So, you just put out a new book! (Hooray!) Or maybe you have that one book that never really got the sales or exposure you wanted it to get. With all the marketing tools available online, promoting a book — whether it’s a new release or a title that’s been sitting in your backlist — can be an overwhelming task. And many popular promotional options, from self-serve advertising platforms to email blasts, come with a price tag, which can be tricky if you’re on a budget.
Luckily, there are a number of ways to market your book for free on BookBub and elsewhere. While these tactics are not necessarily the most effective options if you’re looking to drive large sales numbers, they are low risk, and we’ve seen authors successfully get their work into the hands of readers using these strategies. So if you’re on a budget, or simply want to expand your current marketing strategies, you may want to give these a try!
Build a free author website
Having your own website can help you establish your brand as a writer and gives you more control over how you interact with your reader base. You can direct your readers to retailer sites, incentivize them to join your mailing list through free downloads, or ask them to follow you on social media and BookBub.
Whether your website leans more heavily on blogging functionality (like a WordPress site) or has more of a sleek design and interactive interface (like Wix), use it to share your author story, list all of your published work, link to your profiles on other platforms, and provide author updates.
Romance author Sherri Hayes’s website features major announcements on the home page, along with a bio, a blog area, and a space listing all of her books. She also links to her profiles on other sites (including BookBub!) under her menu items.
You can find more information on popular platforms for easily creating an author website here.
Publish free samples of your stories to grow a mailing list
Many authors use mailing lists to tell their subscribers about new releases, upcoming book deals, and more. The more subscribers you get, the more readers your updates will reach. Creating a downloadable promotion only available to subscribers will incentivize readers to sign up!
Giveaway content could include:
- the first chapter of your newest book
- a sneak peek of an upcoming book
- a deleted scene from a popular book
- a free first-in-series title
- a free short story or novella
- a free content library (if you have multiple permafree books you can package)
Cheryl Bradshaw offers a free ebook with subscription to her newsletter.
Novelist and essayist Katie Rose Guest Pryal offers two free ebooks to grow her mailing list.
Run a giveaway where the prize is no cost to you
If you’re trying to build buzz for a book but don’t have the budget to give away too many free print copies, create fancy swag, or pay for shipping, there are plenty of free prizes you can offer. In addition to the free content ideas above (which also make great fodder for giveaway prizes!), you could offer a phone call or Skype visit to a lucky winner who would be thrilled to chat with you.
YA author Jennifer Niven ran a giveaway exclusive to her newsletter subscribers for Valentine’s Day, where fans who uploaded fan art to Instagram and Twitter using a specific hashtag would be entered to win a 20-minute Skype call with her. In the newsletter announcing the giveaway, she also plugged her upcoming release.
She also posted the winning fan art design to her Instagram, where it got more than 1,100 likes.
Send email newsletters
Once you get fans to subscribe, you can use your newsletter to communicate with them regularly. Engage them by sharing insights on your writing process, updating them on upcoming and new releases, and providing other content that keeps them excited about your books, making them more likely to buy. Looking for an email service provider? Mailchimp is free with up to 2,000 subscribers, and MailerLite is free with up to 1,000 subscribers.
Romance writer Kristen Ashley shares updates about her new release and a related giveaway with subscribers.
Young Adult author Susan Dennard writes her newsletters in a personal, conversational style — even when she’s promoting a new book!
Make recommendations on BookBub
Recommending books on BookBub is a free way to engage your follower base — and grow it! BookBub alerts your followers when you post a recommendation, and every time you use this tool, you have a shot at being included in our weekly digest email of notable recommendations, exposing you to a larger audience. By using BookBub’s recommendations, you’ll get more visibility on the site, engage your own readers, and fuel discovery of other authors’ work.
Writing recommendations also allows you to interact more directly with your followers on BookBub’s site — you can like their recommendations or respond in the comments section. Additionally, your Author Profile will be suggested to people reading books similar to yours, drawing additional new readers to your page.
Many authors, such as Therese Walsh, keep their followers up to date on their newest favorites.
Preston Fleming recommends books frequently, engaging with fans of his genre!
Want to capitalize on the many perks of recommending on BookBub? Check out 21 different ways authors are making recommendations here!
