Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission (at no extra charge to you).

When a marketing-savvy author friend said recently that they were removing their content-rich, SEO-friendly blog from their site and relocating it to Substack, I nearly gasped. (And I’m not even a drama queen.)

This was part of their plan to use Substack as their email newsletter service.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I want to monetize* my newsletter and Substack makes that easy to do,” they replied. (*Monetize: marketing buzzword for “earn money from.”)

I explained why I didn’t think this was in their best interest, but the author was locked in. Logic be damned.

I’ve since had this “Substack for authors” conversation with several book marketing coaching clients and, quite recently, in person with a group of local author friends over lunch.

Here’s what I’ve been telling them.

What’s Substack?

Substack is a newsletter platform. People who use Substack benefit from:

• Free use until they start charging for their newsletter. Then Substack takes 10% of subscription fees, while Stripe, its payment provider, takes another 2.9% plus 30 cents per payment and 0.5% for recurring payments.
• A newsletter network that makes it easy for Substack publishers to recommend each other’s newsletters.
• An online home for each newsletter publisher’s archive of back issues. Think of each of these issues as a blog post.

Why authors are attracted to Substack

Here’s what authors tell me about why they’re considering Substack or have already signed on with the service.

Everybody’s doing it.

Yes, some people with large followings are using Substack. I’ll bet a bunch of your author friends are, too.

But, let’s remember the words of my wise mother: “If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you jump, too?”

“Everybody’s doing it” is a shallow rationalization that doesn’t work in this situation any more than it does when it comes to combovers for balding men.

With book marketing, what works for one author doesn’t necessarily work for another. How well you execute makes a difference, too.

It’s easy to set up.

This is true. You can be up and running quickly.

That’s partly because Substack is so basic. It lacks important features offered by other more conventional email marketing service providers, including the ability to personalize messages by adding a subscriber’s first name to a salutation.

It’s free.

That’s attractive to many.

But several other email service providers, including mine, provide far more functionality at the free level. (I use ConvertKit, which is free for up to 1,000 subscribers.)

But that’s okay. If you’re just starting out, the simplest and least powerful service available might be a good fit for you.

I want to monetize my newsletter.

Yeah, well, good luck with that.

Most authors scramble to get unpaid subscribers.

Generating enough paid subscribers to make a difference is harder than you might think. Be sure you’ve got a marketing plan in place for it.

Substack makes it easy for other newsletter publishers to recommend mine.

That’s such a smart idea that my email service provider, ConvertKit, offers that feature now, too.

Readers can search for and find my newsletter from the Substack home page.

This is pretty cool…in theory.

I’ve found it hard to uncover lesser-known newsletters when all I’ve got is the topic, though.

I’ve played around with that function and discovered that you aren’t likely to be found unless someone is searching for your name or newsletter title. The most popular newsletters show up first in various categories. To find a less-popular one, you have to scroll … and scroll … and scroll.

Who has time for that?

Clearly, there are plenty of reasons to like Substack. But there are a few reasons not to like it, too.

4 reasons I’m not a fan of Substack for authors

Here’s why I discourage authors and others – especially bloggers – from using Substack for email marketing and blogging.

1. Placing your best content on someone else’s platform boosts that site’s SEO while undermining yours.

Let’s presume you’re giving your subscribers the information they need. They love it! They recommend your newsletter to others!

All – all – of the resulting traffic completely bypasses your website and goes to Substack.

Substack, not your website, benefits from all of the SEO (search engine optimization — what you do to your website so that it gets found by search engines) value generated by the newsletter content you create specifically to appeal to your target audience. That type of targeted content is precisely what you need for your site to show up near the top of online searches for your topic.

Why would you undermine your brand online to support another company’s business?

You’re redirecting traffic away from your site. Not. Smart.

2. Substack doesn’t offer enough automation.

As you learn more about the power of email marketing, you’ll want your email service provider to perform a range of pre-determined functions. You tell it what to do once, and the system automates it for you.

For example, one best practice in email marketing for businesses of all sizes involves sending a series of welcome email messages to new subscribers on a schedule that’s unique to when they subscribed. Each message shares new information that’s relevant to your subscriber.

Substack can send a single welcome message to a new subscriber, but that’s it.

This lack of automation isn’t a deal breaker initially. You might not want sophistication if you’re using email marketing for the first time. But as your success grows, you’ll want more power.

(For more on that, read “Book review: Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert.”)

3. Monetizing is a lot harder than it looks.

The hype around how Substack makes it easy to earn from paying subscribers is incredibly misleading.

We’re accustomed to subscribing to free newsletters that might offer value. But paying for a “premium” version of that content requires a big shift that most aren’t ready for yet. And it sure doesn’t happen instantly.

I need to get value from your content before deciding if I want to pay you for more of it. Determining if the value is there takes time.

In addition, maybe it’s just me, but I don’t like how many of these newsletters persistently beg for money.

As a user, I find the constant requests to pay for the newsletter or “premium” add-ons tacky and intrusive. How do you build relationships with your subscribers when you’re annoying them?

Here’s an example of what I see in Substack newsletters when the publisher decides to use theirs to earn money.

This is from a writer who added me to their subscriber list (I did not opt-in). I’ve blocked out the newsletter title and the introductory text so the sender can’t be identified; I’ve left the requests to pay for more issues where it appears in the beginning of the newsletter. It appears at the end, too.

Repeatedly asking for money is no classier than asking your dinner guests to pay for their meal as they’re leaving at the end of the evening.

