BookBub
How
Traditionally
Published Authors
Market Their Books
Debbie
Macomber
Becky
Albertalli
Michelle
Krys
Gregg
Olsen
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Meet the authors.
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Debbie Macomber is a #1 New York Times
bestselling author with more than 200 million
copies of her books in print worldwide. Her
books have been adapted for film and
television on the Hallmark Channel.
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Becky Albertalli is an author of
contemporary young adult fiction. Her debut
novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is
being adapted for film by Fox 2000.
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Gregg Olsen is a #1 New York Times, USA
Today, and WSJ bestselling author of true
crime and thrillers. He’s written 24 books, one
of which has been adapted for stage and
optioned for film.
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Michelle Krys is an author of young adult
fantasy published by Delacorte Press/Random
House Children’s Books, as well as a
contemporary thriller.
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These authors collaborate
with their publishers.
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I work closely with my publisher on
our social media campaigns tied to
new book releases — three new
hardcovers/ebooks and three
paperbacks are published each
year. Together, we brainstorm
ideas and create content that
I hope my fans will want to see from
me to give them glimpses
of my life.
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Book Launch Campaign
Plan: Generate buzz for the new release
Twelve Days of Christmas online.
Random House:
Organized a “Twelve Days of
Kindness” blog tour prior to launch.
Book Bloggers:
Each day, a book blogger wrote or
posted on social media about a small
act of kindness they performed.
Debbie:
Ran a “Twelve Weeks of Christmas”
giveaway on her Facebook page
during the 12 weeks after launch.
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Book Launch Campaign
Plan: Generate buzz for the new release
Twelve Days of Christmas online.
Random House:
Organized a “Twelve Days of
Kindness” blog tour prior to launch.
Book Bloggers:
Each day, a book blogger wrote or
posted on social media about a small
act of kindness they performed.
Debbie:
Ran a “Twelve Weeks of Christmas”
giveaway on her Facebook page
during the 12 weeks after launch.
BookBub
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Occasionally, my publishers (in
the US and abroad) will request
I create some sort of
content to be used to market
one of my books. I simply make
an effort to collaborate with my
publishers and be engaged
and responsive with my
readers.
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Title Reveal Campaign
Plan: Reveal the title and first page of The Upside of
Unrequited (the sequel to Simon vs.) on Epic Reads.
Becky:
Wrote the content — an interview between two
characters from Simon vs.
Shared with friends and fans on social media.
Epic Reads:
Added formatting, graphics, visual design.
Shared the post across their platform.
Publisher & Agent:
Coordinated a paperback giveaway to help
build buzz for the campaign.
SEE THE TITLE REVEAL
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My publisher Delacorte
organized a 30+ stop blog
tour. I was thrilled with the
results. Though it was a very
large tour, most of the stops
were reviews, with a
handful of guest
posts and
interviews.
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30+ Stop Blog Tour
Plan: Run a large blog tour to create buzz for the
launch of Dead Girls Society.
Delacorte:
Organized a 30+ stop blog tour.
Created a graphic of the blog tour schedule to
be included in each of the guest blog posts.
Provided free book copies for giveaways.
Michelle:
Participated in several interviews.
Wrote guest posts for several tour stops.
SEE THIS GUEST POST
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The Kensington team uses a multi-
pronged approach that includes
original memes, social media posts,
blog posts, and paid advertising.
They carefully roll out each
item to build interest and, most
importantly, accelerate momentum.
We’ve managed to put a half dozen
of my titles on the New York
Times or USA Today
bestseller lists.
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Meme Campaign
Plan: Create and share memes to build buzz
for the launch of Just Try to Stop Me.
Kensington:
Created meme graphics with a
compelling quote from the book.
Shared the graphic on social media
channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).
Gregg:
Supplemented the reach of the images
by running Facebook ads.
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They prioritize personalized
fan outreach.
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I run a lot of my own campaigns,
but they mostly target my
existing readers. I love to
design special swag or run
creative contests for prize
giveaways. It’s really important
to me to let my readers know
how important they are to me.
There may be an indirect word-
of-mouth effect, but truthfully, I
don’t have that
expectation.
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Outside of promotional campaigns
with my publisher and book related
content, I try to share aspects of my
life with my readers. I am always
striving to find ways to
connect with them and share
things that bring me joy in life. There
is a balance between sharing about
my upcoming books and sharing
personal behind-the-scenes
information.
WATCH THIS VIDEO
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I’m quite active on social media. I post often,
follow other authors and members of the book
community, engage with readers, and
respond to fans. I try to limit the amount of
in-your-face book promo I do, as it seems to be
a turnoff for many readers, with the exception
being free book giveaways. They are very
popular and always net me many new
followers. (Free stuff is appealing!)
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They build buzz by
running giveaways.
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I spend a good amount of time
replying to emails and social media
messages, sharing my own content
on social media, designing and
mailing swag, responding to blogger
interviews, and creating
giveaways related to
my book.
