19 authors show you how to make time for marketing your book

Writing books isn't the only thing you do, right? So how can you make time for marketing your book? Let these 19 authors show the way. 

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One of the biggest challenges authors tell me they face—especially those juggling careers, caregiving, and all the curveballs life throws at us—is simply finding time to market their books.

When I surveyed my newsletter subscribers about their biggest book marketing hurdles, “not enough time” came up again and again.

And I get it.

Marketing can feel like one more thing on an already too-long to-do list. But here’s the good news: You’re not alone—and you’re not without options.

I used my book marketing Facebook group and Source of Sources to ask authors how they actually find time for book marketing. Some answers were predictable, but several surprised me in the best way possible.

What they shared is both inspiring and doable. Whether you’ve got 15 minutes a day or one solid afternoon a week, their insights can help you find a rhythm that works for you.

Discover how 19 authors find (or make!) time to market their books in this article packed with advice you can use immediately.Click to tweet

Get accountability from a group

“I have a core group of writing buddies and we have regular one-on-one online meet-ups once a week. During those one- or two-hour sessions I will drop everything and work on my writing/revising or my book promotion, whichever is more pressing. No matter what, Fridays are for marketing.”

David Hicks, author, The Gospel According to Danny

“I’m a member of a book writing group that meets every morning for 90 minutes, Monday through Friday. We chat for the first 15-minutes of the virtually held session and then begin to write or work on anything connected to our ‘authorpreneur’ businesses. When I’m not preparing material for a current manuscript, I’m spending this quality time to plan and organize publicity campaigns for my books, especially if a new book is to be released within the coming months. I feel this is one of the most effective ways to stay focused and committed because you are being supported by others in the group to achieve what’s needed as a professional author.”

Linda Berry, author, Angel Whisperer Guidebook: The Complete and Easy Way to Connect with Your Angels

Capture ideas when they come to you

“During the week, when ideas come up for book promotion or marketing, I will add a note in my phone. I find that authors especially often have bursts of creativity and ideas can pop up any time. When an idea pops into my head, I write a summary of it in my phone with enough detail to remember it for the next time I will be working on marketing.”

Sandrine Lavoie-Filion, author, Uncensored First-time Mom Confessions

“I sometimes get my best ideas when I am not at my computer, but, fortunately, I always have my phone. I use my Notes app to quickly record any a-ha moments I have around promotion or marketing. I also use this to create pre-scripted promotional text with links that I can re-use multiple times on social media.”

Megan Mary, author, The Dream Haunters: A Metaphysical Mystery of Magick

Be spontaneous (and prepared)

“Lipstick on hand at all times for TikToks on the school run. People like to follow a journey and authenticity makes content relatable, so snatching an opportune moment to film can actually work in your favour.”

Lauren Grace, author, Is She Me?

Outsource work

“I identified bookstores and publications I was interested in reaching out to and then created a spreadsheet so that all the info—name, website, email, phone, address—are all in one place. I have had wonderful help from my publisher’s marketing person to reach out to bookstores (they primarily prefer to hear from the publisher, not the author). 

“I also write all my social media posts for Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Bluesky, and have a young gal who makes them look beautiful and posts them. Same with my email list. I write the post and then she creates the graphics and design and schedules the email to go out.”

Marinda Freeman, author, Everything is an Event: A Step-by-Step Guide, Creating Memorable Occasions for Today’s Lifestyle with 15 Principles Revealed

“My one big tip would be leveraging freelancer portals (i.e. Fiverr, Upwork etc). For a very low investment ($300), I was able to find someone who helped me lay the groundwork for marketing and publicizing my book.

“He created my bio sheet, pitch letter, and media kit and even gave me some ‘starter’ leads to begin reaching out to. From there, the heavy lifting was done. Now, I simply set aside some time on weekends or evenings to research and contact more leads. The results have been great; I already had one television interview on a major metro area news station.”

Stacy Brooks, author, Vineyard Vibes, An Adult Coloring Journey Through Virginia Wine Country

“I have been intentional about marketing weekly on social media and guesting on podcasts to promote the book. I am busy running my doula agency, so I hired a podcast booking service to save me time.”

Kristin Revere, author, Supported: Your Guide to Birth and Baby

Don’t wait for time to become available—make time for it

“My best tip on how to find time is to make time. It doesn’t have to be long, 10 to 15 minutes works fine. It’s just enough time to send a few pitch emails, respond to social media conversations, create a graphic or reel of your book, or network with like-minded people. As long as you know your goal for that day (i.e. posting on social media), it really doesn’t have to take long, and those small chunks of time really add up!”

Kellie Doherty, author, Fatal Spores & Fiery Paths

“I dedicate a minimum of 30 minutes a day for marketing and/or promo. No set time of the day. Just as long as it’s before I go to bed. A lot of times I’m posting TikToks at 11 p.m., doing market research on my genre, or searching for images for social media posts in the bathtub on my phone. Just whenever I can grab some uninterrupted time.”

