Book Marketing Tips For Fiction And Non-Fiction Authors With Joanna Penn

Summary

Summary of "Book Marketing Tips For Fiction And Non-Fiction Authors With Joanna Penn"

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers
• Host/Author: Joanna Penn
• Description: Writing Craft and Creative Business
• Episode: Book Marketing Tips For Fiction And Non-Fiction Authors With Joanna Penn
• Release Date: August 11, 2025

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Joanna Penn, a renowned thriller author and creative entrepreneur, delves deep into effective book marketing strategies tailored for both fiction and non-fiction authors in episode number 823 of The Creative Penn Podcast. Released on August 11, 2025, this episode offers a comprehensive guide drawn from her book Successful Self Publishing, Fourth Edition, focusing on enduring marketing principles and diverse marketing tactics.

Section 1: Marketing Principles

1. Reframe Marketing as Creative Sharing Joanna emphasizes the importance of viewing marketing not as a burdensome task but as an opportunity to share one's passion. She states, “Marketing is sharing what you love with people who will appreciate hearing about it” (05:30).

2. Focus on the Reader She advises authors to shift their perspective from themselves to their readers. Understanding the reader’s desires and needs is crucial. Joanna highlights, “Publishing is about the book. Marketing is about the reader” (12:45).

3. Own Your Platform Joanna underscores the necessity of having a personal website that authors control. She warns against relying solely on third-party platforms like Facebook or free website services, stating, “If you’re serious about writing and selling books for the long term, then consider owning your website” (18:20).

4. Build a Cohesive Author Brand Branding is presented as an author's promise to their readers. Joanna discusses the use of pseudonyms and consistent branding across different genres to maintain clarity for the audience. “Branding is your promise to the reader” (24:10).

5. Find Marketing that Fits Your Personality Recognizing that authors have diverse personalities, Joanna advises selecting marketing strategies that align with one’s natural inclinations. She shares her personal preference for audio marketing over social media, saying, “Audiobook marketing is my primary channel” (35:50).

6. Balance Short-Term and Long-Term Marketing Joanna differentiates between short-term promotional spikes and long-term sustained marketing efforts. She explains, “Long-term marketing is more about building evergreen assets that drip sales every day” (42:15).

7. Measure the Success of Your Marketing Emphasizing the importance of analytics, Joanna advises authors to track sales, email subscriber growth, and reviews to gauge the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. “If you’re not measuring the results of a promotion, how do you know if it worked?” (50:00).

8. Build Community and Collaborate with Other Authors Joanna advocates for the power of community, suggesting collaborations and joint promotions with fellow authors. She notes, “Being part of a community can also lead to marketing ideas and opportunities” (58:30).

Section 2: 15 Different Ways to Market Your Books

Joanna transitions into practical marketing tactics, offering 15 actionable strategies for authors.

1. Write More Books She asserts that having a substantial backlist increases visibility and sales opportunities. “The best marketing starts by writing more books” (1:05:00).

2. Write Multiple Books in a Series and Link Them Together Series foster reader loyalty, leading to consistent sales across multiple books. Joanna explains, “If you have three or four books that offer the same type of experience, you’re likely to have won a fan who will actively look for your next book” (1:10:20).

3. Optimize Your Metadata Proper metadata enhances discoverability on platforms like Amazon. Joanna emphasizes, “Metadata is a key aspect of marketing” (1:15:45).

4. Use Different Price Points, Strategic Discounting, and Value Bundles Flexible pricing strategies can attract a wider audience. She mentions, “You won’t be so emotionally attached to any individual book, which makes it easier to play with pricing” (1:20:30).

5. Build an Email List by Offering a Reader Magnet Then Stay in Touch Building and nurturing an email list is foundational for sustained marketing. Joanna advises, “Once people are on your email list, stay in touch, let them know about new releases and giveaways” (1:25:10).

6. Build a Street Team or ARC Team A dedicated group of early readers can generate reviews and word-of-mouth promotion. She states, “Having an ARC team can help you get early reviews and buzz” (1:30:00).

7. Ask for Reviews to Build Social Proof Encouraging readers to leave reviews bolsters credibility. Joanna remarks, “Evidence of reader approval will help you get promotions” (1:35:20).

8. Use Social Media While not ideal for everyone, social media remains a powerful tool for book promotion. She notes, “Focus on one or two platforms, learn the right skills for that platform, test out different content and lean into what works” (1:40:45).

9. Use Content Marketing Providing valuable content attracts and retains an audience. Joanna shares, “Content marketing builds up your site and you personally as an authority and trusted source in a niche” (1:45:30).

10. Pitch for Podcast or YouTube Interviews Guest appearances can expand an author’s reach. She advises, “These interviews are never about selling your book. They are all about giving incredible value to the audience” (1:50:10).

11. Pitch Other Media for Interviews Traditional media still holds significant clout. Joanna recommends targeting local outlets initially, stating, “Start by pitching local newspapers, TV, and radio as they are often looking for local success stories” (1:55:40).

12. Try Paid Advertising (Pay per Click) Paid ads can drive immediate traffic but require strategic management. She explains, “Most successful indie authors use paid advertising of some kind to drive traffic to their books” (2:00:15).

13. Try Paid Advertising (Email Newsletters) Services like BookBub offer targeted email promotions. Joanna cautions, “Never buy a list of email addresses as it violates anti-spam regulations” (2:05:00).

14. Try Local In-Person Marketing Engaging with local communities can foster loyal readership. She suggests, “In-person marketing can be rewarding for connections with readers and other authors” (2:10:30).

15. Collaborate with Other Authors on Joint Promotions or Events Collaborative efforts can amplify marketing reach. Joanna shares her experience with the Deadly Dozen, stating, “We sold over 100,000 ebook bundles and attracted many readers to our email lists” (2:15:45).

Section 3: Sustainable Marketing Strategies

Joanna emphasizes that successful marketing is not a one-time event but an ongoing ecosystem. She advises authors to integrate marketing into their regular routines, ensuring continuous engagement and sales. “Marketing is an ecosystem. It takes time to build out a sustainable marketing approach that keeps your book selling every month over many years” (2:20:00).

