📙The Future of Book Marketing Is Community, Not Coverage

The future of book marketing does not exist in either a vacuum or a philosophical quest to find meaning in happenstance. It belongs to those who harness the power of community.

Ping! Ping! Ping! That’s the sound of book publicists’ requests for earned media coverage hitting my inbox every day.

As a book blogger since 2019 (full-time since 2022 and now with a bestselling Substack newsletter and podcast, too), I’ve read thousands of such pitches. These days, anywhere from 1 to 10 per day is normal. I’ve also sold anywhere from hundreds to thousands of books per month through my affiliate links. And I was a lawyer for 15+ years before all of this, so I truly do get persuasiveness on many levels. I’ve also seen this landscape change, sometimes even faster than the industry can keep up with.

Dare I say, book marketing has never been harder. One day you’re dancing and pointing at words on social media, the next you’re writing long-form newsletters. Breakout successes can also feel random: a TikTok sensation here (ACOTAR), a self-published word-of-mouth campaign there (Theo of Golden). Did I mention that “no one is reading anymore?” What may work for one campaign may tank another. Either way, you’ll hear about it.

All of that said, one perspective I haven’t heard much from in the chain is my own—independent media. I’ve spent the last few months quietly listening and adjusting my own strategy to better support publishing. My theory was that better helping the industry would help me in return. Win-win.

But what I found was that an industry that seems to want what I have as independent media¹ (the focused attention of an authentic community of bookworms who’ve trusted me for years) can’t seem to bridge the gap between its needs and mine.

The result is more busywork for both of us and less earned media coverage for them. So, this article is my effort to bridge that gap. I’m adding my own perspective to the pile in an attempt to get this industry thinking differently—more creatively, more humanly.

I don’t just think it’s better for everyone’s sanity. I also think it may actually work.

The Problems I’ve Heard About Book Marketing

Shouting out my current stack of physical advanced reader copies (ARCs)

As mentioned, I’m not an industry professional; I’m independent media. I don’t pretend to know what it’s like to be an industry professional or the many challenges they face, including our most precious resource—time.

But I observed very closely and took what I heard seriously. Here’s the consensus I gathered from an array of sources:

• Traditional media coverage is way down at best and practically nonexistent at worst.

• Podcast coverage can still work well. (Independent media)

• Blog tours can also still work. (Independent media)

• Substack is really hot (thanks, in big part, to Lena Dunham’s successful book launch). (Independent media)

• Social media experiences seem to be mixed: virality is super fluky. ROI is hard to measure. Success tends to come when authors themselves hustle there.

• Big spending was also mixed and definitely didn’t necessarily equate to big results: I saw both successes and failures. Successes were more often found when the book was merely a gateway to something bigger, like 1:1 high-ticket support, or the author had a huge following and/or a highly topical title (Yesteryear, Strangers). I’ve definitely seen success stories with Amazon ads, but also heard that “it’s not what it once was.”

Sources

While I didn’t save every source whose opinions and experiences I reviewed, I did retain these bookmarks:

• what sells more books: publicity or content? by Leigh Stein

• I Spent $44,000 Launching My Book. Three of Those Dollars Worked. by Amy Chan

• 3 lessons from Amy Chan’s book launch by Leigh Stein

• An Author’s Guide to Promoting Your Book Without a Publicist by Abigail Monti

• Is Substack the New Book Tour? by Kathleen Schmidt

• A Year of Book Promotion: What Worked, What Didn’t, and What I’m Doing Now by Kathleen Schmidt and Mallary Tenore Tarpley

• I Spent $50K Launching a Book. Here’s What Actually Worked. by Morgan DeBaun

• Inside Lena Dunham’s Substack press tour by Arielle Swedback

I also have to shout out a variety of notes and other content by Jo Piazza (the hardest-working woman in the biz who is legitimately a walking billboard for her books), particularly those about how hard it’s been to get preorders this year.

The Solutions I Built in Response

I cataloged the problems I heard from the world of book publishing and pivoted as follows, hoping for a collaborative marketing initiative that made it worth the hours of time I added to my work week more closely managing pitches for coverage:

• Converted my Gilmore Girls literary rewatch podcast to a book club inspired by the voracious readers on Gilmore Girls. Discussing book listicles on themes aligned with the show and its characters has reached tens of thousands more listeners and allowed me to discuss new releases more easily, including with guests.

• Added a book tour column for new releases to spotlight more launches. This used to live behind the paywall in my monthly recaps.

• Started posting weekly open calls on Substack notes and chat threads seeking quotes for my upcoming posts (with backlinks!).

• Audited my Substack to make my contact info more detailed and easier to find.

• Added paid sponsorships for guaranteed coverage.

• Made an effort to connect more deeply with the authors and industry professionals already in my inbox (including ~50 outreach emails).

• Planned to launch a column with written interviews (coming soon).

