7 killer book marketing tips for fiction

Novelists, which of these less obvious book marketing tips will take your fiction farther than it's gone already?

There’s no question that it’s harder to promote fiction than it is nonfiction (and let’s not even talk about poetry).

But it pains me to hear from novelists who believe their only options are begging for reader reviews, posting on social media, and buying ads.

There’s so much more you can do to get your book title in front of the right people. Your novel deserves that additional effort, whether you write political thrillers, cozy mysteries, or science fiction.

It starts with opening your mind to the possibilities.

Book marketing tips for fiction

It’s easy to just do what “everyone else” is doing. But what if they could be doing more… and aren’t? Why let yourself be held back by preconceived ideas of what novelists “should” and “shouldn’t” be doing?

The following tips are designed to help you look at your book through a different lens. I want you to see more book promotion possibilities.

Which of these seven will you try today?

1. Think beyond reader and other reviews.

Reader and professional reviews are absolutely valuable; securing them should be on any author or publisher’s book promotion to-do list.

But your novel deserves more widespread, long-term, and ongoing exposure than it can get through reviews alone.

“13 fiction book marketing tips from an experienced novelist” offers ideas you might not have thought of.

2. Support your book with a good website designed by a professional.

Contrary to what some in the industry are saying because social media has flourished and blogging sites like Substack have become available, yes, you do need a website.

There are many reasons why, but the biggest is that you control it. You will lose everything if your online home for your writing is a social media platform and it kicks you off, crashes, or disappears. The same applies to sites like Substack and Patreon.

You can do many things to protect your website’s safety and integrity. You can do zero things when you rely on someone else’s platform.

So if you don’t have a website, move building one to the top of your to-do list.

And your website has to be as good as your writing.

Communicate what you write clearly and directly on your home page so we can tell at a glance whether we might be interested in your books.

Mystery writer Libby Fischer Hellman’s site does this well. The home page states in a crisp, large, bold font, “Love thrillers? You’re in the right place!”

Learn more about author websites in “Author website must haves.”

3. Use your content to identify promotion allies.

This could be your secret weapon because honestly, not enough novelists are doing this.

Because Camille Noe Pagán’s novel, The Art of Forgetting, tells the story of what happens to a friendship when someone suffers a traumatic brain injury, Pagán partnered with the Bob Woodruff Foundation. Journalist Woodruff suffered a brain injury while covering the Iraq war for ABC-TV.

Look, too, at your characters’ professions and afflictions because there’s an association for just about every occupation and medical condition or disability. Email the group’s marketing department to propose a collaboration. Include book information, outline promotional possibilities, and clearly state how the organization will benefit from a partnership.

Ideas include:

• Adding your book to the organization’s online store
• Speaking at the national meeting about why the profession or medical situation was essential to your story, what inspired you to write about it, and how you researched it so you presented it accurately
• Writing an article for the member publication
• Offering a purchase discount to members

4. Use the nonfiction nuggets in your manuscript to create newsworthy material for media outlets.

What are the nonfiction subjects or themes in your book? Look at your:

• Professions
• Real-life settings
• Hobbies
• Medical conditions
• Industries
• Themes
• Conflicts

Is your protagonist a radio jock? Morning drive-time personalities might interview you by phone.

What about the setting? New York’s scenic Finger Lakes wine region near where I live is often the backdrop for novels. I know that because I’ve seen some of the “Finger Lakes form the backdrop for a new book” publicity.

And a lesser-known brand name product that plays a role in your fiction could get your book into that brand’s employee newsletter.

If you’re writing your novel now, work in nonfiction nuggets you can capitalize on later.

5. Take advantage of holidays, special occasions, annual events, and seasonal stories.

Always be on the lookout for special days or occasions you can connect your book to. You might be surprised at the number of options available to you.

We periodically preview the next month’s most unusual holidays on this blog along with holiday-specific book promotion suggestions. Make sure you see this helpful content when it runs by subscribing to the Build Book Buzz newsletter using the form in the upper right or the end of this article.

Our annual Build Book Buzz Literary Calendar and the monthly calendars at Holiday Insights will inspire you, too.

6. Leverage what you uncovered while writing your book.

Did you learn about a period in history or a specific region? Use this knowledge as a promotional springboard.

The author of a historical romance novel set in South Carolina, for example, can write and distribute a news release announcing the top romantic attractions in that state or pitch local newspapers or regional magazines on an article about the state’s most romantic date destinations.

Your goal is to be quoted with your book title included as your credential.

That same content can be repurposed as a blog post or social media post or reel.

7. Use those nonfiction nuggets from #4 for guest blogging and podcast interviews.

Don’t limit your guest blogging to a post on your author friend’s site. Use the nonfiction nuggets you identified in tip #4 to identify blogs on each topic.

Let’s go back to books set in a specific region or community. It’s likely people blog about the region, whether the blogs are community news-focused or designed to attract tourism.

Pitch those bloggers on topics that range from a Q&A to a bylined article. You can talk about why you chose that region as the book’s backdrop, how you researched the area, or what surprised you about the community as you learned more about it.

The same applies to guest podcasting. Sure, you can approach podcasts about books, but you should also pursue those about your book’s nonfiction details.

There’s a podcast for just about everything. When you learn how to find and pitch them appropriately, you’ll introduce your book to a much wider world of readers.

Try one or two of these book marketing tips for fiction

There’s so much you can do on an ongoing basis to keep your book title in front of readers long after the launch. Yes, absolutely pursue the important reader reviews you need for “social proof,” but think bigger than that.

Give one or two of these seven book marketing tips for fiction a try and evaluate the results. You have nothing to lose… and much to gain.

Your book deserves it.

What has been your most successful tactic for promoting fiction? Please tell us about it.

(Editor’s note: This evergreen article is now updated and expanded.)