Advertising Books on Amazon Book Marketing

My Amazon KDP Advertising Campaign Strategy for Authors: Don’t Run Ads on Your Books Until You Read This!

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I’m hoping I’ve caught you at that pivotal moment before you are running your first ad to your book on Amazon, because what I am about to tell you is going to save you SO MUCH MONEY.

When it comes to book marketing, you really can’t do any better than paid ads on Amazon.  They are cheap (if you do them right), targeted (if you do them right), and can really help your career and your book sales (again, if you do them right).  Amazon ads are not just the best way to advertise Amazon products.  They are absolutely the best way to sell more books.

However, here is my bold and somewhat controversial statement: your book is probably not ready for paid ads.

I know, I know. That’s not what you wanted to hear. But bear with me. I’ve seen countless authors pour money into ads, only to see little or no return. Why? Because their books weren’t set up for success in the first place. Before you dive into advertising, let’s ensure you’re not making some of the most common (and costly) mistakes.

Here are the most common reasons books aren’t ready for ads:

1. You Don’t Have a Reader Magnet / Email Signup Inside Your Book

This is my number one “do not pass go, do not spend a single penny on ads” rule.
One huge problem with the whole self-publishing industry is that no one tells indie authors about the “missing piece” of marketing, which is that you should 100% not be paying for advertising unless you have a means of capturing readers and making them your subscribers. You do that by placing a link (or a QR code) inside your book to a freebie you will give them in exchange for joining your email list. If you do not have that, please stop what you’re doing and get my free book on this very subject. Amazon will take your money any time of the day or night but do not give them that money unless you have this one piece set up. This is how you ultimately win with paid advertising— by using it to build an email list of super fans that will buy all of your books when they come out so you’re not starting over with every launch.

Here’s the reality: when you sell a book on Amazon, you’re selling to their customers, not yours. Amazon is never going to tell you who bought your book or give you access to their information. If you don’t encourage readers to sign up for your email list, you’re throwing away the chance to turn Amazon’s customers into your customers.

Let’s crunch some numbers. Say you get super lucky and your book becomes a bestseller. You sell 25,000 books without a reader magnet. That’s 25,000 missed opportunities to grow your email list. With a strong reader magnet, you could easily convert 25% of those buyers into email subscribers—that’s 6,250 people on your list! A list of that size could help you launch your next book to bestseller status on day one. Without it, you’ll start from scratch every single time.

So, before you invest in ads, set up a reader magnet and link it inside your book. This step is free and invaluable.

2. Your Cover Isn’t Competitive

Your book cover is your #1 advertisement. If it doesn’t look professional or doesn’t meet the standard for your genre, you’re going to lose money.

Take a screenshot of your book cover and compare it to the top 5–10 bestsellers in your niche. For example, when I searched for “shape shifter romance” on Amazon, here is what I found:

My point with this exercise?  If you write shifter romance, your cover should look like this (or better).

What about your genre/ niche? Does your cover stand out in a good way? If not, allocate your ad budget to a professional redesign. Your book’s success starts with its first impression.

3. You Didn’t Do Keyword Research

Keywords are the backbone of Amazon’s algorithm, and if you skipped this step, your ads are likely to fail.

Why?  Because remember those seven back-end keyword boxes you filled out when you uploaded your book? They tell Amazon what your book is about.

Oh, did you not fill those in?  Well, that’s part of the reason no one can find your book, and paid advertising is not going to fix that problem.

Without proper keyword research, Amazon’s advertising engine might show your book for completely unrelated searches—wasting your money on clicks from people looking for bat spatulas or garden gloves.

Before you advertise, revisit your keywords using tools like Publisher Rocket or Amazon’s search suggestions. Make sure your keywords align with what readers in your genre are actively searching for.

4. You Didn’t Do a Competitive Analysis

Competitive analysis is critical. How does your book stack up against the bestsellers in your genre? If you didn’t do this step, you might not realize that your book is missing the mark in obvious ways. For example, is your pricing way off for your genre/ niche? Is your book much longer/ much shorter than other books in your genre/ niche? Do books like yours only succeed if they are part of a series? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, you didn’t do a thorough enough competitive analysis. Please go back and do that.  Here’s a guide.

Advertising should build on a solid foundation. If your book isn’t competitive, ads will only highlight its shortcomings.

5. Your Book Doesn’t Have Reviews

Reviews are social proof, and they’re essential for converting clicks into sales. If your book has zero reviews (or very few), it’s going to struggle against books with hundreds of glowing ratings.

Spend time gathering reviews before you advertise. Send ARCs (Advance Review Copies) to readers or reach out to reviewers in your genre. Building this foundation will make your ads much more effective. Here’s a whole article/ resource guide about how to get reviews if you don’t have any (or don’t have enough).

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If you have made it all the way through this “your book is not ready” gauntlet, are not mad at me yet (chances of this seem pretty low), and you do, in fact, have all of these things in place, then hurrah!  Let’s run an ad.  I always start out with a “general/ automated targeting” ad for the first week, just to see what Amazon thinks my book is about and to see what they suggest.

Let’s go through the setup process together the first time, because I believe Amazon actually WANTS you to rush through the advertising setup for your book. When you rush, they make money. They are counting on the fact that you don’t even want to be paying for advertising (or marketing your book) in the first place, and that you are going to try to get through setting up paid advertising as quickly as possible. 

“Automatic targeting,” in case you don’t know, is when you  tell Amazon “You go ahead and pick the keywords/ products to advertise my book against.”

Here’s why this is a smart starting point:

  1. Simplicity: You don’t need to research keywords or analyze competitors right away.
  2. Data Gathering: Automated ads provide insights into which keywords and audiences perform well for your book, which you can use later in manual campaigns.
  3. Cost-Effective Testing: You can set a low daily budget and test how your book performs before investing more heavily.

Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up an Automated Targeting Ad

Follow these steps to create your first Automated Targeting campaign:

1. Log into Your Amazon Advertising Dashboard and Find Your Book

Here’s an example:  this is my book, “How to Market a Book,” and this is where I would go to run the paid ads for it:

 

 

If your book is in KDP (which I’m assuming it is, since you are trying to learn about paid advertising strategies), click on “Promote and Advertise” as indicated above.  If you’re advertising the Kindle edition, it’s right there on the side.  If you’re advertising the paperback or hardcover, just click on the three little dots, then select “Promote and Advertise.”

 

I’m sure this goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway:  if you’re trying to be thorough, you’ll need to start all of the different ad types for each version of your book (and by that I mean Kindle eBook, Paperback, and Hardcover), because each one of those is a completely different book in Amazon’s eyes and each one has its own sales and BSR (bestseller rank).  Many authors choose to just start a set of ads on the Kindle eBook edition just to test the waters.

Here’s the first screen we see after clicking on “Promote and Advertise” for the eBook.  My book is not in KDP Select (the book itself has a whole chapter on why but I won’t bore you with that now), so I’m just picking “Run an Ad Campaign” and selecting the US marketplace.  Annoyingly, you will need to open an advertising account for each of the different markets where you want to run ads for your books, because despite being a multi-billion dollar company, Amazon has not figured out how to streamline this interface.

When I choose “.com” and click the yellow “Create an ad campaign” button, I then see this screen:

Again, not sure why Amazon makes it so annoyingly difficult for us to spend our money with them, but here we are.  You want “Sponsored Products” for the purposes of this example.   The other two options are a little more advanced and shouldn’t really be offered to you at this point, since you are just trying to get over the hump of running your first ad.  So, go ahead and click the blue “Continue” button under “Sponsored Products.”

Great!   Now we are faced with a bunch of other choices.   Hang in there!  We’re going to get through this!

2. Set Your Ad Format and Name Your Ad Group

This box defaults to “custom ad text,” which is weird because that forces you to write ad copy, making it even less likely that you are going to actually launch an ad.   I have tested both and have found absolutely no advantage to doing this, so I recommend you just set it to “Standard ad” and move on.  If you decide you want to test an ad with some custom copy in the future, you can start a new ad for that.

Name your ad group something that is easy to remember.  Yes, this is your very first ad, but if you love paid advertising you’ll be starting a bunch more, so you’ll need to be able to quickly tell them apart.

Next up is the “Products” screen, and if they didn’t select your book already, go ahead and find/ select it.

3. Select Targeting Type

  • When prompted, choose Automated Targeting. This lets Amazon decide which keywords and product pages are most relevant to your book.

4. Set Your Bidding Strategy

  • Amazon will suggest a default bid. Stick with this for now or slightly reduce it to stay conservative.
  • Choose one of the following bidding strategies:
    • Dynamic Bids – Down Only: Amazon lowers your bid if it determines the ad is less likely to convert.
    • Dynamic Bids – Up and Down: Amazon adjusts your bid up or down depending on conversion likelihood.
    • Fixed Bids: Your bid remains constant.