4. You’re hosting all of your content on something you can’t control.

Admittedly, I might be a little paranoid about this.

But what if Substack crashes and you lose all of your archived content?

I feel like I have more control over that with my own little website, where I can constantly and consistently monitor all threats and keep them from taking my site down.

Should you sign up for Substack for authors?

I realize that these negatives might not outweigh what you see as positives. So, should you sign on with Substack, or should you spend time comparing it to alternatives?

I don’t recommend making an important business decision based on what “everyone else” is doing.

Instead, whether it relates to email marketing or the latest social network or whether you should host a podcast, I always recommend learning as much as possible about a tactic and its options before making a choice.

Instead of chasing the latest bright, shiny object, consider where you’d like to be with email marketing in one, three, and five years. Then explore enough solutions to understand which will do the most to get you there.

FAQs about Substack for Authors

1. What exactly is Substack?

Substack is a newsletter platform that allows users to create and distribute newsletters to subscribers. It offers features such as free usage until monetization, a network for newsletter recommendations, and an archive for back issues.

2. Why are authors attracted to Substack?

Authors are drawn to Substack for several reasons:

• It’s a popular choice among authors and peers.
• Setting up a newsletter on Substack is quick and easy.
• Substack offers a free plan, which is appealing for those starting out.
• Many authors wants to monetize their newsletters, and Substack provides tools for this.
• It facilitates cross-promotion among newsletter publishers and offers visibility through its homepage.

3. What are reasons for authors to avoid Substack?

There are several reasons why Substack might not be the best choice for authors:

• It redirects traffic away from your own website, potentially undermining your brand and SEO.
• Substack lacks advanced automation features that are common with other email marketing platforms. This limits how much your email marketing will contribute to your goals.
• The constant payment solicitations within Substack newsletters can come across as inappropriate.
• Hosting content solely on Substack means relinquishing control over your content and risking potential loss if the platform has issues.

4. How does Substack compare to other email marketing solutions?

While Substack has its merits, it’s essential for authors to weigh its pros and cons against other email marketing solutions.

Be sure to consider factors that include control over content, automation capabilities, and how well the platform is aligned with your long-term goals.

5. Should authors choose Substack based on its popularity alone?

No, popularity shouldn’t be the sole factor in choosing an email marketing platform.

Authors should assess their specific needs, long-term objectives, and the various service provider capabilities before making a decision.

It’s crucial to put informed decision-making over blindly following trends.

I know that many of you love Substack. Please tell us why in a comment!

Raise your hand if you really want to stop thinking about book marketing and just write your next book.

I don’t even have to see you to know lots of hands are in the air.

You could be suffering from the heartbreak of psoriasis book marketing overwhelm.

You’ve learned that it’s not enough to just write a book. If you want people to read it, you have to tell them about it.

And getting your book title in front of the right people takes time, knowledge, and effort.

Why you experience book marketing overwhelm

There’s so, so much you “should” be doing to promote your book (or so gurus, promoters, and other authors tell you …).

Are you feeling pressure to use TikTok? (I sure am.)

And don’t forget about Instagram! Oh, right, there’s Facebook, too!

What about those new social networks popping up — you’ll have to figure out how to use all of them effectively too, right?

Build an email list! Email marketing is where it’s at!

You have to get publicity in the news media!

Get out there with a virtual book tour!

Reader reviews! Get them! Then get more of them!

Be a podcast guest! How about creating and hosting your own podcast, too!

Create videos! People love watching videos!

Blog, blog, blog! Then write guest blog posts for others, too. Might as well blog on Medium, as well.

And this is just a start. There’s so much you “need” to do to promote your book.

Or is there?

Do you really need to be doing all of this? Do you need to do any of it? Can you do just some of it?

Pick just one …

Here’s an unexpected idea: How about picking just one tactic and mastering it?

Does that sound more appealing?

What’s that tactic, though?

… but which one?

Determine the single tactic you’ll master by spending a little time upfront learning which of the many options appears to be a good fit for:

• Where you will find the people who are most likely to read your book
• The time you have available for marketing
• Your skills
• Your personality
• What you enjoy doing

Find the intersection of where you’ll find your readers and what you enjoy doing and are good at.

It’s that simple.

If you’re shy, you don’t need to master public speaking simply because it’s a good way to reach your audience. 

Is writing your thing? (It’s definitely mine.) Building an email list and creating a newsletter for your readers makes sense. So does blogging and guest blogging.

If you love creating short YouTube videos for your young adult readers, figure out TikTok and share them there, too.

Master that single tactic

Then, when you identify that one tactic that puts you at the sweet spot where you’ll reach the right people doing something you enjoy, learn how to do it really well.

Learn how to do it better than anyone else.

Later, if you feel you can take on a second tactic, repeat this process. Learn how to use it effectively, then make things happen.

When you focus on a tactic you understand and enjoy, you’ll start to look forward to connecting with your audience in ways that support your overall author goals, not dreading it.

Permission to avoid book marketing overwhelm

Give yourself permission to find this focus so you avoid book marketing overwhelm.

Limiting yourself to one or two tactics while tuning out the rest (no matter what you hear from others) is liberating.

It will help put you in the mindset to write that next book while freeing up time for that project, as well.

And you’ve done it all while avoiding book marketing overwhelm.

What do you think of this idea? Would you like to master just one book marketing tactic, not all of them? Let us know in a comment. 

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2015. It has been updated and expanded.)

Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Associate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, I will receive a couple of pennies (at no extra charge to you).

I never know if I should be relieved or disappointed when I read a book about book marketing that validates what I already know.

The validation is definitely reassuring. But, I do love when the hours I spend reading someone else’s take on the subject gives me a few major “ahas.”

In this case, the lack of new insights for me is because How to Sell Your Book Today: Focus Your Book Marketing for the New Economy by a colleague I met recently, Karen Hodges Miller, is a Book Marketing 101 kind of book. Nearly every author needs a resource like that.

Here’s my take on this book.

Don’t let the book’s description fool you

“How can you sell your book in today’s new world of social distancing?” reads the first sentence of the book’s description. That’s soon followed by “So how do you market your book when you can’t hold an in-person event of more than a few people? Go digital.”

Because of this, I expected How to Sell Your Book Today, published in 2021, to focus completely on online strategies and tactics. It doesn’t though, and that’s okay.

The book includes a fair amount of information on in-person tactics. It felt like Karen wrote the book pre-pandemic, then tweaked the title and description to make it more timely.

But because of that “selling books during the COVID lockdown” positioning, I was surprised that the section on book launches included more specific information for in-person events than for virtual launch events. I expected to read tips for creating an engaging Zoom book party, something authors struggle with even today.

The content is relevant even now, as in-person events have returned for many.

What I like most about the book

Chapter 3, “Marketing basics,” is excellent. Its “10 Things to Remember” list that includes “The day you stop marketing your book is the day it stops selling,” is exactly what authors need to hear. I was high-fiving Karen as I read that section.

Karen continually delivers the message that you need to zero in on a specific audience (it’s not “everybody”) and you need to be marketing constantly. We all need to be reminded of these things, and repeating it in the book is a good thing.

One of my favorite sections in the book is Chapter 6, The 100 Review Book Launch.

Definitely follow the recommended process with one exception. Karen says that to get 100 reviews, you have to contact 100 people.

Nope. To get 100 reviews with outreach versus receiving them organically from readers you don’t know, you’ll have to contact more like 1,000 people. You already know that 100% of 100 people you contact won’t read and review the book.

I also appreciate how Karen acknowledges that marketing fiction is just plain harder than marketing nonfiction. She gives novelists a little extra help in Chapter 13, “Marketing Fiction.”

There’s also more information on snagging book publicity than you’ll find in most books like this.

The author’s style is clear, direct, and helpful. She’s that friend who looks over your shoulder to make sure you stay on track and on task.

Where I disagree

Karen’s written a helpful book about book marketing basics. But writing an honest review for you requires that I point out advice I disagree with. (Please forgive me, Karen!)

Don’t add people you know to your newsletter list.

Should you announce your book to everyone in your contacts list? Absolutely. But, as suggested, should you “Start your newsletter list by going through your email contacts and adding their names to the list”? No, no, no.

via GIPHY

Sending a book announcement one or two times to your contacts is fine. But emailing them repeatedly without their permission – without them opting-in to your email list – is against FTC guidelines. You could be identified as a spammer.

Don’t hound friends and family to write reviews.

It’s a great way to piss them off. I don’t read science fiction, so pushing me hard to review your science fiction book won’t generate a meaningful review on Amazon or Goodreads.

Will it add to your review count at the top of your sales page? Sure.

Will it create friction in our relationship? You betcha. Is that your goal?

Do the work to find other reviewers instead.

Don’t tempt Amazon.

Also, counter to what the book states, your family can’t review your book. I mean, sure, they can physically write and post one. But it’s against Amazons terms of service and puts your Amazon account – and your book sales – at risk.

Amazon’s customer product reviews policy states that violations include, “A family member or employee of the seller posts a review of the seller’s product or a competitor’s product.”

I understand why Karen recommends this. She believes that it’s unlikely that Amazon will figure out who’s connected to you, so you can probably get away with it.

I, on the other hand, have never gotten away with anything. When taking food out of the dining hall was prohibited my freshman year of college, I tried to smuggle a sandwich out in my purse anyway.

I didn’t get away with it.

My penalty was embarrassment. Yours might be losing access to the retailer that sells more books than any other site online.

Buy the book for book marketing basics

If you’re new to book marketing, How to Sell Your Book Today will help you. It’s an excellent, thorough, overview. And, importantly, it’s not overwhelming.

I think you’ll like it.

This book will help even if you aren’t a new author, too. There are specific sections, including the information on getting reviews, that will help all authors.

If you get even just a few gems from How to Sell Your Book Today that you can use for your book, the value will be far, far more than the $3.99 e-book price.

What’s the best book you’ve read on any topic related to book marketing? Please tell us in a comment. 

I don’t know many authors who are 100% satisfied with the number of books they sell.

In most cases, it’s because they don’t know the simple formula for more book sales

When you understand the formula and put it to work, you’ll hit your sales goals sooner because you’ll be reaching the right people where they are with the right messages.

You’ll be wasting less time and become far more effective with your marketing.

Your audience isn’t “everybody”

The formula for more book sales starts with understanding that the audience for your book isn’t “everybody.”

There are few books available that appeal to all readers. A how-to book on healthy eating probably should appeal to “everyone,” but doesn’t. And how many 15-year-old boys do you know reading hen lit?

It’s super important to determine the small subset of “everybody” that will want to read your book. While it’s counterintuitive, fact is, the smaller your audience, the more successful you’ll be.

That’s because of how the formula for more book sales works.

