You poured your heart and soul into writing a book. Now comes the real challenge. How do you get it into the hands of readers? Here’s a proven 10-step marketing plan to make sure your book finds its audience — a clear, actionable book marketing strategy to get your book read.
Be Heard: Create Your Content Engine
- Host your own podcast.
- Be a guest on other podcasts.
- Create short content-rich videos.
Be heard. These first few steps are all about creating a consistent presence, a platform for your voice and your ideas. It’s the foundation for everything else.
Step one is to host your very own weekly podcast where you feature and honor the top people in your field. Your own podcast is about creating a hub for amazing conversations that naturally sets you up as an expert and an insider in your world.
Once you’re creating your own conversations, the next logical step is to join conversations that are already happening. That’s step two. Be a guest on other people’s shows. This powerful tactic lets you tap into established audiences who are already super interested in your topic.
You don’t have to build every single audience from scratch. You can leverage the communities others have already worked so hard to build. Use ListenNotes.com and Matchmaker.fm to find shows that are a perfect fit for you and your message.
Tactic number three: Create short content-rich videos. Think of these as potent, shareable little nuggets of wisdom from your book. It’s a powerful way to reach visual learners and expand your presence on huge platforms like YouTube and Rumble.
Build Your Tribe: Community and Direct Reach
- Own one social network.
- Host your own online summit.
- Participate in other people’s summits.
- Send a weekly email.
Pillar two, build your tribe. Start to actively gather and nurture a community of loyal fans. The fourth point tackles the wild world of social media, but with a specific and crucial focus: Don’t try to be everywhere at once. Pick one primary social network and own it by sharing consistently great content.
Here’s a specific recommendation: Instagram, because of its visual nature and strong community features.
Next up, points five and six feature a powerful two-sided strategy by engaging in summits. First, you host your own online summit, which immediately positions you as a leader and a convener in your field.
But at the same time, participate in summits that others are hosting. It’s that same powerful principle: tap into ready-made audiences that are already hungry for your expertise.
The single most important part of building your tribe is to send a weekly email. All those other activities (podcasts, videos, summits) should be driving people to your email list. Email is your direct line of communication. It’s where you build the deepest connection by providing consistent, inspirational, and valuable content in your tribe’s inboxes.
Go Big: High-Impact Outreach
- Speak at events. especially offline.
- Pitch major TV shows.
- Pitch major magazines.
Pillar three, go big. Now it’s time for the high leverage moves that create massive impact. The eighth tactic is one of the oldest and, frankly, most effective forms of marketing there is. That’s speaking at events. Whether it’s online or in person, speaking positions you as the ultimate authority.
As great as online events are, live in-person speeches are still considered the absolutely most effective way to connect with an audience and sell books.
The final two tactics combine into a powerful strategy for landing major media. First, target big outlets like a national TV show or a major magazine. Second, send them a timely, newsworthy proposal, not just a generic pitch. Third, be persistent. Send fresh, relevant ideas every two weeks. This is how you get booked and featured.
Conclusion
That’s the complete 10-point plan. Start by creating your own content with podcasts and videos. Then build your community through social media, summits and email. Finally, amplify your message with high-impact outreach through speaking gigs and major media.
A plan is only as good as its execution. Reviewing this list, which single step feels the most achievable for you to start with right now? Because that first step is how you turn a book sitting on a shelf into a movement.