For beginners, Dynamic Bids – Down Only is a safe choice as it helps control costs.

5. Create Your Ad Group

  • Ad Group Name: Use something clear, like “Book Title – Auto Ad Group.”
  • Select the Book: Choose the book you want to advertise from your catalog.

6. Set Your Default Bid

  • Start with Amazon’s suggested bid. If you want to play it safe, you can lower it by 10–20% to control costs during your initial test.

7. Launch Your Campaign

  • Review your campaign settings to ensure everything looks good, then click “Launch Campaign.”

Monitoring Your Campaign

Once your ad is live, monitoring its performance is crucial. Here’s what to watch for:

  1. Impressions: This shows how many times your ad has been displayed. Low impressions may indicate that your bid is too low.
  2. Click-Through Rate (CTR): A good CTR (around 0.5% or higher) means your ad is catching readers’ attention.
  3. Cost-Per-Click (CPC): Monitor how much you’re paying per click. Keep your CPC in line with your budget and profit margin.
  4. Sales and ACOS (Advertising Cost of Sale): ACOS is the percentage of your ad spend relative to sales. Lower ACOS means better profitability.

Tips for Success with Automated Ads

  1. Optimize Your Book’s Metadata: Before running ads, make sure your book’s keywords, categories, and description are optimized. These elements influence where Amazon places your ad.
  2. Set a Realistic Budget: Start small and scale up based on performance. It’s better to spend cautiously while you learn.
  3. Give It Time: Ads take time to gather data. Don’t panic if you don’t see immediate results—let the campaign run for at least 2–3 weeks before making major adjustments.
  4. Analyze and Adjust: Review your ad’s performance weekly. If your CTR is low, consider improving your book’s cover or description to make it more appealing.

Final Thoughts

I’m 99% sure your book is not ready for paid advertising yet, but if it is, starting with an Automated Targeting ad is a smart way to ease into Amazon Advertising. It’s low-risk, beginner-friendly, and provides valuable insights that can guide your future campaigns. By letting Amazon’s algorithm handle the targeting initially, you can focus on learning the ropes and refining your strategy.

Remember, successful advertising is a marathon, not a sprint. Start small, monitor your results, and adjust your approach as you gather data. With time and effort, you’ll be well on your way to reaching new readers and boosting your book’s visibility.

If you’ve fixed your book and have run an initial automated ad, great!  Click here for the next part in the series, the keyword ad. 🙂

 

 

Author Websites

What Goes on An Author Website?

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Oh my gosh, it’s two of my favorite subjects in one post:  websites and books.  Lucky me!  Lucky  you!

I’m joking.  You might not feel lucky if you’re right at the beginning of the “setting up your website” process.  It’s hard to get your head around all that technological stuff, especially when you have a near-permanent headache from writing and editing (and possibly publishing!) an entire book.

We’re here to talk “what belongs on your author website,” so let’s do that.  By the way, if you have no website at all, can I please recommend my book “Funny You Should Ask:  How to Make a Website“?  It’s a little companion guide (with humor thrown in to make all the tech crap go down easier) on how to make a website from beginning to end using WordPress. I promise you will feel like a genius when you’re done with it and you have your own author site you can send people to.

Here’s what goes on that site:

1.  Your FirstNameLastName.com domain.   I don’t recommend websites for individual books anymore, because you are not going to want to do the maintenance on multiple sites.  Just get one “mothership” site that can serve as your center of your author platform, and move on.  Just get this from NameCheap and do not overpay.  If someone else has your same name and you can’t get the .com, try the .net or the .org.  If you can’t find any of those, try your name with your middle initial.  If those are still a no-go, add “author” or “writer” or “writes.”  Keep trying until you find a domain that is around $10. Use NameCheap.com for that.

2.  Your books.  This might go without saying, but I’m saying it.  Put your books on your website.  Use BookLinker to create the “my book with all the places to buy it” code.   Seth Godin is (of course) doing a great job of this right here.

3. Your email signup, preferably with a free giveaway.  You won’t have to read very far into this website to learn that I think your email list is the most important thing in a working author’s life.  Here’s a free book all about that so I can convince you and teach you how to set it up.  Don’t sleep on the list!

4.  Links to (or snippets from) your social media.   Some people will want to follow you on one or more social media accounts to see what you’re up to, and you should give them that chance by putting those links on your website (which can be easily handled with various WordPress plugins).  Just make sure all of your social media is appropriately branded and links back to that main author site (so people can get on your list, of course!).  This will depend on the social media platform on which you’re the most active, but it can be a nice addition and add energy to your author website to pull a feed of your social media through there.

5.  A contact form so agents and publishers can get ahold of you to offer you a million dollar book deal, or potential clients can reach you if you are some kind of consultant or freelancer, or readers can send you nice emails about how much they loved your books.

6.  Photos of you, just so people can put a face to a name.   If you’re setting up an author site for a pen name, you might want to use stock photos or a photo of a pet.

7.   Your bio.  Use this to build authority if you’re a non-fiction author, and to pique people’s interest if you write fiction.  Tell people a little about yourself, your experience, your background, and what you’ve written.

8.  Your blog.  This can be great for SEO (especially if you write non-fiction), but either way it is nice to give people free samples of your writing so they can like it, get on your list, and buy your books.  Did I mention I want people to get on your list?

9.  “Resources/ Tools”  This is where you would put links you mention in books, things you always tell people about in your real life, or things you use yourself.  You can also use this for a little affiliate marketing if you recommend things.  Joanna Penn does a great job with this on her website:  https://www.thecreativepenn.com/tools/

10.  Links to other articles you’ve written.   This can also help build your credibility.  If you write for any online publications, be sure to also try to link back to your main author website from there, because those backlinks are great for your website (especially if it is brand new).

So– now you know what goes ON your author site.   How are you going to put it all together?

That’s where my book comes in.

Here’s the thing. I know that no one really WANTS to learn this kind of technical stuff, but I tried to make it fun with some Culwell-like humorous writing thrown in there to make you laugh along the way. This marks the first time I have ever mixed technical writing like this with my “humorous” writing, and it actually turned out to be fun! I hope it is well received, because I have the next book in the series all planned out. Maybe my new niche will be “teaching people boring-ish technical things while entertaining them along the way.”

I know I have told many of you over the years that you definitely need a website. This is still very much true, and now is your chance to have me walk you through making one!

 

Anyhow, real talk: if you need a website, this book is worth the price of admission. Even if you are not going to do the whole site yourself, you will learn enough by reading through it to save yourself hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars.

 

Get the book!!

Advertising Books on Amazon

Amazon Advertising KDP– Worth It?

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I hang out in a lot of Facebook groups and sub-Reddits for self-published authors, and one of the most seemingly eternal debates is “Is Amazon Paid Advertising Worth it?”

Well, that depends.  Are you Jeff Bezos?   I’m sure it’s always worth it for him!

Kidding!

Paid advertising on Amazon is totally worth it, but you have to have a few things in place to make it pay off for you.  The first thing you want to do is read this post, because it’s going to help you avoid giving Amazon an all-access pass to spend your money however they would like. I have a four-part strategy for Amazon advertising that I have (begrudgingly) evolved over many years of writing and publishing, and it works well for me.  Before authors start randomly throwing money at Amazon Advertising, though, I strongly recommend they put links inside all of their books that leads to a landing page (either on their site or their email service), giving the reader something for free.  This “incentivized signup” strategy is really effective because readers are already reading your book and liking your work, so there is never a better time to offer them something for free.

If you don’t have that part set up already, that is fine, but don’t run ads yet.   Alot of authors are holding out on setting this up because they don’t have websites yet, which I get, but you can set up a landing page through your email service, and I’ve covered three email services that offer free introductory accounts in this book.  It’s free!  What do you have to lose?

So, yes– Amazon Advertising for books is totally worth it, but you have to make sure you put the legwork in first, to make sure you (and your career) are getting the value out of it.  One good thing to remember is that Amazon Ads are best used when you’re using them to scale a business, not just to sell single books.   If you’re doing that, you’re likely to fall into the trap that this unfortunate person experienced with their book (and the ad that went with it):

Yikes!  This is rough for many reasons!

I’ll tell you why.

First off, this person has spent $41.09 to make 2 sales, totaling $19.98.  That’s already terrible, but it gets even worse when you consider the fact the the sales” number that Amazon shows you is the GROSS amount of money THEY made, not the royalty you earned.  They don’t care about that!  This person makes approximately $3 in royalty per book, so they paid $41.09 to make $6.

Ouch.

The biggest problem with this is (obviously) the bid, which is just way too high.   NEVER take the “suggested bid” that Amazon shows you when you are setting up the ad, or you will end up here, screaming at your computer screen and posting frustratedly in Facebook groups, asking for advice.  This person actually got a lot of clicks for 2,903 impressions, which means their cover is appealing and on-target for the market, but since it took them 27 clicks to make one sale (really that number should be closer to 10), that cost per click would have to have been no higher than 10 cents to make that profitable (27 clicks X 10 cents = $2.70, which is still under the $3 royalty earned per book).

The other story this report is telling me is that something is wrong with the book itself.  I didn’t actually see the book so I don’t know what it is, but if 54 people clicked the ad (the book cover) and only two of them bought the book, that could mean the description sucks, there’s a typo somewhere in the title/ subtitle, or the book’s subject matter could use the “Look Inside” feature (or some A+ Content) but neither of those are present.

Another thing I would speculate about this book is that the keywords are maybe not targeted tightly enough, so maybe those expensive clicks are from buyers that are not targeted enough.  By that I mean that they are sort of interested in the subject matter (thus the click), but when they got to the actual book listing, the book either wasn’t specific enough or was too specific, but either way was not what they thought so they left.

Overall, this ACOS is terrible (even against the gross sales number), so this person has some work to do to make Amazon Ads worth it for them.

How’s that for a long-winded example?  Ha!

To make Amazon Ads worth it for you (meaning they either profit or break even/ get you a new subscriber), you would need to do the following:

— Never take the “suggested bid” for any Amazon ad, especially for a brand-new book.  This is a recipe for disaster!   Again, read this post for my whole argument against taking any of Amazon’s “suggestions.”

— Start your bid at something super low, like 10 or 20 cents.  Pay close attention to how much you make per book, and do not go over the “bid X 10” number, since your ad (or your book) is likely going to take some refining before it starts achieving that metric.

— Make sure your book has an email signup/ link to a freebie in it.  That is the whole topic of this book, which is free and please go read it.  If you’re going to pay for advertising, make sure it’s to build your business, not just for a one-off sale!

Thank you for coming to my Amazon Ads TED Talk.  Remember, if you don’t keep an eye on your ads, it is almost guaranteed that you will pay the “Amazon Ad Tax,” as the person above has.  That tax sucks, because while they should be happy that they sold those two books, they are actually sad because they lost $36 doing so.

The good news is, once you get the hang of Amazon ads, you can use them to scale up not only your book sales, but your whole career as a working author.  Who doesn’t want that?!

Self-Publishing

Steal My SMART Self-Publishing Marketing Plan (Really!)

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by Rachel Brookhart

Once upon a time I met Lori in a writing class, and she has been my book guru ever since. I was a baby then and hadn’t done much more than read books, but have moved on to become an editor, an author, and a Marketing & Communications professional.1

When it came time to publish my book, I went straight to self-publishing. It’s a viable avenue for authors these days, and I didn’t want to deal with the hullabaloo of trying to get a publisher to print my book. I just wanted it out into the world. The book, Start Your Engines: Nonprofit Management Made Simple, is the perfect guide for nonprofit folks who are starting up or who are working in a junior role in their nonprofit. I didn’t care about sales or anything, I just wanted it available because it’s helpful.

The thing is, if it’s available but no one knows about it, it’s not helpful.

So, despite the fact that I had been reading posts from BookPromotion.com and had read Lori’s book about marketing books, I was like, “Oh nooooo!” when I realized it was something I had to do. And I can’t say that I have been amazing at it (my budget for marketing is low3), but I can tell you that the secret to marketing is planning. There is no magic bullet that will make everyone buy your stuff. How do you plan? I’m glad you asked.

  1.  Decide on your goals.

 

These seems silly. The goal is to sell books, right? Well, maybe not. For me it was. I think my book is helpful, so I want to get it into the hands of people that need it. But there was also the goal of a professional boost. I wanted people to take me seriously, and being able to call yourself an author is one way to do that.

For some people, publishing a book is just a lead generation strategy for their consulting services or training or fill-in-the-blank. For some people, it might be to become famous4, or something else. But you need to decide what your goals are first, so you can develop a strategy.

  1. Clarify your audience.  

My audience is people in the nonprofit industry. And, while I’d like to think that an Executive Director would learn something from my book, I wrote it for beginners. I highly suggest creating a buyer’s persona (get a great template here from Hubspot5) for each type of buyer.

For example, my main audience is the nonprofit newbie, but also college professors who teach classes on nonprofit management, and Executive Directors who need to provide trainings for their Board members. Each persona will have a different reason for wanting my book and will require different messaging.

  1. Develop your strategies.

Once you know what you’re trying to accomplish and who you’re talking to, you have to develop strategies to reach them. Strategies are not the nitty gritty. They are S.M.A.R.T goals that help you reach your main goal. If you don’t know what a SMART goal is, I assume you don’t work in a stuffy cubicle and I envy you. It means Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timebound. So, for me a strategy might be: Get two professors to use my book in their class by June 2017. This goal is super SMART and much more helpful than Get colleges to use my book in their nonprofit classes.

You don’t need a billion strategies. Two or three is fine, especially if you are doing this all by yourself. Your whole plan should be SMART, with an emphasis on R: Realistic.

Strategies usually fall into 3 categories: Owned, Earned, and Paid. Owned is the community of people that already know you: family; friends; professional contacts; and, if you have a following already, your community. These people are by far the most important to pay attention to. They are the easiest to talk to, the easiest to sell to, and the easiest to ask for help selling your book. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THESE PEOPLE. Spend most of your time focused on them. I sent 3 emails to my limited contacts (about 200 people) and sold about 400 books this way.

Earned is the audience you, well, earn, through things like guest blogging, presenting, and various PR efforts. Unless you are already somebody that people care about, this is going to be a slog for you. Your best strategy here would be to ask bloggers that are interested in what you wrote about to do a review. My industry is light on thought leaders, so I have only sent out four request. So far, one has written back. Results are TBD. I also tried earning an audience by doing a Goodreads giveaway. While I can’t pinpoint how many sales came from that, I know that over 500 people have added my book to their “To Read” shelf6.

Paid is often overlooked by authors with no budgets, but it may be easier than earned in some cases. You can do Facebook ads relatively cheaply. My results aren’t the best, but I have certainly gotten a few sales this way. The key is to create a targeted message to your audience. The audience that did best for me were people that “liked” charities on Facebook and bought a lot of books.

  1. Develop your tactics.

Ok, now we’re down to the things you can do. Most people start here and then wonder why their efforts aren’t amounting to anything. Tactics are the things you do to accomplish your strategy. If we take my strategy on getting college professors to use my book in their class, what do I have to do to make that happen? Most strategies will have several tactics. Mine included things like:

  • Asking my college professors to use the book in their classes (owned)
  • Offering to present on my book to their classes (owned)
  • Researching which universities have undergraduate and graduate degrees in nonprofit management (earned)
  • Reaching out to the professors at those universities.7 (earned)
  • Creating Facebook ads directed at University employees (paid)

There is no set amount of tactics you should have. Try a few and see what works.

  1. Do the work.

Congrats! You have a useless plan. To make it useful, you have to actually implement it. Nope, it’s not easy. Sorry. Lori told you, like, a MILLION TIMES. I find it helpful to keep track of everything in an excel sheet. It should look something like this:

Goal: To sell 1,000 books in 2017
Strategy 1: Get two professors to use my book in their class by June 2017
TacticDue DateNotes
Ask Dr. X if I can present at his Nonprofit 101 class1/5/2017New semester starts 1/25/16
Ask the University library to carry my book1/8/2017
Research universities that offer a nonprofit degree or certificate2/1/2017Focus on undergrads first
Reach out to 10 professors from those universities2/15/2017
Reach out to an additional 10 professors3/1/2017
Created targeted FB ads to uni professors3/1 – 3/15Budget $150
Strategy 2: Get 2 Executive Directors to buy the book for each of their board members by Dec 2017
More tactics
Etc.

In conclusion

If you don’t want to do this work, you may as well not write your book. Because only your mom will buy it. And you might have to reminder her several times8. It’s hard work and that sucks and I’m sorry. But at least now you have a great blueprint to help you out9.

Good luck and buy my book10!

1 No, I am not single white femaling Lori. But you have to admit she’s rad af.

3 Like, pretty much nothing. #Poor #Nonprofit #BuyMyBook

4 Not gonna happen. Well…maybe if you write crappy Twilight fan fiction.

5 I love you Hubspot! Hire me!

6 I read a blog that suggested not limiting your audience to people in your country. So I did that. Every winner was from Europe and it cost a crap ton of money to send my tiny book. I would advise against this strategy.

7 This one is super hard. So, if you know a professor that teaches classes on nonprofit things, help a sister out and tell them about my book.

8 I forgot to mention that. You can’t ask once. Ask your network to buy your book at least 3 times. And when they buy it, ask them to ask their network to buy it.

9 You’re welcome!

10 It’s a quick and fun read – designed to be a textbook for people who hate textbooks. It’s basically a mini master’s degree on how to run a nonprofit. It’s not the tactics, but gives the reader a perspective that is really helpful in running a healthy nonprofit.

Rachel Brookhart is a writer who likes to dream up ways to make things better. She was inspired to write this book by her work in the nonprofit sector. Over the last decade, she’s worked with thousands of do-gooders that have the passion to do great things, but need some guidance on how to do it efficiently and effectively. In her spare time, she likes to write, volunteer in her community, and she is always up for a good glass of bourbon. Rachel has an M.A. in Nonprofit Management from Antioch University, Los Angeles and is a Certified Nonprofit Professional through the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance.

Book Marketing

Not Selling Books? How To Change That Today!

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Publishing a book is a monumental achievement, but seeing it sit unsold can be disheartening at best. Whether you’re a first-time author or a seasoned writer, facing slow sales is a really common occurrence, but there are numerous strategies you can implement to boost your book’s visibility and sales. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you turn the tide and (hopefully) get your books moving. There’s a problem. Let’s solve it!

1. Reevaluate Your Book Cover and Title

First Impressions Matter

Your book cover and title are the first things potential readers notice. A dull or unappealing cover can deter interest, regardless of the quality of your writing.

  • Invest in Professional Design: If your cover looks amateurish, consider hiring a professional designer. A well-designed cover can significantly enhance perceived value.
  • Test Different Titles: Sometimes, a title might not resonate with your target audience. Conduct A/B testing with different titles to see which one garners more interest.
  • Seek Feedback: Ask friends, family, or writing groups for honest opinions about your cover and title. Their insights can guide necessary adjustments.

2. Enhance Your Book Description and Metadata

Optimize for Discoverability

Your book’s description and metadata play a crucial role in online visibility and convincing potential readers to make a purchase.

  • Compelling Book Description: Craft a captivating synopsis that highlights the unique aspects of your story without giving away too much. Focus on hooks that entice readers.
  • Keyword Optimization: Use relevant keywords in your title, subtitle, and book description to improve searchability on platforms like Amazon.
  • Categorization: Ensure your book is listed in the appropriate categories and subcategories. This increases the likelihood of reaching your target audience.

3. Invest in Professional Editing

Quality Speaks Volumes

A well-edited book enhances reader satisfaction and encourages positive reviews, which are vital for sales.

  • Hire a Professional Editor: Even if you’ve edited your manuscript multiple times, a professional editor can catch inconsistencies, grammatical errors, and improve overall flow.
  • Beta Readers: Engage beta readers to provide feedback from a reader’s perspective. Their insights can highlight areas that need improvement.

4. Boost Your Marketing Efforts

Visibility is Key

Effective marketing strategies can significantly increase your book’s exposure and attract more readers.

  • Social Media Marketing: Utilize platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok to promote your book. Share engaging content related to your book’s theme, characters, and writing process.
  • Content Marketing: Start a blog or vlog to connect with your audience. Share behind-the-scenes content, writing tips, or related topics to build a loyal following.
  • Email Marketing: Build an email list and send regular newsletters with updates, exclusive content, and special offers to keep your readers engaged.

5. Leverage Email Marketing Effectively

Direct Communication with Readers

Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to reach your audience directly. Do you have a great reader magnet in your book that leads to email signup?  If not, get on that right now.

  • Autoresponders: Set up automated email sequences to welcome new subscribers, provide sneak peeks, or announce new releases.
  • Personalized Emails: Tailor your emails to different segments of your audience to increase engagement and conversion rates.
  • Exclusive Offers: Provide discounts, free chapters, or special content to your email subscribers to incentivize purchases.

6. Engage with the Writing Community and Readers

Build Relationships and Trust

Engaging with other writers and readers can enhance your visibility and credibility.

  • Join Writing Groups: Participate in online forums, social media groups, and local writing communities to network and share your work.
  • Attend Events: Attend book fairs, author signings, and literary events to promote your book and connect with potential readers.
  • Collaborate with Influencers: Partner with book bloggers, vloggers, and social media influencers to review and promote your book to their audiences.

7. Run Promotions and Discounts

Create Urgency and Attract New Readers

Strategic promotions can boost your book’s visibility and attract new readers.

  • Limited-Time Discounts: Offer your book at a reduced price for a short period to encourage purchases.
  • Free Book Days: Consider temporarily making your book free to increase downloads, reviews, and word-of-mouth referrals.
  • Bundle Offers: Bundle your book with other titles or exclusive content to provide added value to readers.

8. Reassess Your Book Pricing

Find the Sweet Spot

Pricing plays a significant role in a reader’s decision to purchase.

  • Competitive Pricing: Research similar books in your genre to set a competitive price point.
  • Value-Based Pricing: Consider the value your book provides and price it accordingly. For instance, comprehensive non-fiction guides can command higher prices than fiction novels.
  • Dynamic Pricing: Adjust your prices based on sales performance, seasons, or special events to maximize profitability.

9. Utilize SEO for Book Listings

Increase Online Visibility

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can enhance your book’s discoverability on search engines and online marketplaces.

  • Optimize Titles and Descriptions: Incorporate relevant keywords naturally into your book title, subtitle, and description.
  • Backlinks: Get your book featured on reputable websites, blogs, and forums to improve its search engine ranking.
  • Consistent Metadata: Ensure that all metadata (author name, book title, keywords) is consistent across different platforms to avoid confusion and improve searchability.

10. Gather and Showcase Reviews

Build Social Proof

Positive reviews can significantly influence potential readers’ purchasing decisions.

  • Encourage Reviews: Ask readers to leave reviews after reading your book. You can do this through email newsletters, social media, or within the book itself.
  • Provide Incentives: Offer free chapters, exclusive content, or entry into a giveaway in exchange for honest reviews.
  • Respond to Reviews: Engage with readers by responding to their reviews, thanking them for their feedback, and addressing any concerns.

11. Update and Revise Your Book

Keep It Fresh and Relevant

Regular updates can breathe new life into your book and attract new readers.

  • Content Revisions: Update your book with new information, corrected errors, or enhanced content based on reader feedback.
  • New Cover Design: Refresh your book’s cover to make it more appealing or align it with current design trends.
  • Additional Features: Add bonus content, such as author notes, interviews, or companion guides, to provide extra value.

12. Explore Different Distribution Channels

Expand Your Reach

Diversifying where and how your book is available can tap into new audiences.

  • Multiple Platforms: Distribute your book across various platforms like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, and others to maximize exposure.
  • Local Bookstores: Approach local bookstores to stock your book or host events.
  • Libraries: Ensure your book is available in libraries, which can introduce it to a broader audience.

13. Consider Alternative Formats

Cater to Diverse Preferences

Offering your book in different formats can cater to various reader preferences and increase sales.

  • E-Books: Digital versions are convenient for many readers and can be distributed widely at a lower cost.
  • Audiobooks: With the growing popularity of audiobooks, offering a narrated version can reach listeners who prefer audio content.
  • Print Variations: Provide hardcover, paperback, and even special editions to appeal to collectors and different reader preferences.

14. Collaborate with Other Authors

Leverage Mutual Support

Partnering with other authors can open up new avenues for promotion and sales.

  • Joint Promotions: Run co-marketing campaigns, such as bundle deals or cross-promotions, to tap into each other’s audiences.
  • Anthologies: Contribute to or compile anthologies with other authors to reach a wider readership.
  • Author Interviews and Guest Posts: Feature each other on blogs, podcasts, or newsletters to share audiences and build credibility.

15. Analyze and Adapt Your Strategies

Data-Driven Decisions

Regularly reviewing your sales data and marketing efforts can help you identify what’s working and what isn’t.

  • Track Metrics: Monitor sales figures, website traffic, email open rates, and other relevant metrics to gauge performance.
  • A/B Testing: Experiment with different marketing messages, cover designs, or pricing strategies to see which variants perform better.
  • Adjust Accordingly: Use the insights gained from your analysis to refine your strategies, focusing on the tactics that yield the best results.

Conclusion

Facing low book sales can be discouraging, but it’s essential to remember that many successful authors have navigated similar challenges. By reevaluating your strategies, investing in quality improvements, and actively engaging with your audience, you can turn your sales around. Persistence, adaptability, and a willingness to experiment with different approaches are key to overcoming sales hurdles and achieving success in the competitive world of publishing.

Remember, every setback is an opportunity to learn and grow. Stay committed to your craft, keep connecting with your readers, and explore innovative ways to promote your work. Your next breakthrough might just be around the corner.