Formula for more book sales

Here’s your formula for more book sales:

Narrow target audience + discoverability = book sales

Why does it work this way? It starts with really, truly knowing who will buy your book.

Narrow target audience

Success starts with a narrow target audience. I realize that sounds limiting. You’re probably thinking that if your audience is smaller, you’ll sell fewer copies than if the audience is “everybody,” right?

Nope.

This idea of “less is more” really does make sense when you think about it.

If you wrote a handbook on accounting for small businesses, would you try to sell it to “everybody,” or would you focus your marketing efforts on small business owners with no in-house accounting staff?

Of course you’d focus on the people who are most likely to buy it – small business owners without that capability in-house. Welders, human resource executives, or engineers who aren’t self-employed don’t need or want it, so why waste your time trying to get your book in front of them?

Some books appeal to more people than others do. Still, even when you dig into a popular category like thrillers, you’ll be able to narrow down your audience. Some thriller readers want domestic stories. Others don’t like graphic violence. Still others prefer political thrillers.

The more specific you can get about your audience, the more likely you are to sell more books because you’ll be going after only the right people. It keeps you from wasting your time while it helps you make the right marketing decisions.

The more specific you can get about your audience, the more likely you are to sell more books because you'll be going after only the right people.Click to tweet

Narrow target audience specifics

To get your book discovered, you want to know your specific target audience’s:

• Demographics
• Psychographics (life stage, lifestyle, culture, religion, etc.)
• Book buying habits or preferences

Nobody presents you with that information, though. You have to do some work to get it.

But once you have that knowledge, you’ll be able to select the book marketing tactics that will help you reach and connect with the readers who will buy your book.

For example, when you know that your target audience is book-loving females between the ages of 18 and 34, you’ll see that TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat are where it’s happening in social media and that you might reach them on Wattpad. More women than men use Wattpad and 67% of the site’s users are in that age range. 

Need help with that? In my video training program, “Who Will Buy Your Book? How to Figure Out and Find Your Target Audience,” I teach you exactly how to identify your book’s target audience and where to find them so you sell more books.

Discoverability

Discoverability, the second piece of the formula, describes how likely people are to find your book when they’re not specifically looking for it.

Maybe they ask Facebook friends to recommend a cozy mystery with a little romance thrown in.

They might use Amazon’s search box to find books on a nonfiction topic and yours shows ups in the search results.

Or they see the title and a description in Entertainment Weekly’s “top summer beach reads” article.

You already know that your target audience won’t discover your book if you aren’t promoting it. And, unless you know your narrow target audience and where to find them online and offline, you won’t be promoting your book in the right places.

Unless you know your narrow target audience and where to find them online and offline, you won’t be promoting your book in the right places.Click to tweet

That’s why “narrow audience” improves your “discoverability.”

Look for your niches

When you go from “everybody” to a more niche, narrow target audience, you make smarter marketing choices. You waste less time, energy, and money while you do more of the right things that lead to book sales.

That formula again is:

Narrow target audience (the people most likely to buy your book) +

discoverability (promoting your book in the right places) =

book sales

Applying the formula for more book sales

Set aside time to work on your formula. Write down:

• Your description of the single person most likely to love your book
• Why they will love it
• Where you will find that person online and offline
• The book marketing tactics you can use to reach them in those places
• The book marketing messages that will resonate with your narrow target audience

Record this information in your book marketing plan, then take action. You’ll find that you’re far more focused and less overwhelmed.

And you’ll probably move forward faster, too.

Remember: Narrow target audience + discoverabilty = book sales.

Do you know your book’s target audience? What is it?

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2016. It has been updated and expanded.)

But I’m an “outlier” in my 55 and older age group.

Only 20% of us in this age category in the U.S. listen to podcasts. (The rest don’t know what they’re missing, including some great true crime stories like Sweet Bobby, the one I listened to on a road trip last weekend.)

Do your readers listen to podcasts?

What matters the most to you as an author, though, is whether your book’s target audience listens to them.

How do you know if they do? That starts with basic research into your category or genre’s demographics. (Learn how to do that with my “Who Will Buy Your Book?” video.)

Then you match your reader demographics with those of people who listen to podcasts.

Who listens to podcasts?

Fortunately, now that podcasts have grown in popularity, it’s not hard to find information about who does and doesn’t listen to them. The challenge is digging through the facts that aren’t relevant to you to find what is.

I’ve done that for you here.

Here are key statistics from Edison Research’s “The Infinite Dial 2022,” the longest-running survey of digital media consumer behavior in the U.S.:

• 79% of Americans — 226 million people — are familiar with podcasting.
• 38% of the U.S. population listened to a podcast in the past month.
• 53% of monthly listeners are male, 46% are female, 1% are nonbinary/other.
• Almost half — 47% — of monthly listeners are between the ages of 12 and 34.
• One-third — 33% — of monthly listeners are between the ages of 35 and 54.
• One-fifth — 20% — are 55 and older.
• 68% use Facebook, 64% use Instagram, 45% use TikTok; of those, Facebook is used most often by monthly listeners.
• Most monthly listeners are white at 68%, followed by African-American, 14%; Hispanic, 10%; Asian, 3%; other, 5%.
• Most — 21% — listened to four or five podcasts in the past week.
• At 59%, most listen to podcasts at home, with only 20% listening in their cars.

