marketing

I highly encourage you to read about book launches specifically and book marketing generally from a wide variety of sources.

Here are some articles specific to book launches:

Additionally, David Gaughran, Tim Grahl, and Joanna Penn write extensively about book marketing in the indie author space.

As you read, you’ll begin to see patterns in the advice and get a feel for what tactics work for different types of books and different goals. Then you can start experimenting with the advice that seems most relevant to you.

What I don’t want you to do is panic when you see some of the long pre-publication timelines people propose. Many of these articles are targeted at authors trying to make a living selling books. That may or may not be your path.

Stay focused on identifying the things that can reach your audience, help you achieve your goals, fit your schedule, and feel worth doing—the things that are right for you and your book.

I’m not the marketer, but I am the person who can help make sure you have a book worth marketing! Need help? Get in touch at karin@clearsightbooks.com.

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