I’m a Marketer of 10 Years — Here’s My Plan for Marketing My Own Book
Something surprised me about some of the fellow first-time, self-publishing authors I’ve been networking with. Many dove head-first into their writing, churning and whittling away at their work. They invested months and months into perfecting their pages and buffing up their book cover.
But when they emerged from their deep dive, the next question they asked was surprising: “Now what?”
Up until then, they hadn’t given much thought to how to market their work. And it happens to a lot of self-publishing authors.
No matter what you’re creating — a coloring book, t-shirts, chocolate chip cookies — a marketing plan is essential if you want your creation to be discovered and ultimately purchased. Especially among the works of other authors who are strategically marketing themselves to your buyers, too.
I’ve been marketing in fintech, travel, and non-profits for the past 10 years. In this article, I’ll show you how to create a one-page, semi-formal book marketing plan that you can easily follow.
What’s a book marketing plan?
Your book marketing plan is your blueprint for your book’s success. It defines your overarching strategies and outlines the tactics you’ll execute.
It’s easy to get lost in the weeds of marketing. Trust me — I’ve spent hours writing (and re-writing) social posts. I’ve been distracted by unfamiliar data points that led me down a rabbit hole into nowhere.
Make a marketing plan and stick to it. When your eyes wander too far, it’ll be the compass that re-orients you back to your North Star.
What sections go into a book marketing plan?
Here’s what I include:
- Mission: a statement of what you’re ultimately looking to achieve and the need you serve
- Target Audience: who your potential buyers are (it’s not “everyone”)
- Channels: where you will publish promotional content
- Content Engine: a framework to base your promotional content (you’ll be returning to this part often when you’re ideating promotions)
- Publishing schedule: a list of the types & frequency of promotional content
1. Mission
Your mission is a declaration of what you’re aiming for, how you’re doing it, and why you’re doing it.
For example, here’s the marketing plan mission for a book about networking for job opportunities as a new immigrant:
[WHAT] Get 500 people to subscribe to my email list and 1 book sale within 6 months
[HOW] By publishing high-value content about job hunting, including the topics that are in my book
[WHY] Because aside from government settlement services, there’s a gap in expertise about networking within niche immigrant communities, and how powerful it can be to find hidden employment opportunities.
Use the what/how/why template to define your mission clearly.
2. Target Audience
You’re likely already defined your target audience before you started writing. If you haven’t written it yet, a marketing plan is exactly where it should be formalized.
Look at your genre, competing books, and how they’re categorized. Research tools like BookBeam are helpful in finding your competitors and uncovering niche Amazon book categories where you can be discovered.
Consider including a persona; a character that encompasses the traits of the audience member you’re envisioning:
- How old are they? Where do they live, and what do they do for work?
- What kind of personality traits do they have? Hobbies?
- What genre of books do they read? If they’re not big readers, what media do they consume?
- How do they come to a buying decision? Do they read websites or blogs? Are they more keen on buying from people who’ve reviewed the book already?
Defining your target audience can also help you determine what marketing channels and platforms you want to use.
3. Channels
Where do you spend the most time online? TikTok? Instagram? Perhaps you don’t spend too much time on social media and prefer to read Medium and Reddit for content and discussions. Or YouTube for video essays and Shorts.
When promoting your book, ask yourself three questions:
- What platforms does your target audience constantly use?
- What platforms excite you when you think about promotions for your book? (Making duet responses on TikTok, writing guest posts on people’s blogs, commenting on news or trends that are relevant to your niche)
- Where do those two things intersect?
Choose your channels wisely — they’ll be where you invest your time and efforts in the future (which is why you should choose the ones you genuinely enjoy).
4. Content Engine
The best way to harness content ideas? Create a content engine. It’s a framework to determine the type of promotional content you create and where it’s sourced.
If you want to be consistent and not feel like starting from scratch every time you want to promote your book, it’s worthwhile to put thought and effort into one. Here’s how I did it in Notion:
Create a grid with “Verticals” x-axis and “Lanes” on the y-axis. Verticals are the niches or core topics from your book that you plan to cover. Lanes are the category of content you’re making, such as thought leadership, downloadable templates, repurposed content, and more.
Let’s return to the example of a job networking book for newly landed immigrants. As the author of the book, your engine could look like this:
Tip: Think broadly. Avoid using this space to list everything you’re going to do. Instead, look for the common thread in your content strategy: the high-level theme underlying all your content ideas.
Once you’ve designed your engine, you can determine your publishing schedule.
5. Publishing schedule
Your schedule will dictate the frequency of promotional content you publish. For instance:
- 1x per day: Instagram & Twitter post
- 1x per week: videos on TikTok/Instagram
- 1x per month: thought leadership on Medium
- 1x per week: email newsletter
Once you’ve determined your schedule, plot your tactics into a content calendar to plan and track the promotions you create.
Plan to get ahead
As the old saying goes, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
If you’re in the midst of writing your book, be sure to allocate some time to planning your booking marketing. Leverage the research you’ve already done on your audience to ensure your marketing hits the right notes.
If you’ve already completed your book and need advice on making your marketing plan, comment with your questions, and I’ll be happy to answer!