And here are global podcast facts from other sources:

• Globally, listenership reached a new high in 2020 with 485 million listeners worldwide. (Statista)
• Norway leads with the highest percentage of frequent listeners, followed by the U.S. and UK. (Statista)
• 27% of Canadian listeners tune in to three episodes a week. (Statista)
• Podcast listenership is growing the most in Chile at 85% followed by Argentina, 55.28%; Peru, 49.1%; Mexico, 47.84%. (MusicOomph)
• In the UK, 12% of the population listens to podcasts weekly. (MusicOomph)

Most popular podcast categories

What are the most popular podcast categories? Edison Research says these are the top 10 during the second quarter of 2022:

1. Comedy
2. News
3. Society and Culture
4. True Crime
5. Sports
6. Business
7. Arts
8. TV and Film
9. Education
10. Religion and Spirituality

Why should you care?

More and more people are listening to podcasts. According to Acumen Research and Consulting, the podcast market is expected to grow 31% yearly between 2022 and 2030.

Insider Intelligence reports that by the end of 2025, more than 144 million people in the U.S. will be listening to podcasts. And, this year, adult listeners will increase the time they spend listening to podcasts daily by 16% to just over 23 minutes.

That means that it’s increasingly likely that being interviewed on podcasts or hosting one yourself can help you build that essential author platform that ensures there’s an audience waiting to buy your book.

It's increasingly likely that being interviewed on podcasts or hosting one yourself can help you build that essential author platform that ensures there's an audience waiting to buy your book.Click to tweet

There are other options, too. Could you turn your book into a podcast the way Kate Hanley did with her nonfiction book, How to Be a Better Person?

If your book’s content lends itself to a podcast format, consider pitching a podcast series to one of the many organizations creating them, as well.

Use podcast facts as a guide

As you think about what role podcasts might play in your book marketing, keep in mind that statistics never tell the whole story.

For example, while those 55 and older make up the smallest percentage of podcast listeners, there are many retirement wealth and lifestyle podcasts. That tells me that there are podcasts specifically for people in that age range.

Whether or where podcasts fit into your book marketing goals depends on your interests and skills, too. Podcast interviews and hosting aren’t for everyone, even if your readers love them. And that’s okay. But if they are, these podcast facts might just nudge you closer to taking action.

Let’s do a little authors and podcasts research of our own! In the comments: Do you listen to podcasts? Please add your gender and age. Yes/no, age, gender.

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2016. It has been updated and expanded.)

Raise your hand if you waited until you hit “publish” on Amazon to start thinking about how to get the book launch results that author dreams are made of.

If you’re a traditionally published author, you might not have thought about it at all. You expected your publisher to do whatever was needed to make sure readers discovered your book. No need for you to get involved. (Whoops.)

You were probably disappointed with your launch results, too.

Let’s turn that around. It starts with taking specific book marketing steps while you’re still writing.

Discovery is key

I understand the challenge. It’s hard enough to find time to write the book. Making room in your schedule (and mind) for book marketing while writing might seem like too much of a challenge.

But you have to — even if it means it takes a little longer to finish writing.

If you don’t start laying the groundwork you need to sell books before your manuscript is done, your book launch results will be dismal, discouraging, and disappointing.

If you don't start laying the groundwork you need to sell books before your manuscript is done, your book launch results will be dismal, discouraging, and disappointing.Click to tweet

Your book won’t be discovered on launch day or any other time of the year unless you goose the discovery process. That work starts early.

9 early steps to improving your book launch results

Here are nine steps to take while still writing that will help lay the groundwork for success.

Take on just one at a time. Fit in what you can, when you can.

If you do this, you’ll have several of your book marketing basics in place by the time your manuscript is done. That will set you up for a better, more successful launch.

1. Learn as much as you can about book marketing.

Read a book. Take a course.

Identify the bloggers who are publishing book marketing information you can trust. Subscribe to their newsletters.

In addition to my newsletter, I recommend:

• Kindlepreneur
• Author Marketing Experts
• The Nonfiction Authors Association
• Reedsy

2. Get clear on who will love your book.

That’s your target audience, the people you wrote your book for.

If you’ve written a nonfiction book, your target audience is people who are interested in that topic. But what do you know about them?

Many novelists tell me they wrote the book they’d like to read. It makes sense, then, that their ideal reader – their target audience – is people who are like them. (That’s not always the case – it’s just an example.)

3. Research your target audience.

Learn as much as you can about the person who is most likely to buy your book.

This will help you visualize your audience “avatar” – the one individual who best represents those who will love your book.

Next, do more research to learn where you’ll find them online and offline. For example, do people in your target audience use TikTok? Will you find them on LinkedIn? Do they like Pinterest?

4. Build a following on the social network that most of your audience uses. 

Your research into your target audience helped identify where you’ll find them online. Select one or two social networks that are most popular with your audience and learn how to use them effectively.

After you’ve spent some time learning how they work, start following “the right” people there.

Try this: Find the most popular authors in your genre. Follow them, and follow the people who follow them, too. (If they like the types of books the category leader writes, they’ll be interested in yours, too.)

And, of course, share content that will interest your ideal readers.

5. Connect with bloggers. 

Virtual book tours (author blog tours) are common and popular book launch elements.

When you “go” on a virtual book tour after your book is published, you’ll ask bloggers who reach the people you want to reach to share content that’s related to your book. That might be a:

• Guest post
• Q&A
• Audio or video interview
• Book review

You will be far more successful with bloggers who already know who you are. So, after you’ve identified the blogs you’ll want to visit on your tour, comment on and share their posts regularly.

They’ll notice you.

