15 Ways Book Marketers Use Social Media to Promote Preorders

When promoting a preorder to drive early sales of a book and build its visibility before launch, advertising the preorder using tools like BookBub Preorder Alerts or author newsletters is a great way to run highly targeted promotions reaching an author’s existing audience. But if you want to maximize exposure for a preorder, social media is a great channel for expanding your reach. Although it’s difficult to predict your results on social media platforms, they allow for many ways to get creative with your promotions and explore both soft-sell and hard-sell approaches.

Unsure of what to post? We’ve gathered some ideas from authors and publishers using social media to reach both new and existing fans with their preorder marketing!

1. Tease a book before launching the preorder

Starting to build buzz in advance of the preorder can make your pre-launch marketing efforts stretch further. Often, these posts don’t explicitly mention a preorder, but they tease the new book to help set the preorder up for success. Try using the hashtag #bookannouncement for more visibility. #Bookstagram is also a good hashtag to use in book marketing across all social media platforms!

Alix E. Harrow used atmospheric imagery and a mock movie trailer script to set the tone for her spooky Halloween release.

Penguin Books teased Tana French’s new book by encouraging a re-read of her first book.

Del Rey Books announced Lilliam Rivera’s upcoming thriller with an author headshot, the book cover, and an intriguing call to “stay tuned for more news.”

2. Announce the preorder availability

A “Preorder Available Now” graphic could be one option, but have you considered using video to announce a preorder? The great thing about social media videos is they don’t have to be super polished. Jasmine Beacroft posted a simple montage of inspirational images to give fans a feel for what to expect from her book.

Video also provides an opportunity to give fans a preview of the book itself! Abbie Emmons showed readers the inside of a paperback copy, showing off unique features like handwritten notes in the margins, and ended the video with a call to preorder. You could also live stream a video like this to engage with fans in real time.

You can also consider using your branding efforts to drive traffic to the preorder page. When updating her Facebook cover image, R.S. Grant added a post with a detailed description of the book and the preorder link.

3. Let readers know what formats are available

Is the preorder only available in certain formats or countries? Posting about this not only helps drive visibility for the preorder but shows readers you care about their potential barriers to preordering and sets their expectations. Conversely, if the preorder is available everywhere, that’s worth mentioning to help drive wide demand!

S. L. Phanes made a TikTok to respond to a fan’s request for an ebook format. S. L. was apologetic that their book wasn’t yet available as an ebook, and we love their empathetic approach of thanking the reader for their interest and promising to keep them updated on the ebook release.

If you’re publishing an audiobook, one creative way to announce it’s coming is to spotlight the narrator, like this post from Ken Follett:

Or you can tease an audiobook preorder with an audio sample! Susan Stoker lets listeners know they can get the audiobook release before the book with the caption “Snag the #audio for Searching for Finley one week before the book releases WIDE!!”

4. Use a cover reveal to promote the preorder

Cover reveals (hashtag #coverreveal) are often how books make their first impression on readers, building excitement and buzz months before launch and jump-starting prerelease sales if the book is available for preorder on retailer sites. Where better to reveal the cover than on a visual social media platform like TikTok or Instagram?

The actual reveal doesn’t have to be the first time readers hear about it! Kennedy Ryan kept her fans updated as they got closer to the cover reveal date.

Skyla Arndt went against the grain by revealing the back of her cover and its impressive blurbs.

This video from Alfred A. Knopf uses a pleasing text reveal animation to reveal Kimberly King Parsons’s cover, with credit to the cover designer and illustrator.

Tordotcom Publishing also made sure to credit the artist and designer for the cover of Nghi Vo’s The Brides of High Hill, and later thanked the artist again in an “ICYMI” (in case you missed it) post promoting the entire series.

5. Use an unboxing video to showcase the book

Unboxing videos (hashtag #unboxing) are a fun social media trend you can capitalize on to build buzz and personally connect with readers and others in the book community. If you’re a self-published author with print versions available, this could be a fantastic branding opportunity for your preorder.

Mike Gayle let his sense of humor shine through in this unboxing video he cross-posted on Facebook and Instagram.

For those of us who are camera-shy, this unboxing from Rebecca Yarros can provide inspiration! Although she’s not on screen, you can still share in her excitement of seeing the finished book for the first time. View the video here.

Indie author Shay Miranda explains why she released a paperback edition (by popular demand!) in this unboxing video promoting the preorder.