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I ran a trivia contest on my Tumblr
with 25 super obscure Simon vs. the
Homo Sapiens Agenda questions.
Participants had to email me the
answers, and each correct answer
was worth four points. Winners
received an ARC of the sequel. This
contest got a great response, and I
think it was mostly because people
liked being challenged
(i.e. it was more about the
process than the prize).
SEE THE CONTEST
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Dead Girls Society is about a
group of girls who get invitations
from the “Society” to join a high
stakes game of dares. I ran a pre-
order campaign wherein readers
who submitted proof-of-
purchase received a
personalized invitation to
join the Society, which
included a secret code to access
exclusive DGS content
online, plus a signed
poster and a bookmark.
SEE THE GIVEAWAY
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Whenever I have a book coming out, I
use advanced copies leading up to the
launch date and then signed hardcovers
for the release. If the book is in a
particular series, I might give away the
whole series. I also like to partner
with other authors so we can
cross-promote our books on each
other's platforms. At times I do
giveaways around lifestyle
items as well, since I know
my readers enjoy them!
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My social media
platforms are my own
responsibility and I
work very hard on
giveaways and other
promos to keep
readers interested
and excited.
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They focus on marketing
activities that drive engagement.
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One of the most effective
marketing tactics I use is my
website. Almost everything I post
on social media links back to it. It
has every story I’ve ever written,
and lists almost every edition,
even the foreign books. My
website is used to engage
my readers about everything
in the world of
Debbie Macomber.
BROWSE HER WEBSITE
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I’ve found readers tend to
engage a lot when I
post images (like fan art or
international book covers)
and hints about future books
or the Simon vs. the Homo
Sapiens Agenda film
adaptation.
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I recently tweeted a picture of my
Thai Simon vs the Homo Sapiens
Agenda covers (which feature an
adorable manga-style Simon
illustration). My readers responded
so positively to that cover, and
some even ordered the
Thai edition online.
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They use BookBub to
reach new readers.
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My publisher has used BookBub
as a way to introduce my Rose
Harbor series, as well as my
Debbie Macomber Classics line
of ebooks, to countless
readers who otherwise
may not have known
about these books.
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When Michelle knew her publisher
would be discounting Hexed prior to
the launch of her new release, she
confirmed the deal dates with them
and submitted
Hexed
as a
BookBub Featured Deal
herself.
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I booked a BookBub Featured Deal
for Hexed for October 23
rd
with the
hope that the sale price and witchy
theme right before Halloween would
draw in a lot of new readers. There
was a sample chapter of Dead Girls
Society in the back matter of the book
as well [now there’s a promotion for
Blackwood].
Hexed
sold well
over a thousand copies the
week of the BookBub deal
alone.
SEE MORE BACK MATTER EXAMPLES
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By far, the most effective tool has
been BookBub. When I’ve secured
a BookBub Featured Deal, I lay out
a promo strategy that includes other
paid advertising to push as hard as
I can to maximize sales
through a specific
bestseller list’s
reporting period.
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They split their time between
writing and marketing
(and prioritize writing).
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I spend the majority of time
writing books for my readers and
always have. I have a great staff of 11
in Port Orchard that work very closely
with my publisher, Ballantine Books.
There are also so many ways to
directly communicate with my readers
now, so I do my best to keep in
touch, whether it’s sending them
responses to letters sent in
the mail, replying to emails,
or online chats and posts
on social media.
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The months leading up to a new
release are extremely busy with
interview requests, blog tours, live
shows, etc. Outside of that, marketing
doesn’t take up much of my day. I’m
very active on social media,
namely on Twitter, but it’s something I
enjoy so it doesn’t feel like marketing,
though it is probably one of the most
effective strategies an author can use.
But if I’m being honest, I would
rather spend my time
writing books.
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I tend to write in sprints. That
means working very intensely over a
weekend or a few days, taking a
break, then getting at it once more.
That allows me to take a breath and
approach the marketing side without it
being a chore or something that I
have to squeeze in to my life. I’m very
fortunate that I have the team at
Kensington creating and executing
marketing plans that make it
very clear about what I
need to do and when.
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They have advice for debut authors.
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Authors should make
marketing as individualized
and personal as possible,
and should take the time to explore
which approaches feel the most
natural for them. I tend to focus my
energy on communication with
existing readers, which may
(or may not) help facilitate
word-of-mouth excitement.
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Try something out-of-the-box.
Thousands of authors are out there
doing the exact same thing, and in order
to stand out in today’s climate you have
to do something completely unique.
You also don’t have to join every social
media platform that exists. Do what
you enjoy. It’s obvious when you’re
only there because you feel like you
need to be, and it’s not doing
you any favors.
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Marketing your books is a
two-way street. I think in
the past, authors had to sit
back and see what the
publisher would do for
them. Now there are a
lot more opportunities
to take matters into
your own hands. The
best way to do that is to
ensure that you and
your publisher are
always on the
same page.
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Believe in yourself
and the power of
your dreams. You
can do this, but you
have to be
persistent.