6. Build an email list.

Start gathering email addresses now. This is a never-ending process and for many, that growth is slow. So don’t wait.

Be sure to offer a downloadable gift – a “lead magnet”– in exchange for each email address. (Get ideas for fiction lead magnets and nonfiction lead magnets and learn how to create them at those links.)

Learn how successful authors use email to communicate with their readers by subscribing to their newsletters. What do you like about their approach? What do you dislike?

I also recommend reading Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert.

Learn how successful authors use email to communicate with their readers by subscribing to their newsletters.Click to tweet

7. Compile a list of “key influencers.”

Who is most influential with your book’s target audience? You’ll want to ask them to endorse your book after the manuscript is polished and finished.

Begin gathering names and contact information for them now. That’s all – just figure out who they are and how to reach them, and save it all in a file.

8. Create a Facebook Page.

I’m not talking about a Facebook profile – that’s your personal account where you acquire “friends.” I’m referring to a business Page where you acquire “likes.”

You’ll need a Page to advertise on Facebook, but it’s also a good way to establish your book’s presence on this popular social network without annoying your friends.

Use it to solicit opinions on your book’s topic, share progress updates, ask fans to vote on cover options, and so on.

9. Add your book title to your e-mail signature.

It doesn’t get any easier than just typing “Author,” followed by your book title.

Which one of these will you start doing today? Will you pick the easiest or the hardest?

Do what works for you, but whatever you do, be sure to do it now.

What’s the most important thing you did before you launched your book? Please tell us in a comment. 

You want to know how to get reader reviews. You need to know where to start.

And you probably want to discover the “secret sauce that will help you get those reviews.

The secret sauce

That’s simple: Give books away.

You just have to give a copy of your book to people in exchange for an honest review.

But who do you give books to? Where do you find those people? And how do you make sure they review it?

Follow these five steps to getting reviews from people who will love your book.

Step 1: Give your book to people in your target audience.

Think of those in your target audience as your ideal readers. They’re the people you wrote the book for, so they’re going to be the most interested in reading and reviewing it.

Giving them the book is the easy part. Finding readers to give it to is harder, isn’t it?

That’s why I created a list of nine places where you can find readers who write reviews. You can download it here.

Don’t expect reviews to appear organically. Create a plan to get reader reviews – when to ask, who to ask, how to ask – and work it.Click to tweet

You might be concerned that giving your book away in exchange for an honest review will cannibalize your sales. I understand that, and I can’t say that it won’t.

But I will say that you can’t count on people (especially strangers) who bought your book to review it, either. And you need reviews if you want to sell more books. So, you have no choice but to lose just a handful of sales to gain a whole lot more of them.

Step 2. Make it easy for them to review your book.

There are a few ways you can do this. One of them is to include a copy of my Build Book Buzz Reader Book Review Form with your review copy. It’s a fillable PDF file that walks them through the process. They can type their review directly into the form, then copy and paste it into a review template on Amazon, Goodreads, and elsewhere.

You can also offer a few review ideas when you send the free copy. Share information about what you’ve heard from endorsers or other earlier reviewers as subtle prompts for their own reviews.

Be sure to include a link to your Amazon review page in the back of your book, too. I show how to do that in this video.

Step 3. Follow up to get reader reviews.

Follow up with the people you’ve sent review copies to. Remind them that their review will help other readers decide what to read. And, give them a link to the review section of your Amazon and Goodreads book pages (here’s how to do that again).

via GIPHY

Email follow up isn’t always possible because you might not have email addresses for everyone who’s downloaded a review copy. But when you do, check in with them.

People are busy. They forget. We all need and appreciate reminders.

Step 4. Follow up again.

Just one more gentle nudge.

Step 5. Start the process over again.

Unfortunately, most aren’t going to write that review, even though they accepted your book fully intending to do so. You know why that is – you have the same problems when you have a “want to do” versus a “must do” on your to-do list and can’t do both.

It’s a numbers game, so you have to continue to get those review copies into the right hands until you get at least 10 to 20 positive reviews posted. To do that, you need to continue to work on this until you’ve got enough.

It’s a numbers game, so you have to continue to get those review copies into the right hands until you get at least 10 to 20 positive reviews posted.Click to tweet

Don’t expect reviews to appear organically. Create a plan to get reader reviews – when to ask, who to ask, how to ask – and work it.

Then work it again.

Your book deserves the support offered by reader reviews. Please do your best to make that happen.

How do you get reader reviews? Please give us your best tip in a comment!

She was terribly disappointed. In fact, it was clear she felt betrayed by the thousands in her social networks.

I understand her frustration.

Like so many other authors, she has heard lots about the importance of social media in book promotion. There’s a reasonable expectation that a chunk of those connections will buy your book, right?

Unfortunately, it’s an expectation that isn’t necessarily based on reality. And that’s why it’s important to manage your expectations.

Manage your expectations about social media

There are a couple of reasons why any author, but especially this author, might have unrealistic expectations about what’s possible with social media.

To begin with, social media algorithms are such that most of your followers don’t even see what you share about your book. This is especially true with Twitter. Blink once and your feed has all new tweets.

And if most of your connections come through your Facebook business page (which is not your profile), fuhgeddaboudit. The only way most will see anything there is if you pay to “boost” a post so it gets fed to more newsfeeds.

Just ask famous authors

In addition, the size of your social network isn’t an accurate predictor of your book’s success, as The New York Times points out in “Millions of Followers? For Book Sales, ‘It’s Unreliable.’ ”

For example, popular musician Billie Eilish has 97 million Instagram followers and 6 million Twitter followers, but only sold 64,000 copies of her book in the first six months.