Book Marketing

My Social Media Strategy for Authors: “All, Then One”

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Over the years, I have heard from many (so many!) angry authors who tell me that they simply do not have time to manage all of the social media profiles that seem to be required for an effective book marketing strategy.

I get it, dude!  I don’t like it either. Through trial and error I have found something that kind of works, so I will share it with you now. Obviously, once you get your book sales up and running and have an assistant-type person working for you, have them post everything, everywhere, all the time. Until then, just set everything up properly, then focus on one platform you actually like. It’s the best I can offer, ok? You can’t do nothing. You can’t do everything. So, let’s do this.

The “All, Then One” strategy is a smart way to maximize your reach while keeping things manageable. The idea is simple: start by setting up a basic presence on all the major platforms, and then focus your energy on mastering the one you enjoy the most. This approach ensures you’re visible everywhere readers might search for you, but you’re not spreading yourself too thin.

Step 1: Establish Your Presence Everywhere

Start by creating profiles on the platforms where readers expect to find authors. These typically include:

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter/X
  • TikTok
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest (optional for visual genres)
  • Goodreads and BookBub (essential for authors)

For each profile, fully flesh it out. Add a professional photo, a banner image featuring your book or brand, and a short, engaging bio. Include links to your website and email sign-up page (do not skip this step. I swear if I meet you and you skipped this step, I am going to flip out). You don’t need to post regularly yet—just share a few updates so the profile looks active and professional. This step is mostly about reputation management and making it easy for readers to discover you.

Step 2: Pick One Platform to Focus On

Once your profiles are set up, choose one platform to prioritize. This will depend on where your readers are and what you enjoy. Here’s a quick guide to help you decide:

  • Instagram: Perfect for visual genres, quotes, and aesthetics.
  • TikTok (BookTok): Ideal for reaching younger audiences and showcasing fun, creative content.
  • Facebook: Great for connecting with groups or older readers.
  • Twitter/X: Best for conversations and short updates.
  • LinkedIn: Excellent for non-fiction or business authors connecting with professionals.
  • Pinterest: is perfect for visually driven authors and genres like DIY, cooking, romance, and fantasy. As a visual search engine, Pinterest can drive significant traffic to your website, blog, or book sales pages.
  • Goodreads is a must-have for engaging directly with avid readers. As a platform dedicated to book lovers, Goodreads allows authors to interact with their audience through reviews, giveaways, and book lists.
  • BookBub is ideal for authors focused on promotions and reviews. This platform specializes in notifying readers about new releases, discounts, and curated book recommendations. By leveraging BookBub’s extensive network, authors can reach a broad audience of enthusiastic readers who are actively seeking new books. HOWEVER, do not apply for/ buy a BookBub ad until you read this.
  • Reddit offers a unique opportunity for authors to engage with niche audiences and participate in authentic discussions. Subreddits related to your genre or writing in general provide a space to share your expertise, answer questions, and connect with readers who have specific interests.
  • Discord is perfect for authors who want to build tight-knit reader communities. This platform allows you to create private servers where you can host live chats, Q&A sessions, and exclusive events for your most dedicated fans.
  • Twitch is an excellent choice for authors who enjoy live interaction and streaming. Whether you’re streaming writing sessions, reading chapters aloud, or discussing your creative process, Twitch provides a platform for real-time engagement with your audience
  • Medium is great for authors who want to share essays or blog posts. If you enjoy writing thought-provoking articles or exploring topics related to your books, Medium offers a platform to reach a broader audience.
  • Substack is perfect for authors looking to foster loyal subscribers through newsletters. By sharing serialized fiction, exclusive content, or in-depth articles, Substack allows you to maintain a direct line of communication with your readers.

After choosing your platform, spend time learning its strengths. Understand what types of posts perform best, how often to post, and how to leverage its unique features (like Instagram Reels, TikTok Duets, or Twitter threads).

 

Step 3: Get Followers

You’re going to totally hate this part, so brace yourself. The way to get followers on social media is to connect with the fans/ followers of other authors who write what you write. That is why it is so important for you to know yourself/ your genre before you start this whole dumb book promotion game.  If you write YA novels, you are going to need to go where the YA readers are. Those people are following people like Jenny Han, Kasie West, Nicola Yoon, Morgan Matson, Sarah Dessen, Becky Albertalli, and Sandhya Menon, among others. This is why it is really, really important for you to read alot of your competition and know where their fans hang out.

You’ll need to follow the followers of the authors you would consider your “competition,” connect with them, and (if the time is right), ask them to be your beta readers or ARC readers. They know that genre anyway, so they are likely to say yes.  Don’t pay them or ask them to promote your book, and do not come on too strong. Just connect with them, send them your work (via BookFunnel please, just to protect yourself), take their feedback, and wait. Eventually they will become your fans and start advocating for you and your books, because they were there at the very beginning of your career and they “knew you when.” Trust me on this. I have seen this strategy work countless times (for the people who are patient enough to actually do it).

Step 4: Practice Practice Practice

Focus on creating engaging, valuable content that resonates with your audience. Your content mix might include:

  • Promotional Posts: Announce book launches, sales, or giveaways.
  • Behind-the-Scenes Content: Share insights into your writing process or your life as an author.
  • Engaging Posts: Ask questions, start discussions, or post fun, interactive content.
  • Helpful Content: Share tips, facts, or stories related to your book’s themes or genre.

Consistency is key, but so is interaction. Respond to comments, engage with other users, and build a community around your author brand.

Step 5: Automate and Repurpose for Other Platforms

While focusing on your main platform, you can keep the others active with minimal effort. Use scheduling tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, or Later to automate posts. Repurpose your content across platforms—for example:

  • Share TikTok videos on Instagram Reels.
  • Post Instagram Stories directly to Facebook.
  • Turn Twitter threads into LinkedIn articles.

This allows you to stay present across platforms without having to create entirely new content for each one.

Step 6: Revisit and Adjust

Periodically check your secondary platforms to ensure your profiles stay updated. You don’t need to post regularly, but keeping things current helps maintain your reputation. As you grow more confident in your primary platform, you might choose to branch out and actively engage on a second platform.

This strategy gives you the best of both worlds: broad visibility with minimal time spent and the ability to go deep on the platform you enjoy most. Need help choosing your focus platform or brainstorming content ideas? Let me know!

pictures courtesy of pixabay
Author Websites

Why WordPress is the Best Choice for your Author Website + How to Set it Up

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As an author, your website is more than just a digital business card—it’s a home base for your readers, a space to share your journey, and a platform to showcase your work. To make the most of it, you need a website solution that’s easy to manage, looks great, and can grow right alongside your writing career. That’s where WordPress comes in. Originally built for bloggers (so you know it’s made for people who love words), WordPress has evolved into a powerful tool that authors of all stripes can use to connect with their audience, sell their books, and build a memorable online presence. Let’s explore why WordPress might just be the perfect fit for your author website.

1. Super User-Friendly
If you’re not a tech guru, don’t worry. WordPress is famously user-friendly. Its built-in tools feel more like working with a word processor than fiddling with code. From drafting new blog posts to tweaking the look of your homepage, you can handle it all without needing any professional web development know-how.

2. Perfect for Blogging and Storytelling
WordPress started out as a blogging platform, so it’s tailor-made for sharing your writing. Whether you’re posting personal updates, book release announcements, writing tips, or behind-the-scenes peeks at your projects, it’s super simple to create and organize fresh content that keeps your readers coming back for more.

3. Tons of Great-Looking Themes
When it comes to first impressions, visuals matter. The good news? WordPress has an enormous selection of themes designed especially for authors and other creative professionals. Whether you prefer a sleek, minimalist look that puts your words front and center, or a more artistic layout that spotlights your cover art, you’ll find endless ways to make your site uniquely yours.

4. Room to Grow and Adapt
Your career and audience might start small, but they won’t stay that way (fingers crossed!). WordPress can grow with you. Maybe you’ll start with a simple blog and a few pages. Later, you can add an online store to sell signed copies, set up a newsletter sign-up form to stay connected with fans, or even host a podcast. The sky’s the limit with WordPress, thanks to its incredible flexibility.

5. Incredible Plugin Ecosystem
Need a tool to boost your site’s search engine rankings? Want to add a special feature, like a gallery of your book covers or a pop-up newsletter form? There’s probably a WordPress plugin for that. With thousands of plugins available, you can pick and choose the exact features you want without cluttering your site with unnecessary extras.

6. Strong Community and Support
Ever feel stuck or have a question about how something works? Don’t sweat it. WordPress has a huge community of users and experts who’ve been there, done that. From step-by-step tutorials and YouTube walkthroughs to online forums and dedicated support teams, help is always just a click away.

