Holiday Marketing Tips for Authors
‘Tis the season to get your book in the stockings of readers! On December 6th, the Digital & Social Marketing Club met for a conversation and tutorial on Holiday Marketing for Authors. From gift guides to hashtags to making the most of holiday sale prices, there are tons of actions that authors can take to get their book stuffed in Santa’s sleigh this holiday season.
Your book does not have to be a New York Times bestseller or on the front table at Barnes & Noble this holiday season in order to get noticed. There are readers out there for every book, and this is the time of year when people are engaging more than ever with online retailers. It’s a special time of year, and authors need to push a little harder than normal to get through the “buy me” noise of the season.
Every shopper wants to be a gift-giving hero this time of year. They want to feel original, clever, astute, and tuned-in when they see their loved ones’ eyes light up in a flurry of wrapping paper scraps and ribbon. Your book can make someone a gift-giving hero this year—so let’s make sure they can find it and that you present it as the perfect gift that it is.
About the Digital & Social Marketing Club.
The Hey, Sarah! Digital & Social Marketing Club for Authors is a group that meets every other week to learn new marketing skills from a digital marketing expert (moi!) to gain new skills, get one-on-one help, and enjoy the support of like-minded authors.
Marketing isn’t every author’s favorite thing to do, but when we come together as a group and get the work done with a like-minded group of peers, it actually becomes FUN. This club will build marketing skills for life, and create a supportive environment to test new ideas and try out new methods. Join the club today, and kiss your marketing anxiety goodbye.
The next session is on Creating a Powerful 2019 Editorial Calendar on January 10, 2019. Scroll all the way down to sign up for FREE and get details about the session!
Watch the clips below to see simple, low-cost holiday marketing tips for authors!
1. Take advantage of holiday sale prices.
Often your book may be marked down and you won’t necessarily get an alert about it. Look online for coupons or deals that will give you a great reason to reach out for a fresh promotion. Check out specials from local independent bookstores.
This video clip is a little long.
tl;dw… (too long; didn’t watch)
CHECK Amazon regularly… they change prices on books every single day!
Check Barnes & Noble and other big retailers for special pricing. Follow these retailers online to make sure you stay in the loop on their biggest sales of the season.
Check your publisher for holiday specials—email the publisher’s marketing team to see if they’ve got anything planned.
Contact your local bookstore. Ask about sales that you can promote and see if you can be part of a special local author holiday promotion. Support local stores! They need it now more than ever :)
Share the low prices with your friends, fans, family, along with your publishing team. Keep up the communication and share the great deals on social media!
Hot tip: I use a site called camelcamelcamel.com to get pricing alerts and check my sales rank over time. It’s pretty useful! Watch the video at around
2. Get your book included in gift guides.
So many blogs publish one this time of year! Here’s how you can get your book on Holiday Gift Guides and Best of 2018 wrap-ups!
tl;dw…
Look at your publisher’s gift guide to see how your book can fit in to their categories. Take a look at your agent’s site, or other popular book sites that you could approach to be included.
Ask any bloggers or reviewers you’ve been in contact with if they’re planning a year-end list. Send over why your book would be great fit for them.
Check out Goodreads Listopia and get a friend to add your book to the list. Then share it with your network and ask people to upvote it.
Make it easy to give your book as a gift by pairing it up with other gift items. Create an Amazon Idea List or create a gift guide on your blog with customized gifts from Etsy or Zazzle.
3. Create attractive images to share—make your book look like a gift.
Create cool images for your social media and website to visually remind people that your book would look great under the tree or wrapped up for Hanukkah. I’ll share resources to make the design work fast and easy—and most importantly, make it look like YOU (not like everybody else).
tl;dw…
Take a look at Creative Market’s beautiful options and templates (you’ll probably need to know Photoshop to work with these)
Try free stock sites like Stocksnap.io, Unsplash.com, Pixabay, Pikwizard, and others to find a great background for your book.
Take photographs of your book wrapped up as a gift to show off what a beautiful gift it will make! See examples at around.
4. Find and use gift hashtags + Facebook groups.
News bulletin: a LOT of people this year are searching and talking about gifts this time of year.
Make sure you use the hashtags #holidaygiftguide #giftsforher #booksmakegreatgifts #bestbooksof2018 #christmasgifts and other appropriate choices when you do post about your book.
tl;dw…
Search Instagram and Twitter for the right gift guide hashtags for your book and use them.
Check out what Facebook groups your book might fit into. Joining and participating in a Facebook group can be time consuming, but it grows your community up in a strong way.
When there are local holiday fairs and festivals, see what the conversation is like. If it’s appropriate to share your book in a fun, non-spamming way… go for it!
Join the Next Session! It’s FREE. January 10, 2019 • 12-2pm ET
session details:
How to use free analytics tools like Google Analytics and Facebook Insights to learn more about your audience and the type of topics they like to engage with.
How to conduct a comparative author analysis and learn about what other authors are doing successfully… and how to translate what you learn to your unique voice and style.
How to plan and schedule out your messages (emails, blog posts, and social media posts) in advance, so that you can free yourself up to discover new ways to authentically connect with readers.
I’ll share an overview of different social media research and scheduling tools so you can see how each one operates.
We’ll talk about the best days and times to share, how many times to post and tweet each link, and more.
…And much more! You’ll leave the session with fresh, fun ideas—PLUS after this one session, you’ll have made serious progress toward your marketing goals.