Billie Eilish has 97 million Instagram followers and 6 million Twitter followers, but only sold 64,000 copies of her book in the first six months.Click to tweet

But here’s there’s another even more important reason why the disappointed author’s social media followers didn’t buy her book: They weren’t interested in it.

Who’s in your networks?

Pretty simple, isn’t it?

This author’s social network is built around an impressive nonfiction body of work that has no connection to her novel. That’s why it’s unrealistic to expect that those she’s connected to for one type of writing will automatically be interested in anything she writes in a totally different arena.

It’s a reminder that you need to know your book’s target audience. They might not be your colleagues on LinkedIn or your high school classmates on Facebook.

Friends and family might disappoint, too

I also hear regularly from many authors who are crushed because too few of their friends and family are buying their books.

I feel their pain, believe me. Don’t get me started on how my siblings were too busy to watch me talk about my first book on national TV.

Some push their relatives to review their books on Amazon, then are annoyed when they don’t.

Your relatives are doing you a favor when they don’t review your book. Family reviews violate Amazon’s review policy because relatives can’t be objective.

(Look at it this way: It’s one less opportunity for you to be disappointed.)

Your relatives are doing you a favor when they don't review your book. Family reviews violate Amazon's review policy because relatives can't be objective.Click to tweet

Try to be fair

If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll realize there’s a good chance your friends and family aren’t interested in what you’re writing about.

And, quite frankly, it’s unfair of you to expect them to spend their hard-earned dollars on something they won’t read.

You might think they should do it out of loyalty, or maybe curiosity, but I disagree. Judging by the number of authors who complain about close connections who don’t buy their books, I’m a bit of a lone voice here.

Continue to tell your friends, family, and social media connections about your books. It’s a smart thing to do, and it’s not a waste of time.

But don’t hold it against them when they don’t buy. They know what they enjoy reading, and it might not be what you write. It’s not personal — it’s life.

Manage your expectations about the marketplace

You also want to manage your expectations on a more macro level — the publishing universe.

Unless your book is on a very niche topic, it faces a lot of competition.

That means that yours has to be better. You also have to work to make sure the people you wrote it for know about it.

No overnight successes

Even with a great book and an exceptional marketing effort, most of us aren’t going to hit The New York Times best-seller list. Bona fide best sellers (as opposed to short-term Amazon category best sellers) are usually traditionally published books by authors with large, well-established audiences.

You’ll also be less stressed if you don’t see your book’s launch as the be-all and end-all.

Sure, do your best to introduce your book to your ideal readers as soon as it’s published, but don’t stop there. If you understand that this is a long process that only starts with a launch, your book sales are more likely to meet your expectations.

Introduce your book to your ideal readers as soon as it's published, but don't stop there. If you understand that this is a long process that only starts with a launch, your book sales are more likely to meet your expectations.Click to tweet

And please, try not to be angry or disappointed with people who aren’t as interested in your book as you’d like. Writing, producing, and marketing a book is hard enough. Protect yourself by avoiding that extra, toxic layer of resentment.

Focus instead on reaching your ideal readers. It’s the best use of your time.

Much of this is article is about understanding your book’s audience. Who do you think is most likely to buy your book?

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in January 2014. It has been updated and expanded.)

When I talked about my work supporting authors with Build Book Buzz, I offered advice to those hoping to do something similar. I stressed how important it is to know as much as possible about your audience so you can give them what they need and want.

As I talked about how I learn as much as I can about what interests you, it occurred to me that my author research compares to your reader research.

Knowing what your readers want makes a difference

Just as I need to know what you want in blog and training content from me, you need to know what your readers want in the types of books that you write.

If you write fiction, you must understand what readers expect and look for in your genre.

Nonfiction authors need to know what knowledge gaps they can fill.

Knowing what your readers want, and delivering it in a high-quality package, is what generates the good word-of-mouth marketing that’s so essential to author and book success.

Knowing what your readers want, and delivering it in a high-quality package, is what generates the good word-of-mouth marketing that's so essential to author and book success.Click to tweet

Here are three ways you can learn more about what your readers want.

1. Online group conversations

Start by joining as many online groups related to your genre or topic as possible. (You can also start your own group.)

You can find a Facebook group for many book genres and categories. Write steampunk? Here’s your group. Are you a poet? The Facebook Poetry Society group has more than 83,000 members. Mystery readers and writers have The Mystery Readers Book Club.

To find the groups for your genre, type “[genre] readers group” into the Facebook search box.

If you write nonfiction, search for your topic plus the word “group.”

Let’s say you’re a time management expert, so that’s what you write about. You’ll want to join the Habits, Productivity, And Time Management group. Do you write about parenting toddlers? Check out the Moms and Dads of Toddlers group with its 24,000 members.

There are also groups for certain nonfiction topics on LinkedIn; many professional associations host groups, as well.

Is your audience using Clubhouse? Look for groups there, too.

How to use groups

Set aside time every day to scroll through discussions to learn what people are talking about.

You don’t even need to contribute. Just read and learn. And do it some more.

With fiction, pay attention to what readers say about what they do and don’t like in a book or author. Not enough of “this?” Too much of “that?” Use this input to help refine your book’s content.

Nonfiction authors, note what your audience is asking questions about. What do they need to learn? What confuses them? The more you know about where they’re at with a topic, the better able you will be to give them what they need in your books and other content you create.

