15 Ways Authors Can Find More Readers

What is the hardest part about marketing a book?

Finding new readers, of course.

There are so many options out there for how to get your book discovered by new people. Yet somehow, it seems like an impossible, uphill battle. I talk to a lot of authors who have simply run out of creative ideas for how to “onboard” new fans into their world.

Allow me to help overcome the creative overwhelm. Here are 15 different marketing avenues that authors can use to get their book discovered by new readers:

1. Publicity (i.e. media coverage, including “new” media, like podcasts or Livestreams.)

2. Social media—free platform growth through tools like Reels or shareable posts

3. Social media—advertising or Influencer reviews

4. Amazon ads

5. Blogging (to grow your website’s SEO. Better for nonfiction than fiction, in my experience.)

6. Book Festivals

7. Teaching at conferences

8. Collaborative bundle giveaways with other authors or organizations

9. Newsletter swaps

10. Publishing articles in online magazines or writing guest posts for other people’s blogs

11. Interviewing other authors on your platforms (when they share your interview, their fans will discover you!)

12. Book clubs

13. Subscription boxes

14. Bookstore placement

15. Advertising in book magazines/trade catalogs

Now, that’s a long list. Chances are, you have tried some (or all) of them. I often hear: “I tried that already and it didn’t work.”

Marketing is hard, and is often an uphill battle. One common reminder I always give: nothing is a “quick” solution. Find a couple marketing strategies that fit well with your personality and don’t take up too much of your time, and do them consistently, long term.

There may come a day when the marketing channel you have chosen doesn’t serve you and you pivot to a new one, but the farther you get down each specific road, the results from your time investment compounds. Meaning: you will be more successful in a marketing channel three years from now, if you’ve been keeping up with it, than you are today. So pick something you truly love doing—something that will fill your cup, not drain it.

I shared this on my Instagram last week, originally posted by the creator and branding expert Sun Yi.

Yes, you will feel like a broken record eventually, as you talk so much about your book. That’s not because you’re doing it wrong. It’s because repetition is what marketing is.

Have a great month!

Until September,

Emily “The Minimalist Book Marketer”

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