You are your brand!

How to advertise yourself as a Self-publishing Author

You are writing a book or have written a book. Now what?

After looking at all your options, you decide that self-publishing is the route you would like to take. You know that traditional publishers will help you market your book, but who will market your book for you, the self-published author? The short answer is—

YOU.

Before social media, Kindle, and other platforms that opened the door to publishing without a traditional publisher, this was a difficult and daunting task. Writers had to rely on their circle of friends and influence to share their books, and hope others would spread the word. You had to do the footwork, write letters, and brave waves of self-doubt and fear of failure.

Today, self-published authors are no longer dependent on traditional publishing companies to market their books, nor are they limited only to their immediate circle of influence—although personal support and word of mouth still play an important role. With social media, online platforms, and self-publishing tools, the world is now within reach. However, successful self-publishing also means understanding that the primary responsibility for marketing your book rests with you.

How do you go about doing this?

The simple way is to share your process on social media and in conversation with others. For first-time authors who are still testing the waters, this is daunting because you don’t know if your book will sell. But many first-time authors go on to write the next book and the next, and this is where the process becomes a pattern.

You are your brand

As an author, you are the brand—not simply your book or books. Readers may first discover your work through a particular title, topic, or genre, but many continue to follow you because of the writer behind the pages. What you are truly presenting to the world is your craft of writing: your voice, perspective, knowledge, creativity, and ability to connect with readers. Each book you publish becomes part of your identity as an author and helps build recognition and trust over time. For this reason, marketing yourself as a writer is just as important as marketing any individual book.

How to set yourself up as an author on social media:

Facebook is a versatile platform for authors because it helps connect you with readers, other writers, and people in the publishing industry. It also allows you to build a community by sharing blog posts, inspiration, videos, updates, and events.

One important thing to remember is that you are marketing yourself as an author, not only a single book. For this reason, it is better to create an author page rather than a page dedicated to one book. If you eventually write multiple books, managing separate pages for each title can become difficult and time-consuming. An author page allows you to keep all your content in one place while building your portfolio, visibility, and credibility as a writer.

You can also expand your presence onto platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok, depending on where your audience spends time. However, it is important to remember that the more social media platforms you use, the more time and effort you will need to dedicate to consistent marketing and engagement.

Other ways to market yourself

• Build an author website: Create a professional home page with your bio, books, newsletter signup, blog, and contact info. Platforms like WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix make this straightforward.
• Grow an email newsletter: You can send out regular newsletters to your followers. This will inform them of any new books you will be publishing, events you are hosting, and share inspirational messages to stay connected with your readers. Services such as Mailchimp and Kit are popular among authors.
• If you have written a novel, explore TikTok / BookTok:Short-form videos about writing, tropes, character aesthetics, or emotional scenes can create major visibility. TikTok has become one of the biggest discovery platforms for fiction readers. BookTok is the book-reading community on TikTok where readers, writers, and publishers share short videos about books, reviews, and reading trends.
• Test the waters in reader communities:
• a. Goodreads: Goodreads is free to use. As a published author participating in the Goodreads Author Program, there are no subscription fees. The only paid features are optional marketing services, such as running book giveaways or purchasing targeted advertising. Option 1: Amazon Auto-Import if your book is on Amazon: Because Amazon owns Goodreads, they share a database. If you are self-publishing through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) or IngramSpark, your book will usually appear on Goodreads automatically shortly after it goes live on Amazon. Option 2: Request a Goodreads Librarian (For traditional or unlisted books). If your book isn’t on Amazon. You must request a volunteer librarian to add it for you. You will need to: Create an account, join the group and submit your request. Once your book is successfully added to the database, Goodreads will generate an author profile for you.
• b. Reddit: Promoting books on Reddit requires a community-first approach. Redditors are highly sensitive to blatant marketing, so the golden rule is: be a Redditor who happens to be an author, not an author who treats Reddit like a billboard. Your profile acts as your landing page, and you only share information when asked for it. So, if someone approaches you to find out about the genre of your book or its content, you can answer them and the discussion can continue from there. This is a far more conservative and slower way of marketing your books. Focus on participating, not just promoting.
• Run price promotions and free-book campaigns
  Temporary discounts can boost rankings and visibility. Paid promotional services like BookBub can expose your book to large audiences of readers. However, you pay to use these services, and there are no guarantees that your books will sell this way.
• Collaborate with other self-published authors
  Cross-promotions, newsletter swaps, anthologies, and multi-author giveaways help you borrow audiences from writers in your genre.
• Create content around your niche
  Instead of only advertising books, produce content that readers enjoy. Platforms like YouTube and Instagram work well for this.
• Get reviews early and often
• Attend events online and offline
  Join a group of like-minded writers where you can be part of a community, grow in your skills and bounce ideas off one another. Attending writing events, book events, book launches, writing conferences, podcasts, and virtual panels can also expand your network and readership.

Try and try again

It is important not to rely on others to market your books, but to keep trying different marketing avenues to get them out there.

The bottom line is that you are your “brand”, not the books, and you are marketing yourself as an author. The books matter, but readers often become loyal to the author behind them. Part of indie/self-publishing marketing is marketing yourself as a writer and creator.