Online Book Marketing Ideas for Every Step in the Writing Process
Need some online book marketing ideas for your next book launch? Or how about some ideas while you’re still working on the first draft?
You’re in the right place.
No matter where you are in the writing process, you CAN talk about your book online. And you should! The more you talk about it, the better chance readers will have to find it — and fall in love!
Ready? Keep reading for 30 online book marketing ideas you can do RIGHT NOW to tell the world about your amazing book.
Online Book Marketing Ideas for Every Step in the Writing Process
1. Snap a photo of your writing space
Where do you write? On your couch, at a desk, at your kitchen counter or table, in bed, or all of the above? Snap a picture of it to share with your followers! They love to get to know you better, and they’ll be able to picture you in your writing space when you talk about writing. Bonus points for putting yourself in the picture!
2. Tell the story of how you got your book idea
Everyone writer has a story about how they got the idea for their book. Did it come to you in a dream? Was an idea sparked in a conversation with a friend? Did you make up a backstory for a random stranger on the street? Inspiration is found everywhere, as you know. So tell your followers where your story started!
3. Explain why you started writing and when
Why do you write? Did you have an idea for a book that just had to get out? Or had you always wanted to write a book and just decided one day it was time? Your followers want to know you, so explain your why. And bonus: Knowing your why will help connect you to the reason you write in the first place, which helps you stay motivated to keep going!
4. Record a video talking about your main characters’ likes and dislikes
You can really format this any way you’d like. Maybe you read it off like a character profile or do something really creative with a text-based video. (Canva can help with this!) You could even print off a character inspiration pic for this (Unsplash is my favorite free photos site) to hold up during the video! As a writer, you’re endlessly creative (don’t let anyone, including yourself, tell you otherwise), so let your creativity shine here.
5. Write a blog post about why you love your antagonist
I mean, we love all of our characters, right? Even the ones we want to hate. So why not write a love letter to our antagonist? Or just explain all the reasons why you enjoy writing them. Or, if you can’t come up with anything, a blog post about why you hate your antagonist would work, too. 😆
6. Create a video as if you were your main character
Okay, so this one’s a little out of my personal comfort zone, but some of you LOVE to dress up! So become your main character and HAVE FUN. Act out a scene from your book or just have them give a bitter diatribe about how much they hate you, as the writer, because of all the crap you’re putting them through. Or have them wax poetic about how much they are in love with their love interest in the story (even if you don’t want to reveal that love interest’s name yet — you don’t have to!). Again, be creative.
7. Do a live training or live Q&A
If you’ve been writing longer than a minute, you’ve learned something about writing. So do a live training about it! Or, if you frequently get asked questions about your writing, hold a Q&A! You don’t even have to answer questions live at first — just have questions prepared beforehand. If going live scares you, record yourself on video a few times to get comfortable. Then take the leap, and do it scared. And if your following is small, even better! Better to stumble your way around a live in front of a few people instead of a ton, and then when you have a larger following, you’ll be good at it!
8. Talk about your favorite writer and how they inspired you
Did a particular author inspire you to become a writer? Maybe you read a writing craft book that transformed your writing life. No matter who you look to for inspiration, your followers want to know where you draw your inspiration. Maybe they’ll discover an author they love while they’re waiting for you to release your book, or perhaps other authors will check out the writing craft book and get some great advice. Either way, share the love! And for bonus points: Tag the author on Twitter (or whatever social media platform they’re on). Who knows — you may create a connection with an author you love! (Just don’t be weird or inauthentic about it.)
9. Share your favorite writing quote and what it means to you
In that same vein, is there a writing quote that really inspires you? You can tweet about it, or share a graphic on Instagram with the quote, or share it on Facebook. You could even make it into a blog post! Tell your followers why the quote’s so inspiring and how it helped you. Bonus: Ask your followers to share their favorite writing quote!
10. Read an *edited* excerpt from your book (or just a line if it’s your first draft)
The key word here is “edited.” You don’t want to share an excerpt from your book that hasn’t had the editing treatment — especially if it doesn’t end up being in the final book. Save the longer excerpts for when you’re done or almost done with the editing process. But you can still share something from your book if you’re working on the first draft! Just make the quote shorter — no more than a line or two. And a quick copyedit of those words couldn’t hurt, either. Remember, the more professional you come across to your followers, the more likely they will be to trust that your book is professional. So make sure you look over that quote. Bonus: Share a picture of your WIP (work in progress) but redact (somehow cover up) the parts you don’t want your followers to read. But a little hint or teaser is okay. #keepthemwantingmore
11. Show your writing process in a time-lapse video
First, if you know how to do a time-lapse video, TELL ME. 😂 But if you do, you can record yourself actually writing then condense it into a quick 15-second clip for something like an Instagram Reel or Stories. Easy peasy — and you’re just recording what you want to be doing anyway! And your caption? Talk about the scene you wrote while you were filming. Help your followers understand how excited it made you, or maybe talk about how you hit a lull and got bored, and you aren’t sure it’ll stay in the final draft. Talking about the not-so-great stuff is okay, too, you know? Vulnerability is GOOD. Just don’t focus on the negative too much. End on a positive note. (Like “I wasn’t too pleased with the scene I wrote today, but that’s why we edit, right?” or “Even though the scene I wrote today bored me to tears, that’s how a first draft works. That’s why there’s a second draft.” Or something. You get the point.) Show your followers you’re making it a learning experience — that, in turn, gives them permission to not be perfect, too.
12. Get your followers involved by letting them choose a character’s name
You can poll your audience to help them choose between two character names, you can ask for name suggestions after you’ve told them about the character, or you could run a contest where the winner’s first name is used! The possibilities are endless! If you’re struggling to find the perfect name for a character, this may be a great option for you.
13. Participate in a giveaway, even if it’s just an Amazon gift card (or do your own!)
Giveaways are GREAT for growing your following if you do them the right way. The key here is to increase engagement and follows on your platform of choice. Require likes, comments, saves, shares, tagging a friend (or 3), and/or follows (of your page) for someone to enter the giveaway. Here are some good rules for giveaways: 1. Require the person entering to follow you, 2. Require them to engage with your post somehow (usually commenting and tagging someone else to help organically spread the reach of your giveaway), 3. Clearly show what the person will win (your book if it’s out, or even just an Amazon gift card or a Kindle if you want to get crazy!), 4. Encourage shares because people want to help you out even if they don’t care to enter, and 5. Mention that your giveaway is not affiliated with the platform or any of the products mentioned (basically that it’s just sponsored by you). I haven’t seen the legalese on why this is good, but it’s a good rule of thumb to follow anyway.
14. Host a writing challenge or 15-minute sprint
Have you seen those weekly or monthly hashtag challenges on Instagram? Create a graphic and host one! Start talking about it a few days beforehand, and if you’ve connected (authentically) with other authors on the platform, ask them to join in! Or have you seen sprints on YouTube or Instagram Live? Run one! At the very least, you’ll get 15 minutes of uninterrupted writing time — and you’ll give your followers the opportunity to join in, too! Can we say accountability?
15. Give advice on your favorite part of the writing process
Record a video of your best writing advice, share a post about it, or just pop a quick selfie video in Instagram Stories. Other writers will probably be following you (because just about every author is a reader!), so give them some of your best advice! Bonus: Be humble about it. Don’t insist something is the “only” way to do it — just that it’s worked for you. No one likes a know-it-all.
16. Tweet writing tips and tricks for newbie writers
Have a quick writing tip? A trick you’ve used that’s really helped you speed up writing your first draft? Tweet about it! You could even do a series of tweets like “Things I wished I’d known as a newbie writer” or “The worst mistakes I made and how to avoid them” — and, as you’ve probably figured out, this could work on just about any platform.
17. Discover other writers online and authentically connect by reading their books and sharing their content
So this may not *seem* like book marketing, but stick with me here. You’re developing a following on, say, Instagram. But you don’t have a book for your followers to read yet. So you connect with another author on the platform (bonus if they write books similar to yours, but that’s not required) who already has books out (bonus if you’ve read them). Why not talk about their books? Your followers will have something great to read while they’re waiting for your amazing book, the author will LOVE you for sharing their work, and your followers will start trusting your recommendations (why it’s a good thing to read the book first if you’re gonna rave about it), which means they’ll listen to you more closely the NEXT time you recommend something. You know, like YOUR book. Everybody wins, you’ve made a new author friend, and your followers trust you. There’s seriously no downside. (And that author is more likely to share YOUR book when it’s ready! Don’t expect it, but it can be a nice plus!)
18. Connect your book to a current event and tell that story
This one may take a little thinking, but what if your book is about a CEO that falls from grace but finds love, and a prominent billionaire that everyone’s talking about just lost everything? Connect it to your book. Or what if you’ve written a dystopian where people have to wear masks for the rest of their life, and masks have started to display their social status furthering the divide between classes? (Okay, I’m probably reaching, but you get the point.) One of the best ways to gain viral attention is to connect your book to something someone’s already talking about.
19. Pitch a collaboration to an author friend
There are a TON of ways to collaborate with other authors. Why not do a live together? Or celebrate your book release with a few friends? [Related: My friend, Tori Alvarez, and I released our books on the same day, so we did a livestream to celebrate on YouTube! Check that out here.] These aren’t the only way to collaborate, though. Why not offer to interview your friend for your blog? Or include one of their books (or a few of them) in a giveaway you sponsor? Get creative here! People are discovering new ways to collaborate every day. (But I know you’re wondering how this helps market YOUR book. See #17. And also, they’ll probably tell their followers they’re collaborating with you, too, which means you’ll get in front of their audience! They’re getting in front of yours, too, remember. Win, win again!)
20. Post aesthetics (photo collages or “edits”) of your characters
Gotta admit, this is a favorite of mine. I did this on Instagram leading up to my book launch. [Check out one of the posts here.] I love creating graphics in Canva, and creating collages helps me really get into my characters and fangirl about them. It’s so much fun.
21. Take a selfie and introduce yourself and your book
Selfies get a ton of engagement, so why not do an introductory post? Give your followers some insight into you as a person, then tell them about your book!
22. Design a fun email challenge (and use it to get people on your email list)
I had a lot of fun with this one! About a year ago, I created a free email challenge about the basics of an author career. [Related: I then expanded it a little and created a paid course, Jumpstart Your Author Career! You can check that out here.] I just had people sign up for my email list, then I sent them daily emails for the challenge. With a good email marketing program (see above), you can fully automate this and run it multiple times if you want!
23. Plan for holidays by connecting the holiday to a scene in your story
Similar to #18, connect an upcoming holiday somehow to your book. Do you have a scene in your book that takes place on Thanksgiving? Or a Valentine’s Day gone wrong? Get creative. Bonus: Write a Christmas book. This is marketing gold.
24. Build a “set” or create a themed item for your book and upload a photo or video of it
Here’s a chance to get REALLY creative. If you’re into building things (maybe miniatures or models or even Legos) or you commission something to be made (like a necklace based on your book), market the heck out of it! What a cool way to talk about your story!
25. Establish your book’s world through pictures in a blog post
Find amazing pictures on Unsplash, add fun notes on each one or talk about how the picture fits into your story, then put it in a blog post. SO visual, and SO fun. [Related: I did this to announce my last book launch! Check out that blog post here.]
26. Answer common questions you get about your writing
What are the things people always ask you about your writing? What insight can you give that answer those questions? Similar to a Q&A (see #7), except you’re creating content based on the question you get asked. Seriously — the people asking you those questions don’t even know they’re helping you plan your content!
27. Provide behind-the-scenes content of your process (videos, pictures, etc.)
Do you record videos with regularity? Maybe you snap a picture of your lighting set up and tripod. Or maybe it’s you cooking dinner because that’s where you come up with your best plot ideas. Behind-the-scenes content helps your followers get to know you better!
28. Start a social media series on how you edit your books
Or write them. Or market them. Or…(fill in the blank). You can do a series on just about anything! Just outline what each post will be about, create the graphics or videos needed, then plan when you’ll post them! Maybe you’ll talk each day about a particular editing draft. Or maybe you’ll share your plotting/outlining process. Whatever you can dream up, you can create. Bonus: Create your own hashtag for it. Bam.
29. Reward your most loyal followers with bonus content (like deleted scenes or extensive character profiles)
This works especially well for pre-order bonuses, but you can use this anytime! Did you just delete a scene you loved but didn’t fit the story? You could share it with your followers (provided it doesn’t give too much away). You could create extensive character profiles (with aesthetics and photo collages) for a blog post. You could even share your writing or book playlist! And if you’re on a platform like Patreon where a small section of your followers get your best content, this is a GREAT place to use this stuff.
30. Drop a surprise for your followers on special days (like a book sale if you have a book out or a giveaway of your favorite author’s book)
Book anniversary? Run a sale! Hit a certain follower milestone? Run a giveaway! It’s your birthday? Give out special content (see #29). The possibilities are endless!
Hopefully, this list has gotten your creative juices flowing. There really are unlimited opportunities to talk about your book online — even if you’re still writing it.
Let me know your favorite online book marketing idea below — or drop one that I didn’t mention! 👇🏻