2. Survey readers

Surveying your audience works best if you already have a way to reach them. That might be through your email list and newsletter, the email lists of author friends who write for the same audience as you, the online groups you belong to, and your social network connections.

Before posting a link to a survey in a group, though, check the group’s rules or contact the moderator to make sure it’s allowed.

Free survey tools include:

• Survey Monkey
• Google Forms
• Typeform

What to ask

What you’ll ask will depend on what you want to know.

Here’s an approach to consider for fiction:

• What’s the most recent [genre] book you’ve read?
• On a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being the least and 5 being the most, how much did you like that book?
• What did you like about it the most?
• What did you like the least?

That’s just one idea. Ask the questions that will get you the information you need.

When it comes to nonfiction, consider crafting questions that will help you better understand what your target audience needs in content from someone with your expertise.

You might want to know, for example, how they consume information on your topic outside of books. Would they rather watch a video than read a blog post, for example? Do they prefer to learn from a podcast? Again, it all depends on what you need to know to give them what they want to learn.

3. Talk to readers

Whenever you get the chance, talk to readers. Then listen. And listen some more.

via GIPHY

Learn what types of books they read, why, what they do and don’t like in books, what format they prefer, where they buy them, and so on.

If you send your manuscript to beta readers, ask questions that will not only help you improve technical aspects of the manuscript, but will help you understand them as readers, too.

When a readers emails you about your book, whether it’s to tell you how much they liked it or to ask a question, engage with them. Provide what they need, but use your response to help gather information, too.

When online group members are discussing a specific book that might be similar to or appeal to the same audience as yours, ask questions that can help you learn what you need at that moment.

When you talk to reader groups in book clubs, libraries, or virtually, make your presentation interactive by asking questions that engage them and inform you. (And, make note of the questions they ask, too, because those inquiries offer insights for you.)

Keep learning

Being an author means you’re always learning. Sometimes, when you think you have things figured out, the rules change.

If you incorporate author input into your growth as a writer, though, you’ll continue to improve.

What do you to stay in touch with readers? What do you do to make sure you’re delivering what they want, need, and expect? Please tell us in a comment. 

The Booky Call smartphone app, available for both iOS and Android users, mimics the look, feel, and function of a dating app, with users swiping right or left to indicate interest.

That’s more than a gimmick, though. It reflects both dating app user and reader demographics, reports Brant Menswar, CEO of Booky Call.

“When we looked at a cross-section of dating app users, and then looked at the fastest growing segment of readers, we saw that it’s pretty similar – 18- to 29-year-olds,” he says.

How the Booky Call smartphone app works

Regardless of age (and familiarity with dating apps), all book lovers can download the app, create a free account, and set their preferences for fiction and nonfiction.

The app offers recommendations; book descriptions presented to users aren’t from back covers, though. A writing staff of 14 replaces them with “dating” profiles that reflect Booky Call’s match-making theme. “Who should swipe right on me?” asks the description for the popular thriller, The Guest List by Lucy Foley. “I love going to weddings, and this one is going to be quite the drama,” it begins.

In addition to swiping through recommendations, app users can search by keyword or author name.

When there’s a match, readers can buy the book from three retail partners in print, digital, and audio formats.

The active, current database includes 5,000 titles. After six months, books roll over to the archive, where they’re still available via search, but not actively recommended to users.

Potential for self-published authors

Books available on the app represent all publishing models, including self-publishing.

“We wanted to open this up to self-published authors to help them reach a targeted audience,” says Menswar, who adds that both he and co-founder Jim Knight have self-published and worked with a hybrid publisher. It’s an off-shoot of an affordable book promotion business they developed after Menswar didn’t get the results expected from a pricey book publicist.

“Amazon uploads more books in a day than we could have in our library. That means there’s a better chance your book will be matched to a reader on Booky Call,” he says.

On the traditional publishing side, the focus is on backlist books.

“The average author sold only 200 copies last year, which means that publishers have warehouses with thousands of books that didn’t sell. We’re saying to publishers, ‘Here’s a chance for us to put these books in front of people asking for them in a completely innovative way,’ ” Menswar says.

Good books only, please

Established publishers can place a limited number of books in the database at no charge; they pay the same fee as self-published authors after that. A $250 fee places each book in the current library for six months and in the archive for another six. Keep the book in the archive after that for $50 per year.

A new smartphone app that recommends books based on reader preferences offers both book publishers and self-published authors an innovative way to reach their target audience -- and sell them books.Click to tweet

Menswar cautions authors that self-published books need to look and read like traditionally published books, starting with professional editing. “This is step one for us – a professional editor, not your aunt who reads a lot,” he says.

In addition, because people still like to read print copies, books must be available in print format (print on demand counts). “We want to hold a book in our hands, dogear those corners, feel it, and smell it,” says Menswar.

How to get your book listed

Think your book meets quality standards? To be considered, complete the short questionnaire on the app’s website. If interested, editors will request a PDF copy for review.

When a book’s accepted, the author or publisher can take advantage of additional paid promotional opportunities beyond the $250 listing fee. They include Book of the Day, which displays the book to all users when they log in, and a feature on the companion Booky Call smartphone app podcast. Future plans include a “speed dating” event for books and readers in independent bookstores.

“Our goal is to create a community around books,” says Menswar.

Giving authors and publishers an affordable way to reach readers is a good start.

What do you think about this new way to help readers discover books they’ll love? Will you try the app as a reader? Please tell us in a comment!