Send digital gift packs to readers who preorder
Many authors and publishers offer freebies to readers who preorder, giving them an extra incentive to buy so early — after all, they can’t get the instant gratification of reading the book right away. For authors on a budget, sending swag packs via mail can get expensive, so a great (and free!) alternative is to send a digital gift pack to any reader who preorders. In these promotions, readers usually need to email a copy, screenshot, or picture of their receipt to receive the offer.
For example, Megan Crewe offered a digital gift pack to anyone who preordered A Mortal Song. This pack included a booklet with author commentary, an exclusive short story, a high-res poster, and other bonus content.
Make sure your book gets a BookBub New Release Alert
As soon as your book is live on retailer sites, be sure to add it to your BookBub Author Profile by clicking “Add Book” on your “Manage Books” page. Our team automatically reviews every book you add to your profile to see if it’s eligible for a New Release Alert. If it is, we’ll send an email to all of your US BookBub followers, notifying them that your newest book is available for purchase! New Release Alerts are free and available for all BookBub authors, regardless of how many followers you have.
You can read about all the ways to launch a new release with BookBub’s tools here.
Beverly Jenkins’s fans were notified when she released Second Time Sweeter: A Blessings Novel.
Want to capitalize on this free service by reaching more people? Find out how to grow your BookBub following here — the more followers you have, the more readers will get your New Release Alert!
Create a street team
Pull together a “street team”: a group of people willing to help promote your book and give you feedback. Try to recruit your most loyal readers, author friends, and avid consumers of your author newsletter. You can create a private group on Facebook to organize and provide updates to your street team. Ask for reviews on specific retailers, gather feedback on cover ideas, and have this team post updates on their own social media accounts!
Check out more ways to use Facebook groups effectively here.
Romance author Lilly Wilde has a private group for her street team, where she posts updates and exclusive content before it goes out to the public.
Publish eye-catching graphics to social media
It’s no secret that social media marketing and aesthetically pleasing content is all the rage right now. There are numerous free graphic design apps, like Canva and RelayThat, which you can use to create professional-looking graphics for your media feeds. Unfold is another great free app you can use to make striking, cohesive Facebook and Instagram stories. Plus, with today’s smartphones, you don’t have to have to invest in an expensive camera to take quality photos.
Indie author R.S. Grey combines books and personal flair to keep her Instagram fans following along with author updates, cover reveals, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into her writing process.
You can find her full Instagram profile here.
For even more information about how authors captivate their readers with social media graphics, check out this post.
Reach out to reviewers and offer a free copy
The more reviews a book has, the more intriguing it will be to potential readers viewing the book’s product page. Building this momentum in a book’s first few months can help drive sales down the road. One effective tactic for getting more reviews is reaching out to top reviewers on retailers and book discovery sites like BookBub who have already reviewed similar books, and offering them a free copy of the book you’re promoting.
For example, Amazon’s top reviewers are usually experienced reviewers who are willing to spend time writing a genuinely helpful review, and are more likely to have a quick turnaround time. The easiest way to find relevant top reviewers is to browse through similar books and find people who have a “Top Reviewer” badge:
When you find a Top Reviewer, navigate to their profile page to see the other books they’ve reviewed. If it seems like their interests are relevant, check to see if they’ve included their contact information or website URL. If their contact information is public, send a short email mentioning how you found them and why you think they’d be interested in your book. Offer them a free copy, and show appreciation for their time. If you’re offering the book for free and the reviewer is interested in the content, it won’t matter to them that the book isn’t brand-new.
Ask for BookBub recommendations
If people are recommending your books on BookBub, you’re more likely to be discovered. Have an author friend who loved your new book? Ask them to post a recommendation on BookBub! It just might encourage their fans to read your book. Be sure to do the same for authors who wrote books you love!
Check out how Tess Gerritsen and Lisa Gardner used recommendations to showcase their peers’ work:
Additionally, you can ask readers from your mailing list to post recommendations on their BookBub reader accounts!
Agree to interviews on podcasts
There are many book-related podcasts available for both readers and the publishing community. If you have the opportunity, being featured on a podcast is a way for people to learn about you and your books in an intimate way.
