Marketing Your Book on a Budget

The $0 marketing stack: what you can do for free

We cover the full suite of free marketing tools available to indie authors — from Goodreads author profiles to BookSirens to HARO (Help a Reporter Out) — and how to use them effectively without spending a cent.

Email marketing: your highest-ROI channel

A well-maintained email list consistently outperforms social media for book sales. We cover how to grow your list, what to send, and how to structure a launch email sequence that converts subscribers into buyers.

Social media without the burnout

We share a sustainable social media strategy for authors — including which platforms to prioritize, how often to post, what content performs best for book discovery, and how to engage authentically without spending hours online every day.

Getting press coverage as an indie author

Traditional media coverage is not just for traditionally published authors. We cover how to write a press release, how to pitch book bloggers and podcasts, and how to identify BIPOC-focused media outlets that actively cover indie authors.

Community marketing: the most powerful tool you have

Word-of-mouth within BIPOC literary communities drives more book sales than most paid advertising. We discuss how to authentically engage with these communities, how to approach bookstores and book clubs, and how to build relationships that generate ongoing visibility.

When and how to spend money on marketing

Not all paid marketing is equal. We cover the paid channels that actually work for indie authors at different budget levels — from BookBub Featured Deals to newsletter swaps to targeted social ads — and how to evaluate whether a paid promotion is worth the investment.