Getting your book out there is hard. Let’s make it a little easier this new year.

Happy new year!

So, you’ve finished your book. The edits are complete. The cover is designed. The arc readers are lined up and ready to go. Wait, what?

Yup. Apparently you need to have a bunch of them, ready with glowing reviews before your book even launches. And that’s just the start of it. ARC (advance reader copies) readers, author websites, pre-order campaigns, book promotion, book marketing, social media management, email newsletters… It all just sounds a bit much. Especially if you’re an introverted writer type who wants to spend most of their free time actually writing.

Some people find it easy. Some people are sexy and disgustingly charismatic (how dare they). Some people have a full arsenal of hype skills to fall back on, or connections to help them along their way.

So, what are the rest of us supposed to do?

Here’s where I come in. I worked as a marketer and social media manager for a number of small to medium sized businesses before becoming an author. And it looks like the game hasn’t changed all that much since I left, so let’s look at some options. Here are 3 ways you can generate awareness of your book in 2024…

1) Social media

The pros:
Social media is the great equaliser. For the cost of zero monies, you can create a profile on a number of different platforms and start building a following almost immediately.

It’s also a great way to connect with others. You can build a community and collaborate with other authors and writers. You can build friendships, a support structure, and find writing groups easier than ever before.

The cons:
It takes time and ongoing effort. You can’t just make a post, hope it will go viral and that’s that. Sure, you can ‘buy’ followers from questionable sources, but those won’t be real connections. Most of them will be bot accounts, and won’t help you reach a real audience or sell any books.

Social media is constant, chaotic, and loud. You are in a room, shouting “read my book”, surrounded by hundreds of other people also shouting “read my book”. There are so many of us, all trying to do the same thing. It can be difficult to stand out in such a crowd.

Build a following:

1) Pick your battles. Many of us only have a short window of free time every day to make posts and share them. Choose a couple of platforms and make those your arena. If you only have the time/energy for 1, do that. My personal suggestion is to find 3 platforms and design posts on 1 that can translate across each of them.

For example: if you make Tiktok your main output, focus on making posts there. Then, share them to Twitter/X or Instagram. The goal here is to maximise views efficiently and get out to people.

2) Know thy enemy. Every social medial platform has its own ‘flavour’, timezones, and hashtag use. You will need to learn what to post and when. You need to make sure you post when your desired audience is likely to be most active. Get familiar with timing posts. On many platforms, you can make drafts and set a timer for when a post goes live. For some platforms like Tiktok, adding a location can help gain traction with posts – you don’t have to be specific, but just adding something like ‘united kingdom’ or ‘London’ can make a difference.

Also look at how each platform utilises hashtags – if you use too many on some, you can actually be penalised in terms of views. Use a hashtag that’s too vague or popular and you’ll be lost in the crowd. Try to find ones that reflect your posts the best and go from there.

3) Strength in numbers. Engage with other authors, writers, reviewers and readers. Make your goal to befriend and build, and you’ll soon find that others will seek you out. Building a community will ensure you have a support network of your peers.

4) Never back down never what??? Like the noble honey badger, you must persist and be active. Make your posts when you have the time, schedule them, and schedule them regularly. Like I said, you can’t just post once and that’s that. You have to be consistent.

2) Website/Blog/Newsletter

I know, I know. I’ve combined 3 things into 1. Sue me.

A lot of blogs about book marketing will tell you to create a e-newsletter and send it out to your readers. Email marketing is fantastic if you’re selling lots of products, or if you already have a loyal fanbase. If you’re a new author (and you don’t have a publishing house behind you), this advice is kinda meaningless. There’s just not enough hours in the day for most people.

That said, if you did want to set up a newsletter, it’s handy to have a website. A website is a central hub for all your authory stuff, and you can set up an online shop to sell your books and any merch you want to create. And, instead of a newsletter, maybe consider a blog? You could write about your book, storylines, your experience with writing, etc, and build a subscriber base from there… Did you know, WordPress lets you set these up for free??? Amazing.

With a website and a blog, you can type till the cows come home and include lots of nice, juicy keywords for the ol’ Google algorithm, such as ‘marketing’, and ‘debut author’ and ‘writing hacks for the 21st century’. It’s easier than ever to create a free website and set up a blog. You can also link up your blog with social media platforms, allowing you to reach multiple audiences with one click.

Quick tip: using free design tools like Canva, you can create great looking posts in minutes. Design your own blog and social media headers using templates – it’ll give your website and blog instant professional appeal.

3) Get out there!

Attend conventions, fairs, writing events – if you’re able. If you attend comic conventions, talk to the organisers and see if you can get a table. Look up your local events (Google is your friend here) and see if you can be a part of it. Usually, getting a table is cheap, and if you can get some promo materials printed for it, great.

Things to consider:
1) KDP select: If you sell via Amazon KDP and don’t have your own ISBNs, you might need to check where else you can sell your book.

2) Genre. If, like me, you’ve written a horror with lots of violence, you might not want to book an appearance at a church faire, or a school, but it might do well at an anime or comic book convention. Consider your audience before sending that email.

This isn’t something I’ve tried yet, but I’ve seen others suggest getting in contact with a local library, or independent book shops (or board game shops/cafes depending on your genre) to see if they’ll let you do a reading/signing. In my opinion, this is one of those things that could be risky. I’ve seen a lot of posts from people lamenting a zero attendance turn out.

If you’re going to do this, I would suggest getting at least a few close friends/relatives as seat fillers, so even if others don’t show, you can get some good photos. Make sure you invite people in advance, and consider offering a promotion to get butts in seats. Maybe whip up something that you can give people for attending, like some merch or a free e-book.

Hopefully I’ve given you some ideas that will help your 2024 book sales bloom!

I could talk about this stuff forever, so I’ll probably make more posts on this topic. What did you think? Did I miss anything? Let me know your thoughts in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer.