Book Marketing Services for Independent Authors

Why Book Marketing Is Not Optional

Most self-published books sell fewer than 100 copies

Industry data consistently shows that the median self-published book sells fewer than 100 copies over its lifetime. The primary cause is not poor writing or weak covers — it is zero marketing. Publishing a book without a marketing plan is the equivalent of opening a shop in an empty field and waiting for customers to find it. A book on Amazon without marketing is invisible to the millions of readers searching for their next read every day.

How discoverability actually works on Amazon

Amazon's algorithm surfaces books based on sales velocity, review count, and listing quality. New books have none of these signals — which means Amazon has no reason to show them in search results or recommendations. The only way to break this cycle is to generate initial sales through external marketing, which builds the signals that earn algorithmic visibility. Paid advertising, email campaigns, and coordinated launch activity create the opening-week momentum that determines where your book ranks for months afterward.

Why metadata alone is not enough

Keywords, categories, and listing optimisation improve your book's chances of being discovered once readers are searching for a specific term — but they do not create demand. The majority of book sales happen because a reader heard about the book from somewhere: an ad, a recommendation, a review, a social post, or an email. Metadata captures readers who are already searching. Marketing reaches readers who are not yet looking for your book specifically but would buy it if they encountered it.

The role of paid advertising in book sales

Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon advertising allow authors to place their books directly in front of readers who match their target audience — by genre interest, reading behaviour, comparable author affinity, and demographic profile. Unlike organic discovery, which takes time to build, paid advertising generates traffic and sales immediately. For indie authors, the economics of paid advertising are most effective when the ad creative is genre-appropriate, the landing page converts well, and the campaign is structured around a specific launch goal rather than run continuously at a low budget.

Our Book Marketing Services

Meta Ad Creative

Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns built for your genre and target reader. We create ad copy, visual creative, and audience targeting strategy so your book reaches readers who are actively buying in your category — not a broad interest audience unlikely to convert.

Includes: ad copy, visual creative, audience briefs, and campaign setup guidance.

Amazon A+ Content

Enhanced brand content that transforms your Amazon listing from a bare product page into a high-converting storefront. A+ content adds formatted imagery, comparison modules, and expanded descriptions below the fold — Amazon's own data shows it improves conversion rates by 3 to 10% on average.

Includes: module layout, copy, imagery briefs, and upload-ready files.

Author Website

A professional 5-page author site optimised for reader conversion and email list building. Your website is your owned audience channel — independent of any algorithm or platform. We design and build a site that represents your brand, showcases your books, and captures reader email addresses for long-term audience development.

Includes: Home, About, Books, Blog, and Contact pages. SEO-optimised and mobile-ready.

Launch Email Sequence

Pre-launch, launch day, and post-launch email campaigns written and structured to build anticipation, drive opening-week sales, and convert early readers into reviewers. Email marketing consistently delivers the highest ROI of any digital channel for authors with an existing list — and helps build one for authors starting from zero.

Includes: pre-launch sequence (3 emails), launch day email, post-launch follow-up (2 emails).

90-Day Marketing Calendar

A structured promotional plan for the first 90 days after publication — the critical window that determines your book's long-term sales trajectory. The calendar maps every promotional action, platform activity, ad campaign, and outreach effort into a week-by-week schedule so nothing falls through the gaps.

Includes: week-by-week action plan, platform-specific activity schedule, and review strategy.

Press Release & Distribution

A professionally written press release announcing your book to relevant media, book review outlets, and genre-specific publications. Press coverage builds credibility, generates backlinks, and reaches readers who discover books through editorial recommendations rather than paid advertising.

Includes: press release copy and distribution to relevant media contacts and review outlets.

Goodreads Profile Setup

Author presence on the world's largest reading community. Goodreads influences purchase decisions for millions of readers and is one of the first places serious book buyers research an author. We set up your verified author profile, add your books, write your author bio, and optimise your presence for discoverability within the platform.

Includes: verified author profile, book listings, bio copy, and profile optimisation.

The Bestseller Program

Premium Package

The Bestseller program is our comprehensive 90-day launch package that combines every marketing service into a single coordinated campaign, designed to maximise visibility, reviews, and readership from the moment your book goes live.