7. SEO-Friendly from Day One
You want new readers to find you, right? WordPress is built with clean code that search engines understand, and with the help of an SEO plugin like Yoast or Rank Math, you can fine-tune your site to rank higher in search results. It’s a simple, effective way to get more eyes on your work.

8. Mobile-Ready for Today’s Readers
People read on their phones and tablets all the time, so it’s crucial that your site looks great on any device. Most modern WordPress themes are fully responsive, meaning they’ll automatically adjust to different screen sizes. This ensures your site always looks professional and is easy to navigate, no matter where or how readers find you.

9. Cost-Effective and Budget-Friendly
WordPress itself is free, so you can invest your money where it counts—like reliable hosting, a premium theme, or a few key plugins that streamline your marketing. You can start small and scale up as your website traffic and sales grow, making it a flexible and cost-effective solution.

10. Reliable and Here to Stay
WordPress has been around for a long time and is trusted by millions of users worldwide. It’s regularly updated, well-supported, and constantly evolving to meet new web standards. You can feel confident knowing your author website is built on a platform that’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

TL: DR
If you’re looking for a platform that lets you focus on your writing while offering endless customization, simple growth options, and a supportive community, WordPress is tough to beat. It’s designed with creators in mind, ready to support you as you tell your story, connect with readers, and carve out your corner of the literary world. With WordPress, you can build an online home that truly reflects you and your work.

Are you convinced?  Here are some instructions on how to do it!

How to Create an Author Site Using WordPress

1. Purchase a Domain and Hosting

  • Register your domain: Choose a name that aligns with your author brand, preferably your author name or something closely related. More about why you’re using your own name (and not the name of your book) right here if that interests you.
  • Set up hosting: Sign up for a hosting account. Many hosts have plans optimized for WordPress and include a free SSL certificate (important for security and trust).

2. Install WordPress

  • One-Click Install: Most hosting providers offer a quick WordPress installation feature in their control panel.
  • Manual Install (if needed): Download WordPress from https://wordpress.org/download/, upload the files to your server via FTP, create a database, and run the WordPress installation script. Detailed tutorials are available in the WordPress Codex.

3. Choose and Install a Theme

  • Free Themes: Search “Appearance > Themes > Add New” in your WordPress dashboard to browse free themes. Look for clean, author-friendly designs (e.g., Astra, Neve, or Zakra) with good typography.
  • Premium Themes: Consider premium themes like “Author Pro” (StudioPress) or themes from ThemeForest for more advanced features, built-in customization, and dedicated support.
  • Customization: Go to “Appearance > Customize” to tweak colors, fonts, layouts, and upload your logo or author headshot.

4. Essential Pages to Create

  • About Page: Introduce yourself, your genre, writing background, and personal story.
  • Books/Works Page: Showcase covers, synopses, excerpts, and links to purchase. Consider organizing by series or genre.
  • Blog (optional): Share writing updates, behind-the-scenes insights, reading recommendations, or event recaps.
  • Events/Appearances: List upcoming signings, readings, conferences, and virtual book launches.
  • Contact Page: Include a form (via plugin) for readers, media inquiries, or speaking requests.
  • Press/Media Kit: (Optional) Offer downloadable images, bios, and press-ready information for journalists or event organizers.

5. Install Key Plugins

  • SEO Plugin: Yoast SEO or All in One SEO to optimize pages for search engines.
  • Contact Forms: WPForms or Contact Form 7 for a simple contact form.
  • Newsletter Signup Integration: Connect Mailerlite or another email marketing service to build your mailing list.
  • Caching and Performance: W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache to speed up your site.
  • Security: Wordfence or Sucuri to protect your site from hacks.
  • Backup Solutions: UpdraftPlus or VaultPress to back up your site regularly.

6. Add Images and Branding

  • Author Headshot & Book Covers: Use high-quality images. Optimize them for fast loading using a plugin like Smush.
  • Consistent Branding: Choose a color palette and fonts that reflect the tone of your writing.

7. Navigation and Menu Setup

  • Create a Main Menu: “Appearance > Menus” in WordPress lets you arrange page links, categories, and custom links. Include top-level pages (About, Books, Blog, Contact) for easy navigation.

8. Integrate Social Media and Newsletter

  • Social Icons: Add icons linking to your Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or TikTok.
  • Newsletter Opt-In: Embed signup forms on your homepage or in the sidebar. Consider offering a free short story or chapter in exchange for email signups.

9. Add Additional Functionality (If Needed)

  • E-Commerce (Optional): If you want to sell signed books directly, install WooCommerce. Set up products, shipping, and payment gateways.
  • Events Calendar (Optional): The Events Calendar plugin allows you to list and manage book tours and speaking engagements.

10. Test and Launch

  • Check Responsiveness: Ensure your site looks good on desktop, tablet, and mobile.
  • Proofread Content: Double-check for typos, broken links, and missing information.
  • Set a Launch Date: Promote the site to your mailing list and social followers. After a final review, go live!

Costs and Ongoing Maintenance

  • Domain: ~$10-$20/year
  • Hosting: ~$3-$15/month depending on the provider and plan. More robust hosts cost more.
  • Premium Theme (Optional): ~$20-$100 one-time or annually if it includes support/updates.
  • Premium Plugins (Optional): Prices vary. Many authors stick to free plugins initially.

Ongoing Maintenance Tasks:

  • Updates: Regularly update WordPress core, themes, and plugins for security and performance.
  • Backups: Schedule automatic backups and store them off-site.
  • Content Updates: Keep your blog fresh, update event info, and add new works as you publish more books.
  • Security Monitoring: Ensure your site stays secure with recommended security plugins and best practices.

Pros and Cons of Using WordPress.org for Your Author Website

Pros:

  • Full Ownership and Control: You host your own site, own your data, and have no platform-imposed limitations on customization.
  • Extensive Customization: Thousands of themes and plugins let you tailor functionality to your exact needs—newsletters, book showcases, sales pages, events calendars, and more.
  • SEO-Friendly: With the right configuration, WordPress can excel at SEO. You have granular control over metadata, site structure, and content optimization.
  • Scalability: You can start small and scale up as your audience grows. Need more features? Just add them via plugins or custom development.

Cons:

  • Learning Curve: You’ll need some time to understand how themes, plugins, and hosting work.
  • Maintenance Duties: You’re responsible for updates, backups, and security. This can be a trade-off if you’re short on time or tech-savvy skills.
  • Potential Costs Add Up: While WordPress software is free, premium themes, plugins, and better hosting might increase your expenses.
  • Overwhelm of Choices: The abundance of plugins and themes can be confusing. You need to vet options carefully to avoid conflicts or performance issues.

In Conclusion:
Setting up an author website with WordPress.org is a highly flexible and customizable approach. Although it requires more initial effort and maintenance than a hosted builder like Squarespace, you gain significant creative and functional freedom. For authors who want to establish a strong brand presence, optimize content for search, and have the flexibility to grow with their career, WordPress.org is an excellent choice. With careful planning, consistent updates, and quality hosting, you can create a robust, engaging, and professional online home for your writing.

Author Websites

The Best Author Websites Out There + What’s Great About Them

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You asked for it, and you got it!  I have finally (finally!) gotten around to compiling my mega-list of the best author websites.

Below are many examples of author websites that are widely regarded for their design, functionality, and ability to engage readers. In addition to listing some high-quality sites by well-known authors, we’ll break down what makes these sites effective. Whether you’re an aspiring writer looking for inspiration or a curious reader examining how writers build their brands online, these examples showcase what “best-in-class” author platforms can look like. Take a look at each author’s page and make some notes. What do you like about it? What do you dislike? What features and functions can you use on your own site?

Also, this is a screenshot of the mega-fabulous “Warrior Cats” website, based on the books by Erin Hunter. It has so much going for it–an immersive universe with detailed maps, character profiles, and rich lore invites fans to dive deeper into the fictional world, fostering a sense of connection and discovery. Community interaction thrives through engaging forums, fan art galleries, and events that transform visitors into active participants, nurturing a vibrant and dynamic fan community. Meanwhile, multi-platform appeal is seamlessly integrated with merchandise, reading guides, and social links, encouraging exploration across various formats and catering to a diverse range of interests. Ordinarily I don’t recommend that authors build out a whole website over one book (or one series), but this is obviously an exception.

Sorry, got distracted by the Warrior Cats. Here’s the list!!