Section 4: Insights and Conclusions

Joanna concludes by reiterating the importance of consistency and authenticity in marketing. She encourages authors to experiment with different strategies to find what aligns best with their personalities and goals. “Marketing is about connecting people with your books. When you genuinely help people find stories they'll love or solutions to their challenges, marketing becomes less about self-promotion and more about valuable service” (2:25:50).

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Notable Quotes:

• “Marketing is sharing what you love with people who will appreciate hearing about it” – Joanna Penn (05:30)
• “Publishing is about the book. Marketing is about the reader” – Joanna Penn (12:45)
• “Metadata is a key aspect of marketing” – Joanna Penn (1:15:45)
• “Content marketing builds up your site and you personally as an authority and trusted source in a niche” – Joanna Penn (1:45:30)
• “Marketing is an ecosystem. It takes time to build out a sustainable marketing approach that keeps your book selling every month over many years” – Joanna Penn (2:20:00)

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Conclusion: In this episode, Joanna Penn offers a treasure trove of actionable marketing strategies grounded in solid principles. From reframing marketing as creative sharing to employing diverse tactics like email marketing, social media, and collaborations, she provides a roadmap for authors aiming to build a sustainable writing career. The emphasis on understanding the reader, owning one’s platform, and maintaining authenticity serves as a guiding beacon for both budding and established authors navigating the complex landscape of book marketing.

For more detailed insights and resources, listeners are encouraged to access the show notes and Joanna’s website at thecreativepenn.com.

Transcript

[Joanna Penn]

