

With the high volume of books launching each year, competition for readers’ attention is skyrocketing while publicity teams’ bandwidths are stretched thin — so publishers these days are asking their authors to take on more and more of their own promotional activities. In fact, many of them expect their authors to be active marketers. For example, at DBW 2017, we learned that Hachette and Perseus Books examine an author’s platform and follower engagement on social media, and report their findings in acquisition meetings before deciding whether to sign that author.

While traditionally published authors don’t always have extensive marketing budgets — nor complete control over promotional elements like their book cover design and pricing — there are many levers they can pull to create buzz for a book, engage with fans, and reach new readers. In fact, they often run extremely creative campaigns, both independently and in collaboration with their publishers.

We spoke with four successful traditionally published authors who write in a variety of genres and actively help promote their own books, and created a flipbook showcasing their unique marketing campaigns and advice. Whether you’re traditionally published or self-published, we hope this inspires you when creating your own book marketing campaigns. (Scroll through the flipbook below or download the PDF here.)

In this flipbook, you’ll learn how these traditionally published authors:

Collaborate with their publishers to execute marketing campaigns

Foster relationships with their readers to increase word-of-mouth sales

Build buzz using giveaways

Prioritize marketing activities that drive reader engagement

Use BookBub to reach new readers

Split their time between writing and marketing

Special thanks to Debbie Macomber, Becky Albertalli, Michelle Krys, and Gregg Olsen for answering our questions and providing stellar marketing examples to share with our readers!

Share this flipbook! Here are ready-made tweets:

Click to tweet: How Traditionally Published Authors Market Their Books (Free Flipbook!) – http://bit.ly/2lVJrp7 by @DianaUrban #amwriting #writetip

Click to tweet: Download free flipbook w/ marketing advice from authors @debbiemacomber @beckyalbertalli @Gregg_Olsen @MichelleKrys http://bit.ly/2lVJrp7

About Diana Urban is the Industry Marketing Manager at BookBub, and was previously the Head of Conversion Marketing at HubSpot. She's an expert in inbound marketing and lead generation. Diana is also an author of dark, twisty thrillers, including All Your Twisted Secrets (HarperTeen). Follow her on Twitter at Diana Urban is the Industry Marketing Manager at BookBub, and was previously the Head of Conversion Marketing at HubSpot. She's an expert in inbound marketing and lead generation. Diana is also an author of dark, twisty thrillers, including(HarperTeen). Follow her on Twitter at @DianaUrban