  1. Neil Gaiman
    https://www.neilgaiman.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Brand Consistency: Signature blend of whimsy and darkness.
      • Robust Content: FAQs, journal, and media appearances.
      • Reader Engagement: Blog updates, Q&A sessions, and community ethos.
  2. Margaret Atwood
    https://margaretatwood.ca

    • Why It Works:
      • Clean Design, Easy Navigation: Straightforward access to her works.
      • Multimedia Integration: Video interviews and social media feeds.
      • Comprehensive Bibliography: Detailed listings of novels, poetry, and essays.
  3. Colson Whitehead
    https://www.colsonwhitehead.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Visual Identity: Bold typography and sharp images.
      • Intuitive Layout: Easy navigation for events, contact, and press.
      • Engagement Channels: Social media and newsletter links.
  4. Stephen King
    https://www.stephenking.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Extensive Content for Fans: Chronology of works and discussion forums.
      • Multi-Platform Links: Audio clips, movies, and merchandise.
      • News and Updates: Regular posts keep the site fresh.
  5. Roxane Gay
    https://www.roxanegay.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Personal Connection: Candid essays and reflections.
      • Media Integration: Links to podcasts, columns, and interviews.
      • Accessibility: Thoughtful design and easy navigation.
  6. John Green
    https://www.johngreenbooks.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Youthful Appeal: Bright, playful visuals.
      • Community and Interaction: Links to YouTube, forums, and social media.
      • Transparent Updates: Announcements on books, tours, and charities.
  7. Brandon Sanderson
    https://www.brandonsanderson.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Fan-Focused Approach: Book timelines and project progress bars.
      • Community and Engagement: Forums and newsletter sign-ups.
      • Rich Extras: Annotations, reading orders, and behind-the-scenes content.
  8. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
    http://www.chimamanda.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Clean, Sophisticated Design: Minimalist layout.
      • Multimedia Integration: TED Talks, interviews, and essays.
      • Global Perspective: International media coverage and event listings.
  9. James Patterson
    https://www.jamespatterson.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Comprehensive Book Listings: Organized by series and audience.
      • Interactive Elements: Contests and reading group guides.
      • Frequent Updates: News on books, adaptations, and initiatives.
  10. Dan Brown
    https://danbrown.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Thematic Cohesion: Sleek design reflecting mystery and intrigue.
      • Engaging Media: Interviews, audio samples, and puzzles.
      • International Accessibility: Multilingual support and global events.
  11. Seth Godin
    https://www.sethgodin.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Email-Centric Engagement: Newsletter-driven content.
      • Minimalist Design: Clean and uncluttered interface.
      • Consistent, Valuable Content: Short-form blog posts.
  12. Erin Hunter (Warrior Cats)
    https://warriorcats.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Immersive Universe: Maps, character profiles, and lore.
      • Community Interaction: Forums, fan art, and events.
      • Multi-Platform Appeal: Merchandise, reading guides, and social links.
  13. Rick Riordan
    https://rickriordan.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Extensive Series Guides: Character lists and reading orders.
      • Reader Engagement: Blogs and event announcements.
      • Family-Friendly Design: Reflecting his adventurous stories.
  14. Sarah J. Maas
    https://www.sarahjmaas.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Visually Striking Interface: Elegant, fantasy-inspired imagery.
      • Clear Book Listings and Extras: Reading orders and merchandise links.
      • Strong Social Integration: Email and social media sign-ups.
  15. J.K. Rowling
    https://www.jkrowling.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Organized, Accessible Content: News, FAQs, and project updates.
      • Strong Brand Connection: Links to Wizarding World and thematic imagery.
      • Multi-Platform Ecosystem: Pottermore, social channels, and merchandise.
  16. Diana Gabaldon
    https://www.dianagabaldon.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Behind-the-Scenes Insights: Notes on research and writing.
      • Q&A and Essays: Personal essays and FAQs.
      • Engaging Fan Community: Inspiration for readers and writers.
  17. Nora Roberts
    https://www.noraroberts.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Author Branding: Professional site reflecting her work.
      • Organized Bibliography: Comprehensive series information.
      • Reader Engagement: Announcements and events.
  18. Claire Keegan
    https://www.clairekeegan.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Literary Focus: Emphasizing quality over quantity.
      • Simplicity & Elegance: Minimalist design.
      • Insight into Craft: Interviews and event listings.
  19. Stephenie Meyer
    http://www.stepheniemeyer.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Global Branding: Showcasing Twilight and spin-off projects.
      • Fan Engagement: FAQs and multimedia.
      • Adaptation Insights: Leveraging film adaptations.
  20. Colleen Hoover
    https://www.colleenhoover.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Contemporary Appeal: Vibrant, modern visuals.
      • Reader-Centric Approach: Personal connections through guides and events.
      • Social Media Integration: Highlighting active interaction.
  21. Hugh Howey
    https://www.hughhowey.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Behind-the-scenes insights into his writing process.
      • Engages readers through exclusive updates.
      • Fosters community and excitement.
  22. Mark Dawson
    https://www.markjdawson.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Reader acquisition through free content and newsletter integration.
      • Includes resources for indie authors.
      • A professional, resource-rich site.
  23. Bella Andre
    https://www.bellaandre.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Early access to books and exclusive updates.
      • Romance-centric design.
      • Focuses on fan engagement.
  24. Tim Ferriss
    https://tim.blog

    • Why It Works:
      • Valuable content like experiments and exclusive podcasts.
      • Minimalist design aligns with his productivity brand.
      • Practical resources hub.
  25. David Gaughran
    https://davidgaughran.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Actionable advice for indie authors.
      • Free resources and community engagement.
      • Trusted, educational platform.
  26. James Clear
    https://jamesclear.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Habit-building content aligned with his brand.
      • Results-focused site.
      • Weekly updates mirror email value.
  27. Rachel Hollis
    https://msrachelhollis.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Motivational content and event updates.
      • Bright, approachable design.
      • Fosters inspiration and community.
  28. Michael Hyatt
    https://michaelhyatt.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Productivity and leadership content.
      • Tools for time management and growth.
      • Professional coaching platform.
  29. Marie Forleo
    https://www.marieforleo.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Creativity and business advice.
      • Offers courses and tools like B-School.
      • Resource-rich platform for entrepreneurs.
  30. Elizabeth Gilbert
    https://www.elizabethgilbert.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Inspirational and personal storytelling.
      • Updates, essays, and resources.
      • Fosters intimacy and creativity.
  31. Ryan Holiday
    https://ryanholiday.net

    • Why It Works:
      • Reflects Stoic themes with daily wisdom.
      • Minimalist design.
      • Results-driven platform.
  32. Gretchen Rubin
    https://gretchenrubin.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Happiness tips and podcast updates.
      • Practical tools for growth.
      • User-friendly positivity hub.
  33. Jeff Goins
    https://goinswriter.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Resources for writers.
      • Tools for creative professionals.
      • Value-driven site.
  34. Lisa See
    https://www.lisasee.com

    • Why It Works:
      • Insights into research and writing.
      • Elegant design for historical fiction fans.
      • Deepens reader connections.

What Have We Learned?

Here is what all of these websites have in common. I’m linking you back over to the “Author Websites” page so you can see a comprehensive list of website resources we’ve created over the years. Because there are just so, so many.

1. Brand Consistency and Aesthetics:
Your site’s visuals—colors, fonts, imagery—should mirror the tone, style, and themes of your writing. A cohesive brand identity instantly welcomes visitors into your narrative world, enhancing recognition and trust.

2. User-Friendly Navigation:
Keep layouts simple and intuitive. Clear menus, search functions, and logical organization ensure readers can quickly find books, event details, media appearances, or contact information without feeling overwhelmed.

3. Rich, Updated Content and Email Signups:
Fresh content (blog posts, interviews, event announcements) encourages repeat visits. Offer an email signup option for newsletters and release alerts, giving readers a convenient way to stay informed. Embedding social media feeds and podcasts keeps your site dynamic and further signals that you value ongoing engagement.

4. Comprehensive Bibliography and Engaging Extras:
Present a detailed, organized list of works with summaries, excerpts, purchase links, and related resources. Enhance the reader experience with reading guides, behind-the-scenes notes, and interactive elements like quizzes or puzzles to draw visitors deeper into your literary universe.

5. Interactivity, Community Building, and Global Reach:
Foster a sense of community and inclusivity. Offer Q&A sessions, comment sections, forums, and multilingual support. Highlight international events, press coverage, and encourage readers from diverse backgrounds to participate—turning your site into a global meeting place for fans and followers.

6. Multimedia Elements:
Integrate videos, audio interviews, high-resolution book covers, and embedded media appearances. An immersive multimedia environment appeals to various learning styles and engages visitors longer, strengthening their connection to your work.

These combined principles offer a comprehensive framework for creating an engaging, reader-friendly, and globally appealing author website. By applying these principles—anchored by a strong brand identity, intuitive navigation, updated content, a compelling bibliography, interactive community features, multimedia elements, and strategic email signups—you can craft an author website that not only stands out visually and functionally but also builds lasting relationships with readers around the world.

