How Do I Increase My Book’s Visibility?

Book visibility is a core component of book sales. After all, if nobody knows a book exists, they aren’t going to be rushing out to buy it no matter how well-written it may be or how valuable the content it contains.

The Path To Publishing team knows a lot about building book visibility. Joylynn M. Ross, the brand’s founder, is herself a national bestselling author and has helped earn the authors she’s agented over $2.5 million dollars in book contracts from traditional publishing companies.

10 Top Strategies for Increasing Book Visibility

1) Know your intended audience

This is a mistake that even the biggest of the traditional publishers make, sadly. They don’t know how to identify the book’s intended audience, and that is why they struggle to market their books. They are forced to rely on genre because they not only don’t know who the audience is, but they don’t know why that audience needs that book right then.

Here’s a hint: Look to the book’s main character. They are a more idealized version of the reader, even if they face worse circumstances. The problem that main character faces mirrors the problem the audience faces, which is what motivates the them to be interested in seeing how the hero solves it.

Please note that when it comes to non-fiction books, you or the person you are writing about it the main character.

2) Develop a solid strategy for serving the book’s intended audience

The book will only grow in visibility when readers move from fans into raving fanatics—the kind of people that just can’t stop talking about the book and what it did for them. They become the book’s unpaid marketing team.

Getting there requires giving them more than a book. It starts with instilling in that book a message that touches them to the core and motivates them to take action by showing them a vision that empowers them to become the hero they desire to be. From there, you can turn the message into a movement, like we did on our traditional publishing imprint, PTP Press, with our title The Price We Pay by Nikki T. Anthony. More than the book, though, we provide a study guide that help readers see the book in an entire new way and resources to make the most of that message. Those resources include a training program with a companion workbook.

3) Join writers groups online and within the local community and show up to serve

These groups are ideal ways to get to know the literary community. They can provide invaluable feedback that help a writer improve their work but are also the kind of people who might be looking for what that book offers or know those who are.

We highly recommend that those who don’t feel comfortable networking or for whom networking has been ineffective in the past take our “5 Steps to Get Anyone to Lean In and Listen to You” course and then practice what we teach at the next event attended.

4) Interview on podcasts that cater to the audience the book is designed to serve and write articles for trade magazines and guest blogs

Leveraging these free opportunities to promote the book can lend extra credibility to the book and its content, as well as to you as an author. It can also expand the reach of any current marketing efforts, helping expose more people to the book’s content.

5) Form strategic partnerships with other authors and booksellers and promote the book by serving their audiences

Don’t view other authors as competition. Look for the way one book complements or adds value to another. The partnership decreases the financial burden on both parties and expands opportunities to reach people.

6) Get involved in the local arts scene and the local libraries

Local arts councils can provide access to grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and local libraries often seek out authors who are willing to serve the public. Get active, get involved, and become known.

7) Employ strategic marketing and PR campaigns

Strategic marketing and PR campaigns targeted toward reaching the book’s ideal audience are the most effective at performing and producing the desired outcome. Choose one specific goal with the campaign, such as attracting them to the website or an event. Start small, test the messaging, and invest more heavily in the ads that produce the desired outcome.

8) Perform live readings and Q & As either online or offline

People enjoy a well-told story. If there’s a venue to tell the story offline, this can be a chance to meet and serve those who might never buy the book otherwise. Linking these live readings back to the website can also help boost the site's rankings and encourage browsers to become buyers.

9) Collect and leverage the book’s reviews

The book reviews are a major part of making any of these strategies work. These reviews act as third-party confirmation that the book is worth buying and encourage more people to take the risk.

10) Volunteer with organizations that serve people facing a similar problem to the one the main character faces or the book addresses

The more that the organization caters to the problem the main character faces, the better the fit. By serving them, it creates an opportunity to show them how that book can help serve their audience.

Need Help?

Book a literary consulting call with our Path To Publishing team and let us help develop a book visibility strategy that will put you on the path to literary and financial literary success