Welcome to the Creative Pen Podcast. I'm Joanna Penn, thriller author and creative entrepreneur, bringing you interviews, inspiration and information on writing, craft and creative business. You can find the episode show notes, your free author blueprint and lots [e-mail] and that's Pen with a double N. And here's the show Hello Creatives, I'm Johanna Penn and this is episode number 823 of the podcast and it is Saturday 9th August 2025. As I record this in today's show I'm sharing two audiobook chapters on book marketing from successful self publishing. My fourth edition. The first is on marketing principles, the things that stay the same regardless of the tools you use, questions to consider that will shape your marketing approach and finding what works for you and your book rather than trying to that make you miserable. The second chapter is on 15 different ways to market your books and why marketing is a long term ecosystem, not just one thing, one time. So I hope you find it useful and you can get the audiobook and the ebook for free for a limited time. At the moment it's also in print, so if you'd like more you can find the [e-mail] SSP4 or anywhere on the usual platforms. So that is coming up in the interview section in writing, publishing and book Marketing things well, I'm on the Biz Book broadcast this week talking about pricing strategies for your book with Liz Scully. And it's really interesting because I've been on Liz's show a couple of times and she asked me to come back on to talk about this topic and I was like, I don't think there's enough to talk about. We can't do a whole episode on pricing strategies. But once we got into it, there are a lot of dimensions from ebooks and audiobook sales versus as subscriptions, pricing, print on demand paperbacks in large print to special editions and then when to discount, when to use full price, how to do bundles, and lots more. So if you're interested in pricing strategies, the Biz book broadcast wherever you're listening to this, Dan Blank, who's been on the show a few times, also has an article on Substack that caught my eye. What to do three years before your book launch. I was like, okay, that is ridiculous because I know most authors do not think three years out, but it's actually more about the attitude of anyone who wants to be a more professional author. So I think that's why I wanted to share it. First of all admit you are a writer. This is a good one as it took me several years of having an affirmation I am creative, I am an author. Took me years before I could say that out loud. I used to think say it in my mind, but before I felt it was true for me. So that kind of mindset shift takes time. You can't just say, oh yes, I'm an author now. I mean we all have chronic self doubt and it's always worth working on. Mindset Dan also says, learn how to talk about your writing. This is another great tip. Even at author conferences now I'll ask people what they're writing and they'll go off on some rambling incoherent thing. So having at least a coherent sentence is good about your current project. For example, action adventure thriller with religious elements like the Da Vinci Code or non fiction memoir photo book about English Gothic cathedrals. And then so you say that that takes like not very long at all. And then check the person's facial expression. When I'm talking to new authors, they will often not even be looking at me when they're rambling off about their book without checking on what the audience is thinking. So this is a really good tip and important in general. So if somebody doesn't resonate what you've just said, then you're going to tell. And if they're interested, if they're leaning closer, if their eyes are like ooh, you can tell if people are curious. So for example, when I say English Gothic cathedrals, you either know you're interested or you're not. It is pretty niche, so I can usually tell if people are interested in talking about that anymore and if not, I'll just change the subject. So yes, I think it's important. Dan says the longer you avoid doing this work of honing your messaging, the more difficult it will become. Also, I would add, don't try and encapsulate everything you do. Like, people ask me what I do and I'll just say I'm an author and a podcaster. Obviously there are so many things I do within that so many genres I write. But I will usually then ask, oh well, what, what do you read? What do you watch on tv? And then I'll adjust my answer depending on what they say. Or if they say they they listen to podcasts, they'll be like, oh, what shows do you like? And all of that kind of thing. Obviously most of the time people say, oh, true crime. And then I say, oh, well, I don't have any of that it is amazing to me that True Crime remains the most successful podcasting niche, which is hilarious given that romance is the biggest in books. That just seems quite different. Anyway, more from Dan's article Develop a literacy of the marketplace. Again, absolutely necessary. Whether you want to publish traditional or indie, you need to know the business side of whatever way you want to publish so you know what to do with your book when it's finished. Other tips include develop colleagues. You will need them. Absolutely. My author friends are very precious to me and focus on what you control. Another reason many of us have moved into selling direct as a primary method, as it is far more in our control than the vagaries of the Amazon algorithms, which we basically ignore. And give yourself time to learn the craft of sharing. This also resonated because if you listen to early episodes of this show and you can always find the very early episodes, even if they're not on the feed, they're on my website, thecreativepenn.com podcast. You just scroll down to the bottom and they're batched in 100 blocks. So you can go back and just play episode one probably to around episode I know, 200 or at least 100. I did not share anything about myself. It took years to talk more about my interests, really. I think it was probably 2012 when I moved into also writing under JF Pen that really kind of changed things. But yeah, it's not natural, it's not immediate. So relax and find your path slowly into who you are and what you want to share. So that is Dan Blank's substack. I'll link to that in the show notes. So in AI things, GPT5 has launched this week on ChatGPT. If you log on to chatgpt.com, whichever level you're on, you're going to get just the ChatGPT5 and it will choose the the model that it thinks is most appropriate. Now, it is a bit of a bumpy launch, unsurprisingly, so maybe wait a week before things settle down. It should simplify things because you don't have to choose a model. Whereas those of us who are power users, I guess, want to choose a model. So it's what you're used to, I guess. But if you haven't tried a more complicated prompt on ChatGPT before, you now get this, even at the free level. So you can try something that is much more detailed. Something like I'm all author J.F. penn. Here's my Amazon page, and you put the link with my books and my website. Here's my website link, here's my Instagram account. Can you please act as a book marketing strategist and give me a six month book marketing action plan specifically tailored for me. Please think deeply and give me specific details on how I can personally leverage at least five different book marketing tactics. So much a much more detailed prompt than how can I market a book which which will give you just generic advice. What you need to do with these AI tools is give them as much info as you can to personalize your response. So you should get a good report tailored to you and you do need to say think deeply on this GPT5 at the moment because it will may choose the base model as opposed to the thinking model. So I just got access yesterday as I record this so I'm playing with it. I'm actually really loving ChatGPT agent which is like it does tasks for you. This week I did formatting bulk upload spreadsheets for social media sharing. It was really useful. I've done a tutorial is coming in my patreon on that. I'll also be talking a lot more about all the developments in new AI webinars in September. More on that in a minute. A few other things this week. I think this is much more significant to be honest. I have mentioned generate to market before the idea that you can type in what you want or just use a search term and the AI tools will generate what you want. Now a book where it might be a one time experience for your reading pleasure. Something that only you enjoy doesn't even need to go anywhere else. Well it is here for kids graphic cartoon ebooks or you can actually make adult cartoons as well. Not not not safe for work but with adults as characters. So we made one with the cat with Cashew and made one for my friend Orna Ross which was this is what is crazy about this. So this is Google's Gemini Storybook. So link in the show notes or just look up Gemini Storybook now it's free. Here's a prompt for you. My five year old niece is afraid of going camping. Here's a picture of my cat and I uploaded picture of Kashu. Can you make a story that will help her want to go exploring and try new things? So I uploaded Cashew who's a cream coloured British shorthair cat and he has lots of pictures on my Instagram, Instagram and Facebook Fpenauthor if you want to see him and in about a minute Gemini produced a 10 page book a complete story as well as audiobook narration. And it can produce stories in 45 languages. And they have various suggestions