Rather than running individual marketing services in isolation — which reduces their effectiveness because each channel amplifies the others — the Bestseller program sequences and integrates every channel simultaneously. Your Meta ad campaigns drive readers to a high-converting Amazon listing with A+ content. Your email sequence converts your existing audience into launch-week buyers and reviewers. Your author website captures new readers who discover you through press coverage or organic search. Your Goodreads profile builds social proof for readers researching the book before buying.

The 90-day marketing calendar coordinates every action across all channels so the campaign builds momentum rather than sputtering through disconnected individual efforts. It is the difference between a launch and a strategy.

Meta ad creative and campaign setup (Facebook & Instagram)
Amazon A+ content — enhanced listing for improved conversion
Professional 5-page author website
Full launch email sequence (pre-launch, launch day, post-launch)
90-day week-by-week marketing calendar
Press release and media distribution
Goodreads verified author profile setup
Performance monitoring and campaign adjustments

Our Marketing Process

Step 01

Strategy

We review your book, genre, comparable titles, and target reader before building your marketing plan. Strategy determines which channels, formats, and messages will reach your specific audience — not a generic author marketing template applied to every project.

Step 02

Creative

Ad creative, email copy, website content, press release, and A+ content are developed based on the strategy. Every piece of creative is built around what moves readers in your genre — informed by platform data, comparable title performance, and audience research.

Step 03

Launch

Coordinated campaign across all active channels during your launch window. The first 30 days after publication generate the review velocity and sales rank momentum that determine your book's long-term discoverability on Amazon and other platforms.

Step 04

Optimise

We monitor campaign performance and adjust based on what is working. Ad creative is iterated, email sequences are refined, and the 90-day calendar is updated in response to real data so your marketing budget is directed toward the highest-performing channels.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I start marketing my book?

Marketing should begin before your book is published, not after. The most effective launch campaigns build anticipation in the weeks leading up to publication — growing an early reader list, generating pre-orders where available, securing advance reviews, and building social proof before launch day. Authors who start marketing on publication day are already behind. As a general rule, pre-launch marketing activity should begin at least four to six weeks before your publication date. For authors using the Embark Bestseller program, we begin the pre-launch phase as soon as publishing production is underway so both timelines run in parallel.

How much does book marketing cost?

Book marketing services at Embark Book Publishers start from $499. Individual services such as Amazon A+ content, Goodreads profile setup, or a press release are available as standalone items. The Bestseller program — our comprehensive 90-day launch package combining Meta ad creative, Amazon A+ content, author website, email sequences, press release, and Goodreads setup — is priced as a complete bundle. All pricing is flat-rate and confirmed before work begins. Marketing costs are separate from publishing production costs and can be added to any Embark publishing package.

Do I need a social media following before marketing my book?

No. A social media following helps but is not a prerequisite for effective book marketing. Meta advertising targets readers based on genre interests, reading behaviour, and demographic data — not your existing follower count. An author with zero social media followers can run effective Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns from day one. Email list building through your author website is also effective from zero — your early readers become the foundation of a list that grows with each book. Authors who already have a following do benefit from an amplification advantage, but it is not a requirement to start.

What is Amazon A+ content and do I need it?

Amazon A+ content is an enhanced listing feature available to KDP authors that adds formatted visual modules below your book's standard description. These modules can include comparison charts, author biography sections, expanded imagery, editorial quotes, and series overviews. Amazon's own data shows that A+ content improves conversion rates by an average of 3 to 10%. For authors running paid advertising that lands on their Amazon listing, A+ content directly improves the return on that ad spend — more visitors convert into buyers. It is not strictly required, but for any author investing in paid marketing, it is one of the highest-ROI improvements available on the listing itself.

How long does it take to see results from book marketing?

Timeframes vary by channel and campaign type. Paid Meta advertising can generate traffic and sales within days of a campaign going live. Amazon A+ content improvements to conversion rate are visible within weeks of publication as listing traffic accumulates. Email campaigns deliver their results within the launch window — typically the first two to four weeks after publication. Organic discoverability improvements from keyword optimisation, A+ content, and review accumulation compound over months rather than days. The 90-day marketing calendar is structured around this reality: immediate results from paid channels in the first 30 days, building organic momentum in days 30 to 90, and sustained discoverability from day 90 onward.

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