If you’re not aware, CraveBooks hosts several Book Ninja Summits throughout the year, featuring book marketing advice from the experts. Here, five publishing industry expert speakers from a past Book Ninja Summit share a favorite marketing tip. We’ll announce the next Book Ninja Summit for this summer soon. Be sure you’re signed up to our email newsletter so you don’t miss out.
Book Marketing Advice From the Experts #1
“When you are doing any marketing, put yourself in the reader’s shoes. Pretend that you’re a reader who has never engaged with you before. Go through what you’re asking them to do step by step. For example, if you want them to sign up for your newsletter, examine your landing page. What would the reader think? What about when they enter their email? Stepping through the process and anticipating where people might get stuck or have objections is a critical exercise that costs nothing and is simple to do.”
Michael La Ronn
Science fiction & fantasy author with 80 published books
Book Marketing Advice From the Experts #2
“One of the most interesting things about marketing, for me, is that it’s not always about pushing your book. I find that sales go up for me when I engage with readers beyond talking about my book. Having posts on social media that are thought provoking, or an engaging question that draws the reader to interact, then follows through later when I post about my books. So, my tip is to mix up your social media. Don’t just push your book, but instead, push engagement with others. You’ll see your numbers rise.”
Bernadette Marie
International bestselling author, publisher, speaker and CEO
Book Marketing Advice From the Experts #3
“If you’re publishing your books widely (i.e., beyond just Amazon), don’t ignore the other main retailers. Take advantage of universal book links such as the free Books2Read links that not only include numerous retailers and automatic geotargeting, but also allow links to your print and audio formats all in one place. Make it a point to apply or submit your books to the various promotions many of the direct retail publishing and distribution companies offer. And leverage the handy DIY coupon codes for your direct sales, or via direct publishing with Google Play, B&N Press, and Smashwords. A little bit of extra effort put into sharing and marketing broadly helps increase your discoverability on more platforms and in more global regions.”
Mark Leslie Lefebvre
Author, professional speaker and bookseller with more than thirty years of experience
Book Marketing Advice From the Experts #4
“If you’re still using Detailed Targeting with your Facebook Ads, unfortunately, you’re using an outdated technology that is throttling your results. There is a new, more scalable, more profitable, more sustainable way to run Facebook Ads in 2023, and it’s called: Unrestricted Targeting. The only targeting you use with Unrestricted Targeting is Age, Gender and Location. Zero Detailed Targeting. I realize that this may sound counter-intuitive and you may be a little skeptical, but I haven’t used Detailed Targeting since 2022, and our book sales have skyrocketed. I let the Facebook algorithm do all the heavy lifting and find my audience for me through its machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), whilst I focus on pulling the biggest Facebook Ads lever I can – creating better ads. My advice would be to forget about Detailed Targeting and spend your time creating Facebook Ads that resonate and engage with your readers, and ultimately, sell books.”
Matt Holmes
Matt Holmes helps self-published authors build profitable six-figure businesses using Facebook Ads
Book Marketing Advice From the Experts #5
“There is one thing I wish I had done sooner in my author career: build my email list. I dug my heals in for years thinking I didn’t have the time or energy for a newsletter. I was wrong. I do believe every author who plans to build a career or profitable side-business with their books, needs to build an email list and send out a newsletter on a consistent basis. The readers on your list have given you permission to email them, so why wouldn’t you? We spend so much time trying to get the attention of readers on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram…but our newsletter is the one place where we already have their attention.”
Kerrie Flanagan
Writing expert, freelance writer, writing consultant and author of 20+ books