on the Gemini homepage suggesting you use it to explain difficult concepts like the solar system or grief, for example, if a pet dies. It can also do coloring books. And. And so, yeah, I made one for my friend Orna and I was like, here's us going through an adventure in a library, looking for the perfect book. And so you don't have to specify everything about the story. You can just give it a general theme, you can give it some characters, you can upload pictures and it will create something very cool. Now, the reason I want you to look at this is because one, it is really fun and creative and it will make you laugh. And it. We just, just did a few to send to family members that were just fun. And making someone else smile is a good reason to do any. But I also think it will help lots of people communicate things that might be awkward or difficult to talk about. It will also be super entertaining. You know, people with kids, you might do one every single night. I mean, it's that fun, to be honest. But it has implications for us as authors and other creators, obviously, like illustrators. This is just the beginning of generate to market. And if you have a look at it, I think you will agree it's very good the fact that you don't have to specify everything about the story, which is what we do as writers. We're very controlling about this, but it demonstrated to me that you don't need to be that controlling over it for it to do something pretty cool. And it underscores the importance of developing a closer relationship with our readers. So they continue to be interested in our books as well as the ones they generate themselves, because this is just the beginning of generate to market. So, yeah, definitely have a look at that and enjoy it. That is Google Gemini Storybook. Also this week, 11 labs, which many authors now use for audiobook generation, has just released Music Generation for Commercial Usage. So if you are already an ElevenLabs user, I am. And you have credits, you can generate music. You can what? And then again, this is great. And another example of you don't have to know much. I am not a music person. I barely listen to music at all. But I do need music for my book trailers and I've got the Buried and the Drowned coming up, so I wanted to get some music for that. So my prompt is eerie instrumental for the Buried and the Drowned, which gives a sort of vibe to it, obviously, and it generates oh, and I specified 30 seconds. This is also really good. You can specify the length and it generated two different musical pieces that I can use commercially in my book trailer and my ads. Now I'm not selling it, so it's not commercial I suppose, but I am useless with music. So yeah, I think that will definitely have some uses. If you are good at music, there are lots of ways you can use it in a much more detailed manner, but for me and for many of you who just want simple pieces for book trailers or for social media, I think it'll be quite interesting. And of course remember to read the terms and conditions of any service you use so you understand the rights licensing around everything. Now there are lots of changes happening in AI, but as ever we can use the tools to enhance our creativity, reach readers in new ways and streamline our author business. Now I did some AI webinars in June, but again it's all changing so fast and I'm changing my processes all the time. So I'm doing some new AI webinars in September which will be different to June. Obviously the tasks we have as authors are the same, but the tools and the processes are changing. So I'm doing them on Saturday September 6th and Sunday 21st September they will be at 11am US Eastern, 4pm UK. You can find the [e-mail] live. If you are a patron you get a discount, so just log into the Patreon for the discount link. So that is thecreativepenn.com live. So in personal news, I had a great book research trip to the Gothic cathedrals of York and Durham in the north of England last week. I loved Durham in particular. What a wonderful place. And I did have a bit of a moment at the Shrine of St Cuthbert as it reminded me of finishing the St Cuthbert's Way, the crossing to Lindisfarne, which remains means one of the really the most memorable and meaningful walks of my life. I certainly feel like that that was very special. So remembering that in Durham and it's a really wonderful cathedral, I loved it. So the photos are up on booksandtravel page on the blog and actually this trip really helped me around the Gothic Cathedral book. It's sort of solidifying what I want to write about. So there will hopefully be a photo book as the main product, but I'm also going to do a paperback version and audiobook and ebook and all of that. So there will be just a little on the architecture side, but the themes of the book are much bigger. It's much more about change and time and Memento mori and spirituality. And of course I'm still in the chaos of discovery, but that is the fun part for me and I think one of the ways that doing physical things and seeing places does for me is every time I go to one the themes will solidify a bit more and I only really have one more trip to do which will be next week as this goes out and then I'm really going to knuckle down and try and write a draft of this on similar topics on my books and Travel podcast this week, an interview with Oliver Smith about pilgrimage, place places in Britain. And like me, Oli is a secular pilgrim, so our conversation is more about places of meaning in different ways. Just search books and travel podcast wherever you're listening to this Business wise, I'm still waiting on the special hardback edition for the Buried and the Drowned so I can finalise the kickstarter make the video. And I still need to finish a bit of the audiobook narration which is me as human joke. But I also have some personal news I wanted to share with you now. I told my patrons at office hours so I wanted to tell you all now. So I am starting a Master's degree in late September in Death Religion and Culture at the University of Winchester. It is one year full time, the course is online and those of you who know my writing is J.F. penn and my interest in Memento Mori will not be surprised at all. In fact you'll be like, wow, that is just perfect. Yes it so my first degree is in theology, so religion is not that unusual either. And these aspects already resonate in my books as J.F. penn so this is kind of. This is a few things. This is still part of my slow pivot into more of being more JF Penn than Joanna Penn. Also turning 50 and kind of wanting to do deeper things I guess, think about the more meaningful aspects of life. And also my top Clifton strengths include learner input and intellection. So this satisfies the side of me that just loves studying and research. I mean book research probably is one of my favourite parts of the process anyway, so I know that these topics are going to feed into other books I want to write. And I am also considering a sort of side business of funeral celebrancy. So if that's an area you know about, please email me with any thoughts. JoannaTheCreativePenn.com I'm also just really thinking about the types of books I want to write, how this may feed into other projects, writing retreats, that kind of thing. If you've read Writing the Shadow, it also has those deeper elements in so yes, what does that mean for my author business and the podcast? Well, it mainly means I'm going to be the same as most of you, which is an author with a full time day job equivalent. For the first time since 2011 I will have have essentially like a day job so my time will be squeezed. But in terms of books I've kind of got quite a lot backed up. Obviously the Buried in the Drowned is finished. I just have to launch it Blood Vintage. It looks like I'm going to get that back from my agent, so I'll likely publish that as well. I have a draft on writing setting and Sense of place which again I did a course on it a few years ago and I took that transcript and have expanded that. So that is a draft needs editing. The Gothic Cathedral book I've got probably 40 50,000 words in draft for that too, all over the place. But basically I've got books at different points right now and I will be able to put out books at different points once those are all sorts of finished. I also am pre recording a lot of content for the podcast for the rest of this year, but from 2026 I may have fewer interviews. I will still be doing the weekly intro because I feel like the news and the different things that are useful for you hopefully will still be something you want. And I will do maybe a couple of interviews a month instead of every single week and I'll do them on things that interest me or intersect with other stuff. I'm also going to continue sharing on the Patreon, which also includes an extra solo Q and A a month and books and travel will be monthly or ad hoc. Now this show was ad hoc for many years which is like like I just put it out occasionally when I feel like it. But I will be keeping the Monday morning rhythm on this show just for the shorter episodes. So yes, I am clearing the decks I guess ready for doing this degree. Those AI webinars are before the degree starts so I wanted to do them before then. I will be at Author Nation in Vegas in November and I also intend to be at London Book Fair next March. But that is probably it for conferences. The Masters is a full year and no doubt I will share how it's going along the way. So yeah, let me know what you think. Joannathecreativepen.com so thanks for