A powerful 10-point book marketing strategy gives you a clear actionable plan to market your books. Four manageable book marketing strategic phases build on each other.
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1. Build the Foundation: The Stuff You Own and Control
First things first, the foundation: Build the stuff that you own and control. This is your content engine that’s going to establish you as an authority in your space for the long haul. So what’s the key here? It’s how these three steps work together like a well-oiled machine.
Your weekly podcast is the heart of your content engine. It’s where you have your deepest conversations.
Then, pull out shareable video clips from that podcast.
And finally, pick one social media channel and focus on sharing those clips to pull people back to your main content.
It’s a smart interconnected system. This is where the magic is.
For your podcast, feature people you want to honor. It’s not just about getting interviews. It’s about building genuine relationships.
Your videos should be short and sweet but packed with value. Post them everywhere: YouTube, Rumble, Vimeo, and all your social networks.
For social media, don’t try to be everywhere at once. Pick one network like Instagram or TikTok and get really, really good at it.
Your own content engine should now be humming along,
2. The Expansion: Tap into Other People’s Audiences
It’s time for phase two, the expansion. You’ve got your own valuable stuff now, so the strategy shifts a little bit.
Start tapping into other people’s audiences. It’s all about leveraging platforms that other people have already built. How? Be a guest on other podcasts. Use tools like ListenNotes.com and Matchmaker.fm to locate the most targeted podcasts to reach your audience.
You should also speak at events, both online and in person. Note: While online speaking is great, there is absolutely nothing that beats a live in-person speech for making a real connection.
This plan also has a cool two-sided strategy for summits. You can host your own, or you can be a guest at someone else’s, or both! If you host your own summit, you’re in the driver’s seat. You control the whole conversation and you build your brand as a leader.
But being a guest, that’s a fantastic shortcut to a built-in audience without all the logistical headaches. Which one’s right for you? That depends on where you’re at right now.
3. The Email Connection: Own Your Relationships
We’ve covered building your platform and borrowing other people’s, but this step is about owning the relationship with your biggest fans. It’s about creating a direct line to them that no algorithm or social media platform can ever mess with.
Social media is rented land. Your website could get buried by Google. But your email list is your direct, unfiltered line to the people who want to hear from you. It is the most valuable and bulletproof asset you can build as an author.
How to use this direct line is simple: Send one email, every single week, no matter what. Send out emails that are short, packed with value, content rich, and inspirational. You’re not just trying to sell them something, you’re serving them consistently.
4. The Amplifier: Pitch to the Major Leagues
The final and most ambitious phase of this book marketing plan is the amplifier. Once you’ve got your foundation built, your expansion strategy working, and you have a direct connection to your tribe, you are ready to pitch to the major leagues.
Take your message and scale it up, big time. Getting attention from major media isn’t about getting lucky with one great pitch. It’s about engaging in a persistent professional effort. And. as the timeline below shows, the plan is to send a new idea, a new proposal, to your target outlets at least every two weeks.
This steady drumbeat shows the media that you are serious, creative, and not going away. The rules for this final phase are all about focus and relevance. Pick one national TV show and one major magazine to start with.
But here’s the kicker. Your ideas have to be newsworthy. Connect what your book is about to what people are already talking about right now. Link your expertise to current events. That is what makes a producer’s ears perk up.
Conclusion
The table below sums it up perfectly. You’ve got 10 individual tactics, but they all funnel into these four core strategies.
You build your foundation with your content. You get expansion by leveraging other platforms. You forge a critical connection with your weekly email. And, finally, you become the amplifier by pitching the major media. It’s a complete, integrated book marketing system where every part supports the others.
This 10-point book marketing plan is so much more than a to-do list. It’s an author marketing blueprint for building a career. Looking at this book marketing system, the question you should be asking yourself isn’t, how can I possibly do all of this at once? It’s much simpler than that.
The real question is, what is the very first brick you’re going to lay for your author platform starting today?
