Home » #AuthorToolBoxBloghop: 9 Best Book Marketing Websites

Best Book Marketing Websites

#AuthorToolBoxBloghop: 9 Best Book Marketing Websites

This post is part of the #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop, the brainchild of  Raimey Gallant. There are over thirty authors participating in the blog hop this month, each sharing on a topic related to writing, publishing or marketing. There are three great ways to follow the blog hop:

  1. Check out the list of participating websites on the main blog hop page
  2. Follow the #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop hashtag on Twitter and other social media sites
  3. Visit the #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop board on Pinterest

So … on to my 9 favourite book marketing websites.

I’m not yet published. Well, not in a book sense. I’ve got thousands of words published online in the form of hundreds of book reviews and blog posts–my book review blog will hit 1,000 posts in a couple of months, and at least 80% of those posts are reviews.

Even though I’m not yet published, I’ve been studying the art and science of writing, editing, publishing, and marketing for several years. If there’s one thing I’ve learned on the road to publication, it’s this:

Marketing starts a long time before you publish.

Which means everyone who wants to publish should have at least a passing awareness of current marketing trends. And there is a lot of marketing advice out there—some excellent, some good, and some downright misleading.

(I think the worst was the one which advised readers to add everyone they knew to their “opt-in email list”. Had she heard of the CAN-SPAM Act? Did she understand the meaning of the words, “opt in”? I can only assume not.)

Anyway, today I’m sharing the nine websites I find most useful when it comes to identifying book marketing trends.

1. BookBub

BookBub is the gorilla in the room of book marketing. They charge authors hundreds of dollars to advertise in one of their genre-specific daily emails, and turn down more potential advertisers than they accept. I’ve only heard of one author who didn’t make her money back on a BookBub ad (the book was middle grade fiction, so it doesn’t altogether surprise me. My kids are on their devices 24/7, but still prefer paper books).

But the power of BookBub’s featured advertisements isn’t why they are on my list. BookBub analyses their sales and other data to provide detailed articles on what sells, and what doesn’t. And that’s worth reading.

Chris Syme

Chris Syme is the owner of Smart Marketing for Authors, and the author of Sell More Books With Less Social Media, and the soon-to-be-published Sell More Books With Less Marketing. She also co-hosts a book marketing podcast with her daughter, bestselling romance author Becca Syme.

Reading Sell More Books with Less Social Media was a lightbulb moment for me, one of those times when someone says something that seems obvious, yet I’d never seen it before:

Not all authors are at the same level when it comes to writing and publishing, and our marketing needs to take that into account.

Dan Blank

Dan Blank is the owner of WeGrow Media, who help authors connect with readers. He has recently published Be The Gateway, where he shows authors how to research and understand their target audience, then work out how best to connect with those people. It’s about playing the long game in an industry where many people are looking for quick wins.
Be the Gateway
I like Dan’s philosophy of marketing—it’s similar to Tim Grahl, and is one I can embrace as someone who hates asking for the sale (something I’m working on). I enjoy reading his blog posts and newsletters—like his recent post reinforcing the importance of word-of-mouth marketing.

David Gaughran

David Gaughran is the author of Let’s Get Digital (why authors should consider digital self-publishing), and Let’s Get Visible. He was the first author to show me the importance of understanding and using Amazon algorithms to drive sales. The books are a few years old (and I read them both as new releases), so the information may have dated a little.

The other reason I like and follow David is because of his personal war against the vanity publishing, and the valuable information he provides on their various schemes. You might not think so, but this is marketing as well: it’s part of Product, one of the four Ps of marketing strategy.

Joel Friedlander

Joel Friedlander is The Book Designer. He hosts the monthly Cover Design Awards, where he critiques author-submitted covers. He also hosts a monthly Carnival of the Indies, a round-up of what’s new in indie publishing (and writing, and marketing). He also attracts guest posts from some of the top names in digital publishing.

Rachel Thompson

Rachel Thompson of BadRedHeadMedia is the mind behind #MondayBlogs and the weekly #BookMarketingChat on Twitter.