your emails and comments and photo this week. Julie said of Alison's interview. I didn't think I would love this episode, but I did. Thanks for the interesting food for thought as always. And that was the interview on audio drama. And a different Julie also said, honestly, I thought creating an audio drama sounded so dull, but I always listened to every episode so played it anyway. Well, knock me down with a feather. Between Joanna's perfect questions and Alison's fascinating replies, this was one of the most insightful and motivating creative Pen podcast episodes to date. I especially liked the intuitive nature of Alison's creative pursuits and the permission to go with what interests you the most. I really needed to hear this one today and I have downloaded Wicked Dames. Fantastic. And another surprised listener, Suzanne on Tegan's episode on genealogy. I really enjoyed this week's episode. Normally I stop listening when your guest comes on, but I listen to this one until the end. The book would be fantastic for someone researching a film about the early days of European settlement in Australia. And then, thanks to Lee, who sent a photo of a historical graveyard with wild flowers and says, I just retired as a principal of a middle school, we spent eight days driving down the Oregon coast. This is Thomas Wyman's grave in the Marshfield Pioneer Cemetery in Coos Bay, Oregon. Fantastic. And Richard sent pictures from Trinity Church, New York City. First established in 1698. Not only is the the burial site of Alexander Hamilton and everyone who's seen seen that has now got a song in their head, it also contains centuries old headstones. Now I thank you so much Richard. I do love Trinity Church. I have visited every time I've been to New York City for Thriller Fest and it always feels like a little piece of Europe downtown there and part of my inspiration for my thriller One Day in New York, which also opens with A Murder on the High Line, one of my other favourite places in city. Okay, so please leave a comment on the podcast show [e-mail] or on the YouTube channel or email me send me pictures of where you're listening or your favourite cemetery or churchyard. JoannaTheCreativePenn.com I love to hear from you. It makes this more of a conversation. So today's episode is sponsored by prowritingaid. Because however you choose to publish, whether you go indie or you want a traditional deal, you need to make your book the best it can be. ProWritingAid is one of my absolute must use tools in my writing process for both fiction and non fiction as well as short stories. Once I've finished my first draft, I use prowritingaid to fix up any issues before printing and hand editing. Then I use it again after I put the edits into Scrivener since I always make more mistakes. So I do at least two passes with ProWritingAid before sending to Kristen, my human editor. I use ProWritingAid with Scrivener, but you can use it with other software or just online in your browser. ProWritingAid knows all the rules of editing and helps you apply them. And of course you can choose not to make the changes as you like. It helps with making your writing more active, finding repeated words, finding words and sentences you could improve, adding sensory detail, sentence structure, grammar and punctuation, as well as typos, spacing and more. It also now has a manuscript analysis developmental editing tool and a beta reader report so you can get an analysis of your whole manuscript. So why use software to help? Why don't you just learn everything and apply all the rules yourself? Well, we all use tools to improve our process and we are also often blind to our own writing issues. It helps to have another pair of eyes, even if the eyes are software. And yes, a human editor can do this, but I'd rather pay my editor to fix the things that software can't. So I use prowritingaid as my essential editing tool before for sending to my human editor. Check out the free edition or get 15% off the premium edition by using my link prowritingaid.com Joanna J O-A-N N A that's prowritingaid.com Joanna this type of corporate sponsorship pays for the hosting, transcription and editing, but my time in creating the show is sponsored by my [e-mail] thecreativepenny thanks to the five new patrons who've joined in the last week and thanks to everyone who's been supporting for months and years. If you join the community, you get access to all my backlist videos and audio covering topics on writing, craft, author, business and AI tutorials and tools. The Patreon is a monthly subscription, the equivalent of buying me a black coffee a month or a couple of coffees if you're feeling generous. So if you get value from the show and you want more, come on over and join [e-mail] thecreativepep and if you do join, you get a discount on the AI webinars, right? Let's get into the marketing chapters from Successful Self Publishing the fourth Edition, and you can find all the links to the whole [e-mail] SSP 4 Marketing Principles if you ask most authors about book marketing, they're likely to grimace, shake their head and sigh. We became authors because we love to write. But if you want your books to sell, regardless of how you choose to publish, at some point you'll need to embrace marketing as part of your author journey. In this chapter, I'll go through marketing principles that will be useful no matter how the industry changes. But first, let's cover the question everyone always asks. Do I have to do my own marketing? Can't I just outsource it all? There are many people and services you can hire for aspects of book marketing, but consider these what specific area of marketing do you want to outsource? Is it worth doing at all? Is it worth paying for? What return on investment are you expecting? Is this service short term or long term? And how might that affect your budget? Book marketing is not one thing, so you need to first consider what exactly you want to outsource. For example, setting up and running Amazon ads is a different skill to pitching magazines and podcasts for interviews. You also have to consider whether you even want to start something you might not sustain. Is it worth starting a TikTok channel if you hate making video? Is it worth starting your own podcast when it might be a year or so before your listenership grows to a decent size? Is it worth paying a PR professional to get you interviews in magazines when you're just starting out, you're unsure of your brand and there is no obvious return on investment? Do you want to keep paying people for months and years or could you spend some of that money learning new skills and building your own sustainable marketing strategy? If you want to hire a professional, be specific about the tasks and your budget as well as time frame. For example, run meta ads for three months to my first book in my fantasy series or pitch media outlets for three months around my non fiction self help book on dealing with anxiety. If you want help with book marketing, you can hire vetted professionals from the Reedsy marketplace and find people on the alliance of Independent Authors Partner member list. While I have hired specific people over the years for short term marketing campaigns, I primarily do my own marketing. Here are some principles that will help you if you choose to do the same. 1. Reframe marketing as Creative Sharing Many authors feel that marketing and sales are negative in some way, but that attitude makes the whole thing more difficult. Whether you have a traditional book deal or you self publish, you have to learn to market if you want to sell books. So it's time to reframe what marketing is marketing is sharing what you love with people who will appreciate hearing about it. Marketing is not shouting buy my book every day on social media or accosting readers in bookstores or at author events. You should never be pushing anything on those who are not interested. Instead, try to attract people who will love what you do once they know about it. We're readers too, and we all love to find new books to immerse ourselves in. So think about other readers in the same way. If you've written a great story in a genre that you love, why would you ever be embarrassed about promoting it ethically to fans of that genre? If you've written a book on gluten free weight loss, it's likely that you've achieved success with your method. You're trying to help people, so why wouldn't you want to spread the word? Once you change your attitude, the whole marketing landscape shifts. It becomes far more positive when you're sharing things you love and attracting like minded people. If you start enjoying marketing and make it a sustainable part of your creative life, you'll find it works a whole lot better and might even be fun. 2. Focus on the reader. Writing is about you. Publishing is about the book. Marketing is about the reader. When we write, we are in our own heads. We're thinking about ourselves. But when we publish a market, we have to switch our heads around to the other side of the equation and consider the person who reads or listens to the book and what they want out of the experience. Step outside your own head and ask these who is my ideal reader? What emotion or outcome do they crave? What problem am I solving or what entertainment experience am I providing? The answers will help you with the words and images you use in marketing to attract the right readers. 