Katherine Locke pitches herself to podcasts, enabling her to reach new audiences and share her writing story and process. She was featured on 88 Cups of Tea, a podcast and website that features interviews with authors about topics ranging from developing craft to working with editors and literary agents.
Check out this link for eight great author-focused podcasts to listen to, including The Greenlight Bookstore Radio Hour, a Brooklyn-based literary podcast in which authors across genres interview one other.
Agree to write guest blog posts
Writing content for other blogs or websites is an effective way to expose new audiences to your voice. The websites you target to secure these opportunities will depend on your genre and your unique audience. You can start by compiling a list of websites in your niche that your readers may frequent. For example, if you write nonfiction books on writing, there are a number of indie author blogs that offer advice on craft, marketing, and self-publishing. Several of these sites also accept submissions from guest bloggers! You can check some of those out here.
Dan Koboldt, a sci-fi and fantasy author who edited the nonfiction book Putting the Science in Fiction, was featured on Jane Friedman’s blog with an article on how to conduct research for fiction writing.
Use HARO (Help a Reporter Out)
Every published author has knowledge or advice to share within their niche genre or audience. Having your voice included in publications and articles specific to your expertise is a great way to establish your credibility with a new audience. Rather than sifting through endless websites for relevant opportunities, use Help a Reporter Out (HARO) to allow media sources to come to you.
HARO connects journalists with sources in a specific field for expert quotes — and you are the expert of your field! Sign up for a free HARO account to receive their emails asking you for quotes. To avoid receiving alerts about irrelevant subjects, join the Master HARO list and set up your own email filters that will reach your target audience. In Gmail, you can filter like this:
from: haro@helpareporter.com -{“term one” OR “term two” OR “term three”}
Once you receive an email, search for the terms that let the email get through your filter.
Because of strict deadlines, reporters often pull from the first quotes they receive — so hop on those inquiries quickly!
Make a first book permafree
Making a first book permanently free is a great way to introduce readers to your writing and get them hooked so that they buy your more recent titles. This tactic works great for authors with multiple-book series! You can even provide the free book as an ebook download for people who subscribe to your mailing list.
For information on how to make your book permanently free, click here.
To drive a high volume of downloads, promote the freebie to make readers aware of the offering. Many authors use self-serve advertising platforms like BookBub Ads, Facebook ads, and Amazon ads to promote their permafree books. Even though these platforms are not free, you can still successfully advertise with a small budget by targeting a highly focused audience, such as readers of specific comparable authors.
Sci-fi author Zachariah Wahrer uses BookBub Ads to promote the permafree first book in his series.
Promote your free or discounted book
If you made a book permafree — or if you’re running an ebook discount and are looking for inexpensive ways to get visibility for the price promotion — there are many free or inexpensive tactics you can try. For example, you can update your website and social media channels to drive more downloads of your free book by sharing the news of the price drop with your audience. While you don’t want to barrage fans with constant promotions for the discount, you can also brand your profiles to promote the discount.
Here’s a great example of how Helen Scheuerer updated her website to promote her ebook discount. She also promoted the discount on Facebook and Twitter.
Here’s a great example of how Laurelin Paige updated her Facebook cover photo to promote her ebook discount:
If it seems like a chore to update your cover photo designs just for your price promotions, you don’t need Photoshop to create a great design. Free apps like Canva can make design easier.
There are also plenty of free sites and email promotional services you can try. This site offers a huge list of both free and paid ebook promotion sites. While these sites may not have the same reach as BookBub Featured Deals, it can’t hurt to have your book visible on as many platforms as possible. And many authors find promo stacking to be an effective strategy for hitting bestseller lists, even when they do get selected for Featured Deals!
Looking for more ideas? Check out these free tools that can help build buzz for a book.
What other free promotional tactics have helped you reach new readers and sell more books? Let us know in the comments below!
Want to share this post? Here are ready-made tweets:
Click to tweet: No more $$ in your marketing budget? Here’s how to promote your book for free #pubtips #amwriting https://bit.ly/2LJJB0f
Click to tweet: Some tried and tested ways to promote a book… without spending another dime #publishing https://bit.ly/2LJJB0f
