Over the last several weeks, I have been delving into the marketing and publicity world of publishing. Before doing research on this, my full knowledge came from what I’ve followed on Tiktok through book trends over the last two years. It’s come to my attention that marketing is actually an umbrella term that contains several different aspects of publishing that differs widely depending on the publishing house or author.
Honestly, a lot of the marketing game is about money. The more money you have, the better your marketing and publicity strategy will be. Bridget Marmion, of Bridget Marmion Book Marketing LLC, has 30+ years of marketing and publicity experience. Packages with her group start at $7500 for authors.
Several of my online friends are independent self-published authors. Even though their work is stellar, indie authors have their work cut out for them. They can either contract out their work to marketers like Bridget Marmion, cover artists, editors, etc. or they have to tackle everything on their own. Most don’t have the budget to contract everything out.
Chelsie Prince is the author of This Girl America. Her debut novel is set in a millennial high school about the heartbreak of first loves. I originally found Chelsie through a Tiktok that she made, pitching the perfect millennial nostalgia. She graciously sent me an advanced copy of her book to review, and I was able to attend her book launch party. When I asked her about her marketing strategy, she said, “To be honest, I didn’t have a ‘real’ marketing plan other than consistently posting on social media. Cycling through promo aesthetic type videos, me talking about the book and sharing my journey, and reposting what others are saying. I’m currently working on a better marketing plan for book two. I’m still trying to figure it out.”
Meg Smitherman is the author of Destroyer, a cinnamon roll of a dark fantasy romance. She began building her online community before she even finished writing the book. She has a $0 budget for marketing her book at the moment. She said, “Building a following on TikTok was my primary goal/marketing plan. I posted writing advice and book recs to get to know the community, and I still do that!” By the time she was ready to start marketing her book, she already had a community of potential readers at the ready. When her preorder link went live through Barnes and Noble, she achieved the title of “bestseller” by selling around 70 or so preorders on the first day. “I'm lucky in that I have a LOT of online friends who are in various creative industries and follow me on social media that were more than happy to help spread word when my book went on preorder initially, so I have to give credit to that for hitting B&N bestseller list,” she said.
AK Mulford is the author of The Five Crowns of Okrith, a queer high fantasy romance series, that was indie published but is now being re-released in a traditional setting. “When I launched THMC, I put most of my energy into social media and newsletter marketing. I had my free novella for people to have an example of my work and hopefully get excited about my release. I put most of my energy into building a readership on TikTok! The biggest part of marketing is the metadata: solid book, cover, blurb, keywords etc so that all of the energy sending people to your book ends up in a sale. I spent money on the infrastructure of my business, but had a $0 budget for marketing when I started out, so I didn’t do any ads or paid promotions,” she told me.
I recently had the opportunity to interview Alyssa Hassan, Associate Director of Marketing at Beacon Press. She shed some light on how disappointing it can be for debut authors: “A lot of people go in thinking they have the networks that are going to make their book a bestseller, and when it doesn't pan out, it is a huge let down for them because they don't understand how everything really works. You spend a lot of time trying to reassure them. Most books, when they are published, don't sell more than two to three thousand copies. That's the norm. The publishing world is huge.”
Marketing and publicity can be like an untamed potion bubbling in a cauldron. There are so many ingredients that need to be cast in the perfect order to successfully market a book or an author.