Angela Henry, author, The Family Lies

Block out time on your calendar

“I put a block of time on my calendar and use that to work on marketing and promoting my book. I find that either Monday or Friday mornings work best for me to work on any marketing initiatives related to my book or to my own business, although I’ve also successfully used time on the weekends to work on these initiatives.”

Michelle Garrett, author, B2B PR That Gets Results

“I schedule promotion like I would anything else that matters. I block 45 minutes a week for book marketing, and give each week a single purpose. One week, I reach out to bookstores. Another, I build content drafts. Another, I do follow-ups or respond to messages. That one-block rhythm removes the mental tax of decision fatigue. It also respects that authors are not machines. Most of us are doing this alongside jobs, caregiving, or other creative work.”

Amar Marouf, author, Alleviate

“I carve out a minimum of 30 minutes per day for LinkedIn engagement, and each of my posts includes a reference to my book as well as a link to receive a free chapter or order the whole book. ”

Michelle Schafer, author, Cultivating Career Growth: Navigating Transitions with Purpose

Use your weekends

“I carve out time—every weekend—for three hours. This time is dedicated to marketing and promoting my book. I use the  time to settle in first. Then I roll up my sleeves and get to work. 

“During the week, if I have an idea, I write it down in a spiral notebook dedicated to book promo, or make a note in my phone, then later transfer into this notebook.  Then, during the three weekend hours, I address and complete the task of the ideas I have generated.”

Lisa Jo Barr, author, The Pit of Despair: How God, Prayer, and the 12 Steps Saved My Life From Addiction

Work it into everyday conversations

“ I started naturally weaving my books into everyday conversations. When someone at work asks for a fun fact, I’ll smile and say, ‘I write children’s books!’ I even put it on my resume and mention it when I’m making friends or meeting new people. It’s amazing what happens when you just start talking about it—a coworker bought my book for his niece, a local school invited me to do a reading, and several community bookstores asked me to hold signing events.”

Juliette Smith, author, The Puppy That Didn’t Listen

Match the task to your energy level

“What works best for me is knowing when to exercise different parts of my body—metaphorically speaking.

“Social media is the small bird that pecks every day, over and over, so I tend to use it as a palate cleanser: If I have a half hour, or even 15 minutes, I can usually knock out several small posts on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads without much effort. Doing a little bit here and there isn’t very draining, and it can also cleanse the palate for the next round of fiction writing.

“Longer promotional efforts, like participating in podcasts or interviews or writing essays and articles to help promote the latest book, require real scheduling. I try not to do more than one per day when writing something brand new. I actually find interviews energizing, but they don’t necessarily put me in the right frame of mind to dive back into whatever story I’m telling next.”

Randee Dawn, author, The Only Song Worth Singing

Just say “no”

“People feel like they have to say ‘yes’ to every book marketing opportunity to be successful and are reluctant to say ‘no’ to unrelated activities to clear the space they need—leading to frustration, burnout, and feeling like a failure.

“I learned to say ‘no’ to unrelated opportunities. That freed me to invest in high-value activities that yielded the best results for my book.”

Karen Marginot, author, The Bad Girls Club:  Promises of a Spirituality-Based Recovery

Batch create and post social media content

“Typically, I schedule out three to four months worth of marketing. It takes five or six days to write copy, record video, create posts, and schedule them to roll out.

“Once that is sorted, I spend two days writing copy, a day recording videos, another day editing videos and creating posts, and a third day posting content on Metricool (a social media management tool).

“Yes, this is a lot of work. But I don’t have to think about posting for four months.”

Trina Read, author, The Sex Course

Play the guilt card

“I have two tiny kids, so I lean into the mom guilt. I get my husband to take them somewhere fun, then sneak away to work on a laptop or tablet. I end up being very efficient, as I always feel eager to re-join the outing!”

Eve Mizuno, author, Novelist Mom: Cherishing life’s greatest gifts with humor and humility

How do you make time for marketing your book?

If you struggle to find time for book marketing, perhaps a few of these suggestions will give you hope. If busy parents, employees, and caregivers manage to make time for marketing their books, you can too, right?

NOTE: I used Source of Sources (SOS), a free service that connects journalists, podcasters, bloggers, and others with sources who can contribute to their content, to get input for this article. The authors offering advice here provided what I asked for, but many others didn’t. Learn how to respond to media requests in SOS and others services like it with “PitchPro: Your Expert Response Toolkit.” This collection of my downloadable cheat sheets, worksheets, and templates helps you discover who and what reporters and others are looking for … and give them what they need so you get quoted.

Which of these approaches are you using already? Which of them will you try now? Tell us in a comment!