  

What I Learned

A few months into my new approaches now, I’ve learned some lessons that didn’t exactly make me excited to agree to provide earned media coverage, particularly since the long-form content that I share (in direct response to what was deemed most valuable) requires a substantial investment of my time and money to produce².

A few of the low points for me:

• While pitch count in my inbox increased substantially based on the rise in Substack as a valuable marketing asset and the fact that my contact information was more visible, they all looked… exactly the same, which collectively reduced all of their value. It felt like scrolling through social media: ad, ad, ad, over and over again.

• An exorbitant number of pitches were still landing in the inbox of a blog I haven’t worked on in over a year. Some publicists continued to send them there even after I asked for my information to be updated. This felt like I was being ignored.

• Pitching seemed to take a “spray and pray” approach that played into the “randomness” that the industry is talking about right now. Even when pitches were personalized, the personalization usually felt forced (a passing reference to my Substack’s name or my last post, rather than a specific sell on why this book matters to my unique audience or how it will help me). This felt inauthentic.

• Interview offers sometimes went ignored. This made me feel used.

• Several podcast guests canceled after I’d prepped, leaving me to rely on solo shows and long-term contacts (a/k/a fellow creator friends I trust) to appear. This wasted my resources.

• Only one author (that I’m aware of) reshared a book tour post. This felt like I was unappreciated.

• Most publicists ignored my conversation starter, despite the fact I selected them because they were already in my inbox with asks. This was meant to begin to build a long-term relationship. Out of ~50 attempts, I had ~5 actual email exchanges. All respondents were very polite and friendly, but only one publicist offered a Zoom call, which I accepted. Another lead ghosted me on a call to discuss her industry challenges and how I can help. I posted a note on Substack for authors and industry professionals to identify themselves so we could connect, and only two personal friends responded. This felt transactional.

• To date, only one author has provided a quote in response to my open calls to contribute a sentence or two to a post on a particular topic. The rest have been engaged readers and creators who are grinding to grow their businesses.

As a result, I’ve already set more boundaries around the time I had been willing to freely give to solve the problems the industry named.

What I’d Like to See Change

What I’m trying to do, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, is bridge some gaps, not burn them. We are all being pulled in many directions at the same time. We are all facing gargantuan challenges, like tariffs and AI. We are all tired. And it is not our fault. Life is really freaking hard right now. But we are better together.

On that note, it may also help to talk about how I make money to keep my independent media channels alive.

I used to earn mostly through display ads and affiliate income on search engine optimized blog posts. I’ve reached 15 million+ readers to date and reached “Pro” status in my ad network (approximately the top 10% of their SEO bloggers). The system worked so well at rewarding professionals like me that I was able to give time more freely and take more risks and passion projects without worrying if a particular piece of content didn’t hit.

AI changed all of that. LLMs, AI, and algorithms significantly reduced visibility, all the while creators (both real and fake) became infinitely more abundant. Now, I rely on paid subscriptions, affiliate income, and sponsorships, focusing on my “owned” audience. It’s much more work (not passive like display ads that paid me per view). So, there’s no room for error here.

I’ve heard many lament the “death” of traditional media and how hard it’s been on the publishing industry. I’ve also heard many discuss how hard it is to convert book sales on social media today. But I haven’t yet seen the appreciation I hoped independent media like mine would receive as a result.

I think of independent media the way I think of PBS, libraries, and bookstores. When humans collectively appreciate and support them, they thrive and foster great things for their communities. The work is hard, but the results are worthwhile.

Because I decided one day in 2020 to post that I was taking the Rory Gilmore reading challenge, tens of thousands of readers on multiple platforms have since decided to embrace a lifestyle that values the written word versus doomscrolling and letting AI take over our human lives. We’ve also secured over 1,500 book donations for low-income schools. That is work that keeps me going.

But the reality for independent media outlets like mine is that saying “yes” to earned media coverage means I’m committing several hours of my own personal time, as well as my full-time business expenses, to a particular book. I’m also making an implicit promise to my subscribers that I chose the right books and authors to share with them and am giving them something they can’t find elsewhere.

To get more “yeses” from me, I’d really love it if the book industry better understood the underlying motivations of independent media like mine when pitching: to continue to make a living marketing books for you.

What I truly need to keep marketing books in the ways deemed valuable by the industry is:

• Support for my work (appreciation)

• Genuine relationships built over time (trust)

Publicity is sales, and sales is psychology. This is what motivates me to act on a pitch. Not a press release. Not a slew of generic emails. Not ghosting me.

Shift your strategy from spreading awareness about a book to making it an easy yes to cover, such as sharing a unique tip or fun fact I can’t find elsewhere but can copy and paste right into my content to position myself as an insider. And actually showing up to the party!

I will also pinky promise you this: Engagement does not go unnoticed. In fact, socially generous authors are the ones I am reaching out to myself to cover.

I know what you’re thinking. This is really hard work. I know—because I’m doing it, too. I’m in comment sections, text messages, Zoom calls, chats, and DMs every single day on about ten platforms, in addition to creating content on them. I’m obsessive about continuing my education, leveling up based on what’s happening in the industry right now, and pivoting. And I, too, pitch media coverage and sponsors!