3. Own your platform. When you write a book, you need to have somewhere to direct people so they can find out information about you and what you write. There are many options for building your home on the Internet, but an important consideration is who owns the site you build on. If you use a free site, it's owned by someone else, whereas if you pay for hosting, you control it. You can back it up and make sure it's always available. This matters because things change over time. Some authors let their publisher build a website for them, but what if you begin working with a different publisher? Some authors just use a Facebook page, but what about when Facebook changes the rules as they have done several times over the years? Some authors use a free website service, but if that company disappears or gets bought or decides your book isn't appropriate. What happens to your site? If you're serious about writing and selling books for the long term, then consider owning your website. You can do all kinds of other things to market your book, but at least you'll always have somewhere to send people. Equally, it's important to build your own email list of readers who like your books because again, who knows what will happen in the future with the book retailers or the publishers you use. If you have an email list of readers, you can always sell books whatever changes come along. You can find the services I use and more [e-mail] website. Email help 4. Build a cohesive author Brand branding is your promise to the reader. It's the words, images and emotions that surround your work and the way readers think of you. Many authors consider using a pseudonym or different names if they write books aimed at separate audiences. I write under JF Pen for my fiction and memoir and Joanna Penn for my non fiction. For authors. I have different types of books with almost completely different audiences, so I need separate brands. Book cover design also expresses brand and differs by genre. You should have some idea of the books and authors that are similar to yours. Examine their book covers and the colour palette they use as well as their author websites. What words, images and colours do they use? What emotional resonance does their brand present? How does it make you feel as a reader? Now try to apply those principles to your own author brand. If you're struggling with brand, don't worry, it will emerge and become clearer over time as you find your voice and attract an audience over multiple books. When I started out, I published everything under Joanna Penn and eventually split my author brand to make things clearer for readers as well as myself. But it took five books and several years before I understood that that was the right decision for me. 5. Find marketing that fits your personality Double down on being human if you want a sustainable career as an author, you need to consider what kinds of marketing you can consistently do over time. You can't fake it or force yourself to do things you hate. Marketing needs to fit with your personality and your lifestyle and that will differ for everyone. You also need to be personal and in an age of AI, double down on being human. The more you share authentically, the more people will get to know, like and trust you and the more likely they are to want to buy your books. Of course you have to draw your personal line in the sand. I don't share pictures of my family on social media and some authors use codenames for their children so they can talk about being a parent while still protecting privacy. You also need to know what's best for managing your energy. I'm an introvert so I find in person events and group things difficult and I tend to avoid in person marketing. I also don't watch video online so I produce little of it it and I don't do short form video like TikTok or Instagram reels. I listen to a lot of podcasts and audiobooks so audiobook marketing is my primary channel. I have two shows, the Creative Pen podcast for writers which markets my Joanna Pen books and my books and travel podcast which is for my JF Pen side. The shows go out on audio podcast feeds and also onto my two YouTube channels. I also like taking photos so I use Instagram fpenauthor and also share on X at the Creative Pen. I share pictures of my travels and what I'm up to for research and my cats and over time I've become a lot more open about what I like. For example, I'm a taphophile. I enjoy walking around graveyards and I love ossuaries and crypts as well as art, history and cultural aspects of death and memento mori. Remember you will die. It turns out there are many people with gothic leanings like me and people even send me photos of their favourite graveyards from all over the world. Now, sharing details about your interests might not be an obvious path to book sales, but attracting readers slowly over time in an authentic way can underpin a sustainable long term career. 7. Balance short term and Long Term Marketing New authors often focus on the launch of their latest book, but most indie authors and publishing companies make more money from the backlist. Older books with more reviews and a sales history. A book is always new to someone who has just discovered it and that new book might not be your latest release. Short term marketing is a good option for new releases, for campaigns like a Kickstarter, or if you want to push a first in series book from your backlist to introduce people to your work. These kinds of campaigns usually include some form of paid marketing which can drive a sales spike that drops once you stop pumping money and energy into it. It for most authors this is not sustainable. Long term marketing is more about building evergreen assets that drip sales every day. If you want a long term career as an author, you need to think about building a sustainable baseline income money that comes in from your books consistently every month without you having to keep paying for it. Successful long term marketing requires more books on the market, more streams of income, more readers on your email list and consistent content marketing of some kind. It takes time to build but is worth the investment if you want a long term career. The most successful authors combine these two approaches with sustainable marketing strategies. 8. Measure the success of your marketing. If you're not measuring the results of a promotion, how do you know if it worked? Marketing should ultimately result in sales and if you're self published you can measure this easily as you get daily sales figures from the self publishing platforms. You can also check your rankings on the stores and take screenshots before and after the promotion to check results. This is why I prefer online marketing to traditional media and pr. If you have a clickable link associated with your promotion, you can track results and understand what works and what doesn't. When I first started out I had national tv, radio and newspaper coverage, but it had no noticeable impact on my book sales. These days I can pay for a bookbub ad or email my list with a link and see the resulting direct sales spike. Measure promotion results rather than basing your opinion on assumptions or ego metrics, likes and comments rather than sales. Track what matters to your author business sales, income, profit, email subscriber growth, number of reviews and use those to guide your next campaign. 9. Build community and collaborate with other authors Some people say being a writer is lonely, but that is a choice because there are so many different communities you can join in person or online. You can also build one of your own. People want to belong to something, they want to be part of a group and together we can achieve more and the journey will be a lot more fun. I'm a member of the alliance of Independent Authors, which has a thriving community online and also meets up in person at book industry events. I speak at and also attend lots of conferences including Author Nation, the biggest indie author conference in the world. I'm also a member of several Facebook groups for Writing, Craft and Author Business where I check in every few days to see what's going on. I also have my own [e-mail] thecreativepen where I share behind the scenes details about running an author business. Not every group is for every person of course, so you must find the places that feel right for you. But give things a try. Be generous and helpful and a good community member and you will find author friends. Being part of a community can also lead to marketing ideas and opportunities. For example collaborating on email newsletter swaps or book recommendations, joint promotions, multi author bundles and box sets, and cross promotion on podcasts and social media. Remember, as with writing Marketing gets easier with practice. Start small, be consistent and focus on the principles that never change, even as the tools and platforms evolve over time. Marketing your book is not a one time event, but an ongoing process, so take one step at a time and iterate as you go. Experiment to find what works best for your personality and lifestyle for each book and at each stage of your author journey. Once you choose a strategy, commit to it for the long term and you'll build an audience and book sales in a sustainable manner. Different ways to market your book I'm often asked, what's the one thing I should do to market my book? Annoyingly, the answer it depends. It depends on you and your personality, your book, your budget, your goals and definition of success, as well as market conditions. There is no silver bullet, no magic formula that works for every book and every author every time. Here are some