She’s also the author of The 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge, which was the inspiration behind my own KickStart Your Author Platform challenge. Rachel doesn’t pull her punches, and brings twenty-plus years of pharmaceutical sales experience to her marketing advice.

Seth Godin

Seth Godin invented the idea of permission-based marketing, that we should work to grow a tribe of people who support us and our work. He posts a short blog post each day, and all are worth reading.

The Buffer Blog

I love Buffer. I loved their free version, and I love the Awesome plan even more. Buffer enables me to manage my social media sharing without going mad. Hootsuite has similar functionality, but I find the Buffer interface much more user friendly.

But that’s not the reason Buffer is on this list. They’re on my list because of their blog. They share millions of social media posts, and collect information on the performance of those posts. That enables them to write meaty blog posts that answer a lot of social media questions: when is the best time to post? How many times a day should you post? Do you need to use hashtags? Images? Which social media networks perform best?

Buffer knows, and Buffer tells us.

Tim Grahl

Tim is the owner of Outthink Group. He is the author of Your First 1,000 Copies (which preaches the importance of building an email list and using those connections to market your book), and The Book Launch Blueprint (which reinforces the importance of building an email list, and using those connections to launch your book).

He’s not about sell-sell-sell. He’s about building meaningful connections, about getting permission to contact people (through the email list), delivering relevant content, and outreaching from there.

It’s been several years since I read Your First 1,000 Copies. I’ve recently realised that while I’m doing Permission and Content reasonably well, I need to work on Outreach.

That’s my list of the best book marketing websites. What are yours?

 



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22 comments

  1. Mica Kole says:

    Awesome resources! And another good reminder that I need to get on creating my dang newsletter. Thanks for the boost. I’ll have to think about these again when I’m marketing.

    • Iola says:

      Based on what I’ve learned in these books, I’d say don’t let worrying about what to put in a newsletter stop you from the more important thing – building an email list.

      Do you have something you can offer people as an incentive to sign up? Or some blog posts you could combine into a pdf and use as a giveaway?

      Add in a couple of older blog posts that introduce you and your writing, and you’ve got the start of an automation sequence. MailChimp now offers free automation for up to 2,000 subscribers.

    • Iola says:

      Because we can never read too much, right? I hope you find my suggestions are useful!

      (And isn’t the blog hop great? So many excellent posts.)

  2. M. C. Frye says:

    This is great info, and thanks so much for compiling and sharing it. Every time I turn around I find there’s a whole new skillset I need to learn before finishing and launching my book!

    • Iola says:

      It can get frustrating – just when you’ve learned one skill (writing, editing, publishing), you find you need to learn another. And there is so much information around – and not everyone agrees!

  3. Iola, such a fantastic list. I’m bookmarking this post right now. There. Bookmarked. I’m particularly interested in the top few sites you mentioned, and was already tuned into a few of the latter. Thanks again!

  4. Lyndsey says:

    This is a fantastic resource Iola, thank you so much for collating the list and sharing it. I love Seth Godin’s blog, but I find myself following as the best advice at work (marketing for an accounting firm) and forgetting it when it comes to my writing! I’ll definitely check some of these guys out and get on top of my marketing

    • Iola says:

      I like Seth’s blog because it is short and to-the-point … and most of his advice is actually good life advice, not just good marketing advice.

  5. Great post filled with lots of new ideas. The only two on your list I’ve heard of before were BookBub and Tim Grahl (who hosts The Book Launch Show podcast that I listen to regularly). I’m very excited to explore these other options.

    • Iola says:

      Thank you!

      I don’t listen to a lot of podcasts, but I do listen to Tim Grahl’s. It’s short and to-the-point, which I like. I don’t have time to listen to long podcasts – I might if I had a long commute, but I work from home.

      Are there any other podcasts you recommend?

  6. Chris Syme says:

    I am humbled and excited to be included on your list Iola. I’m in good company here. I know every one of these websites and would also recommend them. You are a rock star–thanks.

  7. You’re so kind to include me, Iola! I’m humbled to be an inspiration for you — please let me know how your author platform challenge is going, too.

    I love all of the people and resources you mentioned, too. Top list!

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