But the reality is this:

• In response to an author simply resharing my post that included her book, I felt genuinely happy (for both her and me) and personally compelled to move that book to the top of my list (mutual appreciation).

• In response to the one publicist who came prepared to a Zoom call with personally curated titles from the full catalog that she thought were best for me, I placed several of her titles on my posts (trust).

• A few who shared exclusive tidbits or newsworthy information also secured coverage (trust).

• Only one of the dozens of other generic pitches I received just happened to get me at the right time on a particular book that fit a topic I was working on.

In short, the future of book marketing, in my humble opinion, is collaborative.

And since traditional media doesn’t exist the way it once did and social media is so fluky, I see this succeeding best through independent media with owned audiences like mine.

I don’t think anyone should work harder (we all need a break), but I do think we should work differently. Right now, the work that’s being done feels chaotic and wasteful.

Maybe the book industry really is random. At the same time, I don’t think marketing stands a fighting chance by believing that. If everything is random, what’s the point of anything?

Beyond the above, and on a broader marketing scale, I’d also love to see more unique approaches. Continued success in a rapidly changing world requires change, and traditional industries do not like change. But success today doesn’t belong to the most educated or the longest one standing. It belongs to the scrappiest.

I know Entangled Publishing (Fourth Wing) has been advertising for an array of outside-the-box growth strategy positions, and Book of the Month has advertised for in-house content creators who position themselves as storytellers (not even necessarily book influencers). I also love how 831 Stories is making their books feel experiential (similar covers, membership, events, merch, and even the embracing of fan fiction). BookSparks just started its own Substack.

I’d further love to see publishers better tap into “human faces” for their brands. (Because people want to interact with people, not brands.) Personally, I think the future of brand sponsorships may start looking a lot more like long-term partnerships (fractional, in-house, consultants, hosts, co-owners, etc.).

I can’t tell you how many branded company Substacks I read that contain a lot of “I” and “my,” to which I just think to myself, “Who are you? Why should I care?” There’s a huge disconnect between content and community in branding, which is what humans really crave right now.³

Acquire a podcast or collaborate with it long-term⁴. Host a creator, author, or even employee-led⁵ monthly book club, event, or other piece of entertainment.⁶ Hire those who’ve built personal brands publicly—who have social connections, who share behind-the-scenes content followers crave, and/or who can advise you on what readers really want because they’re in it every day.⁷

Don’t just ask for coverage; make it impossible to resist or guarantee it, then amplify it.

Why It Matters

If you’re around me long enough (or really even for a short time), you’ll learn that my motto is this:

A rising tide lifts all boats.

While building relationships can feel hard, the rewards come easy. And if you don’t do it, someone else will. It’s never been more competitive out there. My inbox is truly The Hunger Games of pitches.

The goal shouldn’t just be gaining earned media by throwing book spaghetti at the wall. The human part of this business has gotten lost in the busyness of it all, and in collecting quantitative wins.

Instead of seeking more, more, more through a never-ending slew of templated emails that go unanswered, carve some time to be an especially good citizen of the internet. Do things that can’t go unnoticed. This is what gets the W and enables us all to keep working towards the same goal.

Once you realize that we’re all in this together, your mindset and the landscape shift.

Bonus: My Best Kept Pitching Secrets For Founding Members Only

Want nitty-gritty strategies you can copy and paste in real life? Here are my best tips, including the anatomy of an impossible-to-turn-down pitch from someone who’s read thousands of them and how I’ve scored coverage for myself on everything from The Today Show on TV to Buzzfeed, CNN, HuffPost, Glamour, Esquire, and more major outlets than I can count.

Unlock my best-kept secrets behind this paywall for my Room to Write founding members only. This advice is highly strategic and better off gatekept so as not to oversaturate the market.

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1. I see this in what I can only describe as a massive explosion of pitches mentioning my Substack.

2. Each Substack post takes me 1-2 days to produce and promote, depending on how much multimedia it includes, such as a podcast episode. Independent media is very different than snapping a quick ARC photo on Instagram stories. But here’s the benefit of my work: I reach 18,ooo+ engaged inboxes each time I post, as well as new readers through social media, Notes, and search engines, sometimes for months and years thereafter.

3. One great exception to this is Thousand Voices Substack. When I read it, I feel Jenna Bush Hager’s, well, voice. That’s what we are there for!

4. Sol de Janeiro just did a great virtual and in-person summer-long collaboration with Bad on Paper podcast. From the Front Porch funnels support directly to the host’s bookstore.

5. Starbucks is now producing UGC by its employees for behind-the-scenes scoop.

6. I mean, I know I went to the library with a list of books after each episode of Reading Rainbow.

7. Example: I’ve heard of more than one creator working behind the scenes on adaptations. Several other examples have been linked as sources above.