Release day is coming up, and you need some easy creative ways to market your book before AND after. You want to build awareness and create excitement for your book through organic and paid marketing, but not with just a typical Facebook ad.
You want to market your book in new, fun and engaging ways.
Lucky for you, I will outline some fun ways you can start marketing your upcoming release and afterwards…today!
Here are 10 Easy Creative Ways to Market Your Book Before and After Release Day.
1. Images That Represent Your Book Reel
One of my favourite ways to introduce a book to new readers is creating an Instagram Reel/TikTok. I show images representing the book’s atmosphere, characters, and plot in the video and pair them with a trending song and boom! It becomes a great visual way to promote a book.
Here are some tips for creating this type of reel:
- Use 8-15 images representing your book (8 for a shorter reel and 15 to give new readers a better understanding of your book).
- Show the images for no more than 1 second each.
- Choose a popular trending song.
- Add a final image that shows your book cover and where readers can buy/read it.
- Use hashtags specific to your book’s genre
This is a simple and FREE way to promote your book, but as the theme of these other marketing ideas, it’s also creative and fun!
For some inspiration, check out some of the reels I’ve made:
2. Highlight Your Book’s Tropes
Book tropes are an easy way to connect with your ideal readers, so creating a graphic that highlights these tropes is a fabulous way to promote your book that has these tropes.
Here’s how to create this graphic:
Choose 3-5 of your book’s tropes famous and beloved by readers, and make it known that these tropes are in your books!
It’s simple and gives readers a glimpse into your book without clicking the link to its Amazon page. Readers will feel much more comfortable seeing this post and a few others highlighting your book’s tropes, books similar to it, etc. This will make it easier for them to finally click the buy link.
Here are posts I’ve made highlighting my author client’s books and their tropes for a few examples.
3. Do a Joint Book Promo with Similar Authors
A creative marketing tactic to reach your ideal readers is “hijacking” another author’s audience of like-minded readers. But of course, it’s a mutual hijacking.
Whether you have author friends who write in the same genre as you or need to put yourself out there and finally connect with like-minded authors, hosting a week-long book promo with anywhere from 5 to 15 other authors might be exactly what you need to get your book out there.
Some authors do promos where you can get all 10 or so books for $0.99 each or $10 for all. Whatever you and your fellow authors decide on, make sure the promo is worth it for the readers.
Here are some tips for hosting a book promo that gets purchases.
- Set a precise end date for the promo and tell the readers how long they have to take advantage of the fantastic deal you’re all offering.
- Create clear and attractive social media graphics for ALL the authors to post.
- Create a posting schedule that every author needs to follow to promote the book promo effectively.
- Build up excitement the week before the promo.
- Run the promo for no more than one week to make it “exclusive.”
Need some help running a book promo? Read my blog post, How to Run a Successful Free Book Promotion to Reignite Book Sales, where I dive in DEEP on what sites to post your book, when you should do a promo, and more!
4. Share the BTS of Writing Your Book
People love seeing the behind-the-scenes of writing a book, creating a movie, doing a skin routine, etc. We’re naturally a noisy species! That’s why sharing videos and photos of the writing process for your book can be an excellent way to market it.
Showing BTS clips will help readers, or ideal readers, feel closer to you as an author and your story because it gives them an exclusive sneak peek.
You could create a reel with a trending song to catapult your reach and impressions if you have enough video clips and photos. This can help propel your book into your ideal audience’s eyes and make an excellent, engaging content piece.
5. Character Art
It’s not uncommon to see character art from your favourite “famous” authors. However, I feel like it’s not as common to see character art from books written by indie or self-published authors…and this is SUCH a missed opportunity!
Character art is fun, creative, and fantastic to help readers and ideal readers connect with your books. Also, it brings your characters to life, which is also a reward for you, the writer, who spent so much time creating them!
Creating character art does require hiring a freelance artist/graphic designer. Still, if you save the money for it and do your research, you can find one within your budget AND who is insanely talented.
Like with the BTS of writing your book, character art provides some incredible content to share on your social media platforms to market your book creatively and less in-your-face. This helps you stay consistent on social media, which contributes to marketing your book.
6. Book Trailer
This is another creative marketing idea that will cost some money. However, it’s totally worth it. There are plenty of reliable creators who can make an attractive and entertaining book trailer that highlights your book’s story. It’s a great way to visually attract someone to pick up and read your book.
For example, here’s a simple yet effective book trailer I found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTqapmrKabk
7. Facebook Video Ads
Gone are the times when we rely on static image posts and ads. Now, it’s all about videos. Currently, video ads receive the highest reach, number of impressions, and interaction overall. So, it’s safe to say we should be focusing our time and energy on video ads, which is why they’ve made it on this list.
There are a few types of video ads I like to create for my authors, which I’ll show down below, but here are some essential tips to keep in mind when creating your ads:
- Keep the video short (Facebook recommends 5-15 seconds).
- Limit the amount of text you use (and make sure every word counts).
- Make the CTA very visible.
- Get creative! (Think outside the box).
- Use keywords in your ad copy that relate to your book and its genre.
- Target your ideal readers when creating your ad’s FB audience.
Here are a few examples of ad graphics I created for authors that performed well.
TRAFFIC AD: Exodus 2022 by Kenneth G. Bennett
TRAFFIC AD: The Secret of Lorelei Lodge by Jude Bayton
If you need help creating Facebook ads to promote your book and get it in front of the right readers, book a free 30-minute discovery call with me to chat about your options.
8. Compare Your Book to Similar, Popular Books
By comparing similar, popular books to your book, you’re making it easier for readers to choose your book. If they liked that famous book you’re talking about, you’re positioning your book as the perfect next read for them.
You can compare your book in a carousel post or Reel/TikTok, and you can choose anywhere from 3 to 10 books to compare to your book. Get creative and have fun with it!
Here is an example of what I’ve done in the past with clients:
Vampire Book Recs For You – Alicia Dean
9. Turn Your Book Into a Game
Games get readers to interact with your book and you and offer them a chance to be in on the part of the fun.
With this tactic, you need to really think and get creative. There are so many options, but here are some game ideas I came up with:
- Guess the Book Title
- Character Quiz
- Trivia
- Fanart contest
There are a lot of other ideas you can come up with too, but here are some entertaining games that are easy to create to help market your book.
Many of these games need people to have read your book first. However, these games can influence people to finally pick up your book to participate in your game.
10. Offer Your Book’s First Chapters for Free
Two significant benefits come with offering your book’s first chapters for free:
- It allows readers to test out your book without committing to paying.
- It gets readers subscribed to your newsletter.
When you offer your first chapters free, offer it as a newsletter freebie to get ideal readers subscribed to your newsletter. This will help you build up your newsletter list, which is an ESSENTIAL marketing tactic for authors that is often overlooked. It allows authors to create a space that they can control.
A newsletter is the perfect place to keep readers engaged in your book releases and what you’re up to, and the first few chapters of your book are a great way to get them on your list.
You can offer the chapters as a PDF sent in an email when they subscribe. It’s really that easy!
There they are! Ten easy creative ways to market your book before and after release day for you to utilize and use to get people reading your book.
Don’t forget to check out my last blog post: How Successful Authors Market and Promote Their Books on Instagram: Cassie Clare
Zoe Mathers Creative 
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