Book Marketing

Biggest Mistakes of Self-Publishers

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By Mercedes Tabano
Image

Did you know that most self-published books won’t sell more than twenty copies in their lifetime? That’s a depressing statistic. Numbers like that aren’t’ even enough to buy a decent dinner for two, let alone build the life your dreams. 

 

 

So what mistakes are they (and you) making that could kill your indie author career? 

No Editing

There’s an old saying among authors that great books aren’t’ written, they’re rewritten. Once you type, or mentally say the words ‘the end’ the real work is just beginning. Now, it’s time for editing. No matter what kind of grammar Nazi you are, you should not edit your own book. After all, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of not seeing your own mistakes. Because you know what you are trying to say, you assume you said it. Your readers will notice if your book is improperly edited. This will affect your credibility and your ability to sell future books. 

Unprofessional Book Cover

It’s often been said that you can’t judge a book by its cover. I’m not sure who said that, but whoever it was, was not in the business of selling books. In the modern world, (and probably long before that) people judged books by their covers all the time. If the cover looks boring or amateurish, no one will ever want to read it. In fact, most people won’t even read the description to decide if they want to read your book.

It should be noted that Amazon offers templates. Though many of the templates are good, so many indie authors use them that they scream ‘I’m a self-published book.’ Devout readers, the kind you want, recognize an Amazon template at a glance. 

No Marketing Strategy 

‘Build it and they will come’. No worse advice was ever passed off as truth. Because of this ingrained mindset, many indie authors believe that they can sell a million books just by writing them and publishing them on enough sites. The truth is it takes a lot of marketing to get readers to find your book. It’s all about building platforms. The best time to build a platform is prior to publishing your book. The second best time is today. The difference between a successful writer and one who is not has more to do with marketing talent than writing talent. 

No Platform 

It all starts with a platform. A platform is a site dedicated to finding readers for your books. A successful indie author needs at least three platforms, one of which should be their own self hosted site. The other two platforms can be a social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter YouTube, or a book site like Goodreads. 

Not Planning For Your Next Book

Planning for your next book is part of your marketing strategy. No indie author ever managed to live the life of their dreams by writing a single book. Having multiple books not only gives you a chance to be found by more readers, it also gives you the chance to improve your craft. Even famous writers improve with every book they write. If all you ever write is one book, then you are doomed to fail. 

Everyone wants to be the next Amanda Hocking, but most authors never will. However, thinking like a publisher about editing, covers and marketing will help launch your indie publishing career. With a little time and money invested in the right places, your books can enjoy a long and prosperous life, and so could you.

Until Next Time,
Mercedes Tabano

http://www.SelfPublisherToday.com

Author Websites

Letters from the Real World: When Your Author Website Needs an Update

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Monday morning. Browsing website themes. One cup of coffee into my day.
Monday morning. Browsing website themes. One cup of coffee into my day.

Go to http://caitreynolds.com. Take a look. Then wait a week and go back next Monday. It’ll be different by then.

Why? Because I actually took the time to go look at my own website, and I realized one very important thing: the font is completely unreadable.

Oops.

The layout is clean, the links all work, blah blah blah. The font looks great for titles and headers, and when I was setting up the website, that’s all that mattered. Except now, I have content, and the font for the content is awful. Truly, it makes it impossible to read with any ease.

When I write posts, I click preview mostly to make sure the pictures are up and links are in their proper place. On a whim, I decided yesterday to just go and look at my site from the perspective of a reader, and there is no way I would stay there more than 30 seconds, if that long, because of my font.

I then spent an hour trying to figure out if I could change the font before realizing no mere mortal can do it without being a programmer. Ugh.

Looking at my site again, I realized it was also not using space very well. I’m now on the hunt for a layout that won’t be busy, but will allow a little more content to be seen right up front. The layout also has to have an easy sans-serif font (like Arial) to read.

When I was doing graphic design as part of one of my old dot com marketing jobs, I read that because of pixelation, sans-serif fonts are easiest to read online, while serif fonts are easiest to read on paper. It then clicked with me that this is the reason Amazon and Barnes & Noble spent all that time and money researching the best way to present “print” books graphically in an e-format.

So, my website has a sans-serif font, but I think it went a little extreme with the sans-serifing. Plus, I think the text needs to be black against white. Not grey.

The other problem I found was that some posts didn’t have a lead-in picture, and in order to set the “featured image,” I had to have a picture that conformed to a specific height and width. I’m not a great photographer to begin with, and to have to worry about that while trying to take slightly-better-than-crappy pictures was just not going to happen. I need a format that will feature my photos but will also feature text because writing is my specialty, not photography.

This morning, I spent a dizzying 45 minutes browsing themes, downloading, and live-previewing them. I’m down to three options. I’ll play with them all this week and then hopefully unveil the new look on Monday.

Visiting your own author website on a regular basis—about once a month or so—helps ensure that it remains current, accurate, and engaging for your readers. Treating your site like a dynamic piece of your author platform rather than a static business card can strengthen your brand, improve the user experience, and even provide new reasons to communicate with your mailing list.

Why It’s Important to Check Your Site Regularly

  1. Catch Errors and Broken Links:
    Links, embedded videos, or images may break over time. Regular visits let you spot outdated content, missing images, or broken links before potential readers encounter them.
  2. Keep Content Fresh:
    An updated website feels lived-in, signaling to readers that you’re active and committed to your writing career. Adding recent interviews, new blurbs, fresh blog posts, or upcoming event info shows that you’re engaged and encourages return visits.
  3. Ensure Accuracy of Information:
    Your website should always reflect your current publication status, speaking events, and professional details. Regular check-ins help you confirm that your bio, book list, event calendar, and contact info are up-to-date.
  4. Boost Search Visibility:
    Search engines favor sites that are regularly updated with new content. Even small changes—like adding a new testimonial, swapping out images, or updating your news page—can signal freshness to search engines, improving your online visibility over time.

How to Make Updates

  1. Add New Content:
    Post a new blog entry, highlight recent reviews, share news about upcoming books, or post behind-the-scenes tidbits. For non-fiction authors, add resource links or case studies; for fiction authors, consider sharing a short story excerpt or character Q&A.
  2. Update Pages and Layout:
    Tweak your homepage copy, refresh your headshot, or reorganize the navigation menu. Subtle shifts—like highlighting a new release on the homepage—keep the experience fresh for returning readers.
  3. Update Themes and Plugins
    This mostly applies to WordPress users, so if you’re on something like SquareSpace, Wix, or Weebly feel free to skip as they will (hopefully) do your updates for you. Keeping your themes and plugins updated is essential for maintaining your website’s security, as developers regularly release patches to fix vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit. Regular updates also ensure compatibility with the latest WordPress core versions, prevent feature breakage, and improve site performance for a seamless user experience.
  4. Integrate Social Proof and Media Mentions:
    If you receive an award, a notable review, or a mention in a well-known publication, add that to your site. This keeps your “Press” or “News” page relevant and builds credibility.
  5. Revise Your About Page and Author Bio:
    As your writing career evolves, so should your bio. If you’ve published a new book, spoken at a conference, or shifted genres, update your bio to reflect these accomplishments.
  6. Check Your Analytics
    While you’re in the back-end of your website, be sure to pop over and check your Google Analytics for your website (in WordPress-based sites you will access this using the SiteKit plugin). Regularly checking your Google Analytics helps you understand how visitors interact with your website, allowing you to identify popular pages, user behavior, and potential issues like high bounce rates. Plus, it is super interesting to see what search terms people are using to find your website!

How Updates Can Become Newsletter Content

  1. Announce Changes to Your Readers:
    When you’ve made updates, share them with your mailing list. Send an email saying, “I’ve just refreshed my website!” and highlight what’s new—like a new excerpt, an upcoming event schedule, or a special resource page.
  2. Behind-the-Scenes Insights:
    Turning the update process itself into a story can be engaging. For example, “I just added a new reading guide for my last novel on my website. Here’s why I included these particular questions…” This provides your subscribers with an exclusive window into your creative and marketing decisions.
  3. Promote Special Features or Downloads:
    If you’ve added a free chapter sampler, a character profile, or a reading guide to your site, tell your subscribers. “Head over to my updated website to download a free chapter from my upcoming book!”
  4. Solicit Feedback:
    Ask readers what they think of the new layout, the updated bio, or the resources you’ve shared. “I’ve just refreshed my recommended reading page. Let me know if you find it helpful or if there’s something else you’d love to see!” Involving readers in the process makes them feel heard and keeps your updates relevant.

Regularly visiting and updating your author website isn’t just housekeeping—it’s a dynamic marketing and engagement strategy. By consistently refining your content and layout, you keep the site relevant, offer fresh value to visitors, and create opportunities to re-engage your newsletter subscribers. Over time, these small, steady improvements build reader loyalty, authority in your niche, and an author brand that feels vibrant and ever-evolving.

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