6. Tease the book’s content

Quotes, tropes, and book descriptions make great visual social media posts. Your biggest fans may not even need to know what your book is about to preorder, but this approach can help convince new readers this is a book they would be interested in.

Social media images highlighting book tropes (hashtag #booktropes) typically follow a similar format: In the middle you have the book cover, with arrows drawn from the cover to tropes or elements found in the story. You can use an ad design tool to create these. Here’s a beautifully designed example from indie author and bookstagrammer Lindsey Lanza:

Emily O’Callaghan shared a similar graphic along with a book description to add more color to her book’s themes.

Penguin Teen gets more bang for their social media efforts by grouping preorders together in engaging TikToks and Instagram carousels including each book’s tropes.

Alfred A. Knopf created a video with debut author Cat Bohannon talking about her book’s topic. They added a trade review in the caption for extra credibility.

7. Share an excerpt

Sharing an excerpt or first line from the book is another popular way to tease its content. As mentioned earlier, this could be an audio sample if the content is available as an audiobook. As well as posting the full excerpt, you could link to it on your website, or you could get creative with images and video!

Carrie Cariello went live on Facebook to introduce and read from her self-published title, Half My Sky. She posted the preorder link in the comments, where she got lots of excited engagement on the reading.

Diego Perez, writing as Yung Pueblo, created a carousel post driving fans to a preorder sale on his poetry collection from Instagram, where he often shares quotes from his work.

Bloomsbury Publishing enlisted the help of BookTokers as a creative way to share the first line of Sarah J. Maas’s House of Flame and Shadow.

8. Show off or give away preorder art

Commissioning preorder art can drive not only preorders but more engagement on social media, since visuals have proven to be more engaging than text-based posts. You can also use social media to host giveaways of prints of the art to incentivize readers to preorder. Remember to @mention the artist and try using a hashtag like #bookart (or #fanart if the piece was created by a fan!).

Heather Renee often shares artwork as a final push for preorders. She said: “When there are only 2-4 weeks left until release, I make an effort to schedule posts in my Facebook reader group, author page, and Instagram, sharing teasers and any art I might have commissioned. I tend to hype up the book at least four days a week in those final weeks, pushing the excitement in hopes that readers will be salivating to get their hands on it by the time it’s release day.”

TJ Klune announced his art print giveaway using an ad with the eye-catching copy “Special Preorder Offer!” Readers could also look forward to an Instagram Live with the author and artist — an interesting way to spotlight the artist and create extra buzz.

Amélie Wen Zhao posted this art with a quote from her book, announced the preorder, and shared her excitement to be mailing the print as a thank-you to readers who preorder.

9. Highlight other preorder incentives

In addition to art prints, offers like discounts, giveaways, and gifts can make for fabulous social media fodder. Not all authors find that incentives significantly impact preorder numbers, but this kind of post can drive lots of visibility and engagement.

For the preorder of her debut novel All Your Twisted Secrets, Diana Urban gave away a key charm necklace, a signed bookmark, and a signed bookplate with each preorder. Plus, everyone who preordered immediately received an email with the first three chapters of the book and could access an exclusive live Q&A with Diana. In this Facebook post, she teased the gift bundle and used lots of emojis to emphasize the urgency to preorder (or request the book at the library!).

Ayana Gray promoted her Barnes & Noble preorder discount with this stunning image using her book cover as the background. She highlights the release date so readers know they’re getting a deal early!

Penguin Random House created an ARC giveaway promotion around Latine and Hispanic Heritage Month to promote Melissa Mogollon’s upcoming release, using the hashtag #IAmLaCultura to reach relevant readers.

Adam Grant posted a short and sweet message about his giveaway of signed copies on LinkedIn and Threads, where he knew he’d reach a relevant audience of nonfiction readers.

10. Share early praise or buzz for the book

Posts with early reviews (hashtag #bookreview), rankings, and reader excitement aren’t just highly shareable — they’re also a great way to show fans appreciation for recommending a book.

Elly Swartz used the Let Repost app to share this reader review along with a call-to-action (CTA) to “preorder now” at the end of the post.

Dan Frey shared a preorder link with a brief but effective announcement, putting the focus on this beautifully illustrated blurb from Library Journal.

Grand Central Publishing reposted this beautiful photo from a fan to promote a preorder of Leesa Cross-Smith’s This Close to Okay.

11. Explain the value of preordering

Social media is ripe with discussion on how to support authors, bookstores, and small presses. Authors can use their preorder marketing to add their take and raise awareness of the value of preorders — and particularly any reasons why readers should preorder from you!

