If you’re publishing a sequel, whether it’s the second book in a duology or a later-in-series book, its launch is a chance to capitalize on the success of the previous book(s). You’ll already have a built-in fan base eager for more, but you need to make sure they’re aware a sequel is getting published and when it’s launching — plus, you’ll want to hook new readers as well.
So what are some ways authors are successfully promoting their sequels or later-in-series books? To help you gain as much momentum as possible for your latest installment, we’ve compiled a list of promo ideas. We hope this helps you create an effective sequel marketing plan!
1. Keep readers apprised of your sequel writing progress
If your readers are clamoring for a sequel, they’ll appreciate any news on your writing progress! These updates will help keep your series top of mind as well, which is especially helpful if it’s a while between launches.
Antoine Bandele regularly posts word count status updates on Instagram coupled with gorgeous artwork for the book he’s working on, like this carousel including the word count for the newest book in his TJ Young & The Orishas series, The Lover’s Curse.
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2. Post about the whole series, not just the latest book
When you’re promoting the new release in your series, promoting the previous books can be a great way to find new readers, as readers who get hooked on the previous book are likely to buy and read the sequel.
While promoting the preorder for the third book in her series, Merger, Nana Malone also pushed the first two books in the series. Her promotions included featuring the first-in-series Takeover in her Facebook header, repeatedly posting links to buy the previous two books (including direct from her website), and showcasing all three books together, encouraging her readers to catch up.
3. Highlight your sequel on your website’s home and series pages
Your author website is prime real estate for promoting a sequel and helping new readers discover your entire series. You should feature your latest release in two main places: at the top of your homepage, to immediately draw attention to the newest book, and on a series page that displays all books in reading order. This dual approach ensures that both existing fans and new readers can easily navigate your catalog — current fans can quickly find the latest installment, while readers who discovered you through the sequel can start from book one.
Lindsey Sparks showcases this strategy effectively on her website. Her homepage features her latest release front and center with a clear call-to-action. And it’s easy to find the earlier book in her series on her dedicated series page.
4. Include an excerpt in the back matter of the previous book
The previous book’s back matter is prime (and free!) real estate for promoting a sequel. If the previous book is great or ends in a suspenseful cliffhanger, readers will be eager for more when they reach the last page. We’ve found that authors who promote another book in their back matter see 2.2x more sales of other books in their series than those who don’t. And those who include a one-chapter excerpt see the highest increase.
Bella Andre included a sample from her next installment in the back matter of her first-in-series The Look of Love to give readers a taste of what comes next. It appears on the page immediately following the last chapter (the end is blurred out in the image below), and includes:
- A call-to-action (CTA) to subscribe to Bella’s mailing list, and another to read the sequel
- An excerpt including sections from the first two chapters of the sequel
- A final CTA to purchase the sequel and sign up for Bella’s mailing list
- A list of her other work
5. Make the first book of the series permafree
Many authors make the first book of a series permafree as a “reader magnet” to hook readers into the rest of the series. Then they’ll run a BookBub Featured Deal to generate a high volume of downloads and follow-on sales for later-in-series books. BookBub partners who make the first book in their series free see 8x higher sales of the other books in the series than partners who discount the first book to $0.99 instead.
When self-published author Jane Steen ran a permafree promotion for her first-in-series historical mystery The House of Closed Doors, she redesigned the book covers for the entire series before the launch of the newest book to refresh the branding and appeal to a broader audience. She then ran a Featured Deal for the permafree first-in-series, driving 18,000 new downloads and doubling the sales of this series over the following month.
6. Discount the first book in the series or duology
If you don’t want to make the first book permafree or even temporarily free, a great alternative is to discount the previous book (or earlier book in the series). On average, BookBub’s partners have seen a 5x higher increase in sales of the other books in a series when the first book is discounted vs. any other book in the series.