ideas you could use to get started. You can find books and courses on every one of these, so if you're drawn to a particular method, dive deeper, learn more, experiment and see what works for you. 1. Write more books if you look at lists of the best known, best loved and richest authors, they generally have a lot of books and have been publishing for many years. We are writers. We write, so it makes sense that the best marketing starts by writing more books. One book is not enough to establish an author career if that's what you want. Even if a single book breaks out and becomes the must read of a particular year, it doesn't mean that readers will buy the next book from that authority. They may not even remember the author's name. But if you have three or four books that offer the same type of experience, and if a reader reads them all, you're likely to have won a fan who will actively look for your next book. Every time you launch something new, more people have a chance to find out about your work. Every time you write in a new genre or publish in a new format, different kinds of people discover you. Some of them will go on to buy or read or listen to more of your work, join your email list, or support you in other ways. For example, perhaps you found me through my show the Creative Pen podcast. Then you downloaded my author blueprint. Then you listened to my craft audiobook, how to Write a Novel, and now you've bought this book book. Or perhaps you found my first thriller, Stone of Fire, as a free promotion through BookBub, and then read all the others in the arcane thriller series before supporting my Kickstarter for book 13, Spear of Destiny. I have a lot of books over many genres written over almost 20 years. So there are many different paths into my body of work which grows over time as I continue to create. This is definitely my favourite way to market. By producing new work you will develop an audience over time as well as finding your voice and increasing your creative self confidence. You will become a better writer with every book so the chances of readers loving your work will also increase. You can also experiment with different forms. Try short stories, short nonfiction or novellas as well as novels and full length non fiction or memoir. Once you have enough material, consider putting multiple books together in a box set or bundle. There are so many possibilities. 2. Write multiple books in a series and link them together. Existing customers will buy more books from an authority if the new book promises the same experience delivered in previous books, whether they are fiction or non fiction. This is why series are so powerful. As a reader, there are some authors I pre order from because I love a particular series even though I might not read the other books they have. I'm loyal to the series characters, even more so than the author because I want to know what happens next and I get an almost guaranteed experience. For nonfiction, there are authors who I trust and whose books I buy because I know they will be interesting, informative and inspiring. If a reader discovers and loves your series when you release book five, they are likely to go back and buy the rest of them, which means more income for you and more satisfaction for the reader. A novel in a series is also faster to write than a standalone title, as you don't have to reinvent the characters and the world. You just need to find your plot and start writing. If you write literary fiction or enjoy writing standalone books, consider the themes that tie your books together and think of ways to encourage people to move between them. You can create interconnected standalones, e.g. books set in the same universe or linked by themes. So recommendation engines connect the dots. Your options expand the more books you write. I have several fiction series with the main being my arcane thrillers, but I also have standalone stories like Catacomb and Death Valley. For non fiction, I have books for authors in a series, but I also have a memoir, Pilgrimage, which is a standalone. While it's easier to market books in a series, I certainly understand the creative urge to write all kinds of different things. 3. Optimize your metadata. Metadata is the information about your book rather than the book itself. It includes your title subtitle, series title, sales description, keyword categories, and your author bio. Some platforms also include data points like reviews and sales history so their recommendation engines understand where your book fits into the ecosystem. We went through this in chapter 2.3, but metadata is a key aspect of marketing. If you find your marketing efforts aren't getting the results you want, make sure you've made the right metadata choices for your book book and change things over time to keep it fresh. 4. Use different price points, strategic discounting and value bundles. The more books you publish, the more flexibility you have with pricing. You also won't be so emotionally attached to any individual book, which makes it easier to play with pricing. If you're in Kindle Unlimited for your ebooks, you get five free days for promotion every 90 days. If you're wide, you can set the price to free on all other stores and Amazon will price match. My first arcane thriller, Stone of Fire, is free on all ebook stores, which brings people into the 13 book series. You can also use limited time discounts, for example, drop the price to $0.99 and promote the sale, introducing your books to new readers who might be hesitant to try a new author at a full price. You can also use fan pricing and launch pricing interspersed with full priced books, rewarding your most loyal readers while still capitalizing on launch momentum and algorithms. If you have books in a series, you can sell bundles at a great price, giving the reader value and putting more money in your pocket, especially if you sell direct. 5 build an email list by offering a reader magnet then stay in touch. Make sure you have a link at the back of your book to a free reader magnet, something that the reader wants if they give you their email address. For my nonfiction, I offer my free Author blueprint [e-mail] Blueprint for Fiction I offer a free [e-mail] free. The call to action for both is in the back of every book and also on my websites, podcasts and social media. And people sign up for these lists every day. Once people are on your email list, stay in touch, let them know about new releases and giveaways and draw them closer to you by sharing personal photos, book recommendations or behind the scenes research. If you're unsure what to email about, join a few successful author lists and see what they're doing. There are lots of email services I use and recommend Kit previously [e-mail] Kit 6. Build a street Team or ARC Team. This group is a subset of your main email list and is made up of readers who want advanced reader copies and who are happy to promote, write reviews and share on social media Some authors have incredibly active ARC teams with extra swag and giveaways as well as events, but you can keep it simple. I have an automated email inviting people to my pen friends list that goes out after six months on my fiction email letter. They get early access to some new books and also free backlist books, and many of them write reviews. You can give away ebooks with watermarks through BookFunnel if you want to protect the files. 7. Ask for reviews to build social proof. You don't need an ARC team to get reviews, you can just ask readers by including a call to action at the back of your books. For example, if you enjoyed the book, please leave a review on the store where you bought it. Thank you. Many authors obsess about getting reviewed in traditional media, but it's more important to build up social proof on the online stores or on Goodreads owned by Amazon. This evidence of reader approval will help you get promotions. For example, bookbub requires a certain number of reviews and a high average review rating before accepting a book for promotion. Free books are the easiest to get reviews on, so if you're struggling to get started, put your book on a free promotion and do some advertising to get downloads. 8. Use social media. There are lots of different social media platforms and each has its own rules and tactics as well as its own demographic. You cannot be successful on all of them, so focus on one or two, learn the right skills for that platform, test out different content and lean into what works. The rise in beautiful print editions, particularly for fiction, has benefited from the trend in social media video, with TikTok videos driving many books up the best seller lists. While social media marketing can be free in terms of money, you will certainly pay with your time. All the platforms reward regular content and engagement, which works for some authors but not for others. There are authors who use social media effectively to drive massive sales and success online, but they put a lot of work in or they hire people to help find successful authors in your niche to follow and model what they do if this is an area you want to focus on. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of social media and use it more to prove I'm a human, sharing photos of my life and book research on Instagram Fpenauthor I also use X at the Creative Pen as a news platform where I learn about new technology and find content to share on my podcast. I also have Facebook Pages, Pinterest boards and a LinkedIn profile, but I'm not particularly active on any site. 9. Use content marketing Content Marketing is my favourite form of marketing and I've built my business around it. It's essentially offering free content in your preferred format that educates, inspires or entertains and attracts people who might also be interested in buying your books, products and services. For nonfiction, I've been blogging and [e-mail] since 2008. I also have a YouTube channel at the Creative Pen. For fiction, I have free short stories, audio and video on YouTube fpenauthor and I also have my books and travel podcast and blog. This content can also be a stream of income. For example, YouTube videos can be monetized with ads, podcasts can include sponsorship and substack newsletters can offer a paid tier alongside free information. Providing quality content over time builds up your site and you personally as an authority and trusted source in a niche. The content remains on your site and you can build up a body of work that continues to attract people over the long term. Content marketing often requires longer form pieces than social media. I create podcast interviews and episodes of 30 minutes to an hour weekly instead of multiple 30 second videos on social media every day. No one has time for both things, so choose what suits you and your personality to help you decide. Ask yourself this what do you currently consume? I walk a lot and listen to podcasts and I rarely scroll social media so it makes sense for me to focus on audio first. Content marketing. I also travel and take a lot of photos for book research which I enjoy sharing on my blog and podcast@booksandtravel page. If you watch a lot of TikTok videos or you love scrolling on Pinterest or reading articles on LinkedIn, then your daily preferences should give you a hint as to what would suit you as a creator. 10. Pitch for podcast or YouTube interviews if you don't want to build up your own content marketing site, you can pitch podcasters, YouTubers or bloggers with your book and appear on their platforms. Do your research to find shows that will be a great fit for your work, then send an effective pitch to a few specifically targeted creators. These interviews are never about selling your book. They are all about giving incredible value to the audience which will make them want to find out more and naturally lead to book sales. Include five bullet points in your pitch about what exactly the audience will find useful and make it easy for the host to understand why you're a good fit. This targeted approach will lead to much greater success than sending hundreds of pictures with a basic press release about your book. 11. Pitch other media for interviews Traditional media still has significant reach and authority, although it's usually more for brand building than direct sales. Start by pitching local newspapers, TV and radio as they are often looking for local success stories and are easier to access than national media. Research which journalists cover your topic or genre at each outlet and look for those who have written similar stories. As with podcast pitches above, you need a hook beyond I wrote a book. Connect your pitch to current events, trends or a unique personal journey. Make sure you have a professional headshot, book cover image, short and long bio and sample interview questions ready to send. 12. Try paid advertising Pay per Click A lot of marketing takes time rather than money, but you can get traffic and sales more quickly if you use paid ads. The most popular and effective pay per click ads for authors are Amazon Advertising meta ads for Facebook and Instagram as well as BookBub ads. Choose which audience to market to either with keywords or target audiences. Set a budget, design the images and let the ads run, paying per click or per impression. You'll need a period of testing and time to monitor and adjust ads and you may find you need to refresh the images or ad copy over time. Most successful indie authors use paid advertising of some kind to drive traffic to their books, but it's certainly not necessary. You need patience to learn the specific platform, test, monitor, analyze and adjust ads. Or you can outsource your advertising, paying someone to run them as well as paying advertising platform costs. This approach is most effective when you have multiple books in a series as cost per click can be expensive if you only have one or two books. I use Amazon ads for some non fiction books and rely on auto ad ads using Amazon's own algorithm to manage them. I also use Meta and bookbub ads as part of short term campaigns at launch or for promotional spikes. 13. Try paid advertising Email Newsletters the most popular email marketing newsletter services are BookBub, featured deals and Free Booksy, Bargain Booksy and other options run by Written word media. With these services you pay to submit your book for a genre promotion and they email their targeted list of readers with a link to your book along with many others. Hopefully you get enough sales to justify the cost. To be clear, you are buying a place on an email blast to readers. You are not buying a list of email addresses. Never do that as it violates anti spam regulation. 14. Try local in Person Marketing While online marketing can be effective for reaching readers all over the world, in person marketing can be rewarding for connections with readers and other authors and can result in significant sales in Person marketing might include speaking at a local networking event or school assembly, literary festival, book club or library, as well as having a bookstall at conventions, conferences, local fairs and markets. Investigate options in your area and balance the costs of setting up a stall and ordering physical stock with the potential for income and local marketing reach 15 collaborate with other authors on joint promotions or events Even the most prolific authors can't satisfy their readers alone, so it's good to develop a network of authors in your genre or those with a crossover audience. You can help promote each other's books and do joint events and promotions together to keep readers reading in your niche. You'll also make author friends and this support is critical for long term success. There are lots of options for collaboration from co writing books, cross promotion in email newsletters to multi author bundles, joint online launch parties, and social media sharing. If you're new or want to expand your network, BookFunnel offers different kinds of group promos. I collaborate with authors in lots of ways and often build relationships and attract opportunities through my podcast interviews. I've co written fiction and nonfiction books, appeared on other shows, promoted authors to my email lists and on social media, and also collaborated on joint author in person events. I've also done bigger paid ad campaigns. In 2014 I was part of the Deadly Dozen where 12 mystery and thriller authors hit the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists with our multi author ebook box sets. We all ran different promotions as well as jointly paying for advertising and we sold over 100,000 ebook bundles and attracted many readers to our email lists. If you want to collaborate with other authors, be generous and helpful and you will attract opportunities. Volunteering at author conferences can also be a great way to build your network. Marketing is an ecosystem. It takes time to build out a sustainable marketing approach that keeps your book selling every month over many years. You can pay for advertising right now and you will drive traffic to your book and hopefully sell some, but as soon as you stop paying, the sales will drop off. The best approach is to think of marketing as an ecosystem made up of multiple aspects around you and your creative work. What do you enjoy doing and what kinds of marketing can you sustain over time? The most successful authors build marketing into their regular routine rather than treating it as a separate painful task to check off as required for each book launch. Marketing is about connecting people with your books. When you genuinely help people find stories they'll love or solutions to their challenges, marketing becomes less about self promotion and more about valuable service. It's an important part of being a successful self published author. So I hope you found the marketing chapters useful and you can get the rest of the book in all editions, some of them for [e-mail] SSP4 and I know marketing can sometimes seem too much, but it's always good to revisit the basics. Many of us established authors still rely on email marketing to our own lists as well as at least one form of traffic generation. For me it's primarily podcasting. For others it might be social media, paid ads, or a combination of it doesn't have to be complicated, but you do have to do something, so let me know what you think. Please leave a comment on the podcast show notes@wcreative pen.com or on the YouTube channel, or email me joannathecreativepenn.com send me pictures of where you're listening or your favourite cemetery or churchyard next Monday. I'm talking about the Art of Translating Memoir with Danny James. In the meantime, Happy Wife and I'll see you next time. Thanks for listening today. I hope you found it helpful. You can find the backlist episodes and show [e-mail] podcast and you can get your free Author [e-mail] Blueprint. If you'd like to connect, you can find me on Facebook and X at the Creative Pen or on Instagram and Facebook F Pen Author Happy writing and I'll see you next time.