The late author and publisher Chandler O’Leary used her cover reveal to promote her preorder, adding: “Especially for indie authors like me and small presses like @sasquatchbooks, preorders make a *huge* difference to sales, marketing, rankings and reprints, and is an extra boost of support to everyone involved in the life cycle of books.”

As well as explaining how preordering helps authors and small publishers, John Linstrom added a little about why readers should buy his book. Read the full post here.

John Scalzi let fans know it’s not too late to preorder with a note about how preordering supports indie bookstores.

In Sohla El-Waylly’s case, preordering can even save an editor’s job!

12. Tell your publishing story

Social media is a great place for authors to connect with fans by telling their personal story of their path to publishing their book. Fans love to know how books were made and how their favorite authors got to where they are today. Since it’s such an intimate look behind the scenes of your publishing journey, video is a wonderful format for this kind of post.

Mercury Stardust cleverly used criticism to promote her preorder and to share her amazement about what she’s achieved despite her book’s niche subject matter.

Kimi Freeman told the story of how her book ‘Tis the Damn Season was born, what the publishing process and preorder launch looked like, and the results she’s seen so far. She also let readers know where the preorder is available to purchase.

As an example of a more professionally produced short video, we love this creative summary of Selena Rezvani’s publishing journey:

A more candid approach of speaking directly to your audience is an effective, low-effort way to connect with readers. Kami Mendlik talked ad-lib about her anxieties and excitement around self-publishing her first book, to much support from her fans.

13. Post countdowns to release

Days-to-release countdowns are a popular way to drive preorders on social media. There’s no limit to how many days you count down, which means there’s no limit to how many multiples of engagement you generate! Common marketing wisdom holds that a buyer needs to see a product several times before deciding to purchase, so don’t be afraid to repeat your promotions. Countdown posts can be quick and easy to create.

Debbie Macomber recommends using countdowns to regularly remind fans of the launch date while encouraging them to preorder. “One month, one week, and one day are good time frames to promote.”

Robyn Peterman Zahn tends to start her countdown from three days to release for more immediacy.

Michael R. Miller used art from his book cover to share his preorder link once a day starting 10 days out from launch. Same image, slightly different message each time — for example, different quotes from the book.

14. Ask fans to spread the word

If it feels comfortable to you, go ahead and ask your followers to like, comment, and share your preorder promotions with their friends and family. Research has shown that asking followers to share your posts can increase the likelihood that they do.

On TikTok, Quinn Miller Murphy introduces herself as a debut author and asks her followers to share the preorder to help increase her reach — it’s her birthday, after all!

Sophie Burrows tweeted a charming trailer of her debut graphic novel, asking her followers to share the post to support the preorder. She pinned the post at the top of her Twitter/X profile to help keep the shares coming.

Adiba Nelson didn’t have time to create a visual post, but she didn’t let that deter her! Instead, she took a minute to record a video selfie announcing her preorder. “Please share with your friends! I’ll be putting a pretty little graphic up later that you can share everywhere but for now this is it.”

As promised, she posted this (indeed very pretty!) “Preorder Now” graphic:

15. Thank everyone who has preordered so far!

Last but certainly not least, don’t forget to thank fans for preordering. Social media allows you to do this with minimal effort and maximum reach — others might be more likely to preorder if they see that the campaign has been popular.

Along with a heartfelt thanks and a final push of his preorder discount, Julius Roberts posted these photos of the recipes readers can make with his new cookbook!

TikTok is a great platform for sharing reaction videos, like Hannah Nicole Maehrer’s heartfelt response to the results from her publisher’s preorder campaign. Lots of fans chimed in with their support!

L. C. Son shares her gratitude for her fans’ support and her accomplishments as an indie author — and lets her audience know that if they haven’t preordered yet, now is the time!

What other ways have you promoted a preorder on social media? Let us know in the comments!

Want to share this post? Here are ready-made tweets:

Click to tweet: There are so many creative ways authors and publishers can use social media to promote their preorders — check out these examples for inspiration! 💡 https://bit.ly/3Q6mtKV #bookmarketing

Click to tweet: Want to try something new in your preorder marketing? These authors and publishers are great ones to follow on social media for ideas: https://bit.ly/3Q6mtKV #writingcommunity

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About AJ Yee

AJ is a content marketer on the BookBub Partners marketing team, where she manages the Partners Blog and enjoys researching and sharing how authors and publishers can level up their marketing.