About a month before launching Face Off, book three of a traditionally published series, Brenda Novak discounted her self-published prequel novella to the series, Hanover House, to $0.99 and ran a BookBub Featured Deal to promote the discount. To further increase her reach, Brenda also ran BookBub Ads campaigns during the week of the discount, testing out different image designs and author targeting options. Thousands of new readers bought the prequel, made their way through books one and two, and were eager for book three upon launch — and it launched as a USA Today bestseller.
As you can see, this technique can work even if your series is primarily traditionally published, meaning you, as the author, can’t set a discount for those books yourself. If you’re traditionally published, consider chatting with your publisher about either discounting the first book in your series or self-publishing a prequel for which you can control the pricing.
7. Send a newsletter promoting a discount on the series starter
Newsletters are a reliable way to reach your existing fan base, and releasing a new sequel provides the chance to boost sales of the entire series for anyone who’s not caught up.
When Daniel Arenson released Guardians of Freedom, the third Freedom Fleet novel, he sent a newsletter to his mailing list announcing the launch with a personal touch describing what the story means to him. He also let readers know that if they haven’t started the series yet, they could grab book one for just $0.99.
8. Hone the branding of the sequel or series book
While you can lean on the positioning of an overarching series when launching the newest title, each book within a series will likely have its own tropes, themes, and characters that will intrigue new readers, perhaps enough to start with book 1. So make sure to hone the branding and messaging of each book in a series, not just the first.
When promoting the ninth book in her 12 Dukes of Christmas series to her mailing list, Erica Ridley emphasized the tropes of this particular book. “Create a short list of four to five tropes or key characteristics you can display as easily scannable bullet points,” she recommended. “I like to share this list on social media and in my launch week newsletter blast. It helps readers see at a glance why this book is for them.”
9. Maximize sell-through of audiobook discounts
Dropping the price of the first-in-series is one common way to boost sequel or later-in-series audiobook sales. But discounting those later-in-series books can help get even more people to buy the sequel. To encourage more follow-on sales, consider using tiered pricing.
Author Toni Anderson discounted every audiobook in her Cold Justice series during a $1.99 Chirp deal on the first audiobook, A Cold Dark Place. These audiobooks are normally in the $15–$20 range, but she offered limited-time deals on the later-in-series books from $1.99 to $9.99 to maximize sell-through.
10. Create a box set (and better yet, discount it!)
If you’re launching a later-in-series book, bundling the first few books in the series — and dropping the price of that bundle — can hook a large volume of new readers into the series, who may then go on to purchase later books in the series at full price.
When Mari Carr and Lila Dubois launched book 8 of their Trinity Masters series, their sales were stagnant, so they decided to bundle the first four books in the series to try to draw more readers. While the box set launched at $6.99, they discounted it to $1.99 and ran a promo-stacking campaign over a 10-day period that let them hit multiple retailer bestseller lists. To drive as many new readers to the series as possible (and maximize follow-on sales), they:
- Updated the back matter of the box set with retailer links to the other books in the series
- Ran a BookBub Featured Deal on the box set
- Sent a newsletter to both of their mailing lists five days after the Featured Deal
- Ran Facebook ads
- Ran organic social media promotions
- Asked fans in their Facebook group to help spread the word
11. Run BookBub Ads preorder campaigns to promote the sequel
BookBub Ads provides another way to accelerate sequel sales, especially if you use prelaunch ads to hone your audience.
Laura A. Barnes already had experience advertising book one in her False Rumors series. She used BookBub Ads to promote the release of book two, The Wishful Governess, starting with advertising the preorder in the week before its release. Having run BookBub Ads campaigns before, Laura had tracked the performance of author targets for each previous book she’d promoted, and targeted authors whose audiences had delivered CTRs over 2%.
For her prelaunch ads, Laura made it clear in the ad copy that The Wishful Governess was available for preorder. Upon release, Laura changed the copy in her ads from “preorder” to “new release,” while keeping the blurb the same and using CPC bidding to control her costs. She checked in on her ads daily, and when she saw one driving a strong click-through rate, she ramped up the bid on that campaign to reach more readers in that engaged audience.
This post was originally published on January 6, 2022, and has been updated with new examples.
