With a crowded advertising environment and the overwhelming amount of noise surrounding products and consumption as the holidays approach, many indie authors question the wisdom of marketing their books during the gifting season. But many top-selling authors take advantage of special holiday-season conditions, such as gift cards, gift subscriptions, and reading subscription trial periods with new devices, to boost sales throughout the end of the fourth quarter and into the first quarter of the next year. Despite the advertising buzz over the next couple of months, this could be your way to end the year strong and find new superfans.
Here are ten solid holiday marketing tips for indie authors you could consider implementing.
Prepare
1. Assess Your Resources.
Before anything else, it's critical to assess the levels of time, energy, and money you'll have to dedicate before and during the holidays to make seasonal promotions stick. Some authors have sufficient resources in all three areas to conduct multi-pronged marketing campaigns that include social media, advertising, and other forms of outreach, but others may have more resources in one area than in others.
If you have time and energy but limited funds, focusing on organic promotion and social media outreach may be a great fit for you. However, if you have limited time and more financial resources, then advertising may be a better fit. A thoughtful assessment of your situation and resources over the holiday season is essential before deciding on your campaign strategy and tactics.
2. Do Your Research.
Regardless of which types of promotion and/or advertising you decide to pursue, you'll need to define your target audience. Where are your genre's readers hanging out? How do they prefer to make purchases? What motivates their purchase decisions: price, limited offers, box sets, or bundles?
If your audience is large enough, you can create reader surveys to help you conduct market research. Regardless of your audience size, it’s also always a good idea to study the bestsellers in your genre and categories. Where are they spending their advertising dollars? On which platforms have they established long-term ad campaigns? See if they’re pushing primarily for direct sales, audiobooks, or exclusive programs, such as Kindle Unlimited.
'Where does that audience interact, and how do they interact there?' asks L.T. Ryan, author and owner of Liquid Mind Media, a publishing and advertising company that also offers consulting services for indie authors. 'My preference is Amazon ads, as people seeing those ads are on Amazon, so they are in a product purchase or research mode.'
Understanding where and how your readers prefer to buy books allows you to focus your advertising efforts meaningfully.
3. Prepare to Advertise.
Although costs for advertising may rise during the holidays, many authors stand by the effectiveness of running ads throughout the season as well. Ryan says his company’s advertising cadence doesn't change much during the year—the company maintains a steady pace, continually directing traffic to their books, even during the holidays. Just as with other forms of outreach, however, understanding your target readers is fundamental to the success of your ads.
'Platforms like Meta and Amazon know their audiences so well,' Ryan explains. 'And for some genres and demographics, there is a huge difference between clickers and buyers, so when all you can do is target “traffic,” you get the clickers.'
Knowing the difference is crucial to understanding where to focus your resources on promotions and advertising.
4. Plan Your Outreach Campaigns.
If your holiday marketing strategy involves social media, newsletters, guest blogging, or interviews, develop a clear and detailed plan for your outreach, complete with dates and timelines. Without care, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and lose steam quickly—which can lead to a loss of consistency. For organic reach, it's important to establish a consistent presence, engage with your audience, and build brand awareness before launching your holiday promotions. Batch-creating and scheduling content can help you stay ahead of any unforeseen events or delays.
Build
5. Grow Your Newsletter.
To maximize your holiday promotions, create a newsletter builder, such as a reader magnet, first chapters, or a giveaway, to increase the number of recipients you’ll have when you launch your holiday promotion email series. This can be a great way to attract new subscribers while also connecting readers to the rest of your marketing ecosystem—linking your social media posts, profiles, website, and sales pages. Ideally, you’d work on this in the second or third quarter, but it can still work when implemented at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
6. Warm up Your Audience.
Utilize your outreach and social media calendars to stay on track with your content plan, enhancing your reach, increasing engagement, and fostering stronger brand awareness. During a pre-promotion period, focus less on ‘buy my book’ posts and more on posts that encourage interaction, comments, tagging, and sharing. Increasing engagement boosts your visibility among followers before you post hard calls-to-action (CTAs).
7. Consider Options for Direct Sales.
If you’re an author who sells direct, the holidays can be an excellent time to promote the books for sale on your website. Ahead of the holidays, consider giftable items, such as premium book boxes with autographed copies for fans, and how this would shape your marketing campaign—in this case, one centered on special editions and signed copies.
Prepare your funnels to highlight gift-ability, include upsells, and feature images to set buyer expectations. Then, develop a standout packaging plan to maximize the wow factor for recipients.
'Always give freebies and goodies with every sale and, while you can, batch-sign books,' says Sacha Black, author and founder of The Rebel Author podcast.
If you take this approach, be sure to educate readers about ordering deadlines. 'With direct, we try to make sure that we release shipping dates for any major holidays,' Black says. She’s also careful not to release too close to the holidays, so readers can order with enough time for books to be delivered.
'We did exclusive art, an exclusive sticker, and a bookmark for readers. Plus, we deliver early. So no matter what Amazon or any other store’s release date is, they [readers who preorder directly on the website] will get it from me early and usually [with] enough time for them to have read the book and feel smug when everyone else is getting it on release day.' Black also includes a custom stamp to prove a gift has come from her store.
'We tend to do limited ones [sales], and usually only 10 percent to 25 percent, and often on stock we want to shift rather than on bestsellers,' Black says. 'Bundles are gold dust. Give readers a small discount for buying the bundle so that they’re getting a better deal than buying separately.'
Promote
8. Determine Your Timeline for Promotions.
Don’t shy away from longer timeframes that precede the holidays and continue through the end of the year. ‘I always run box set promos from Black Friday through December 31, with emphasis on December 26,’ says Craig Martelle, author and founder of the Successful Indie Author group.
For those who have books exclusive as part of the Kindle Unlimited (KU) program, consider that many recipients of gifted Kindle devices often receive KU trial subscription offers that could benefit your books. ‘People with gift cards and a new Kindle are looking for the biggest bang for their gift bucks,’ Martelle says. ‘I sell a lot of box sets and build a huge amount of page reads during that time when, traditionally, the KENP payout rate is the highest.’
'The week between Christmas and New Year is a great opportunity to run a promotion,' Ryan says. During the holidays, Ryan suggests using ‘countdown deals during that time, preferably on first in series and box sets,’ combined with ‘ads pointing to the promoted book.’
9. Swap with Other Authors.
Don't forget to reach out to fellow authors in your genre to propose shared promotions, newsletter swaps, and social media shout-outs. Swaps and shout-outs help fill out gaps in your content and newsletter plans and help cross-pollinate authors’ audiences, keeping your readers satisfied longer with a refreshed to-be-read list until your next title release.
When scheduling your swaps and shout-outs, ensure that you’re clear on the promotional needs of your partners and share their work with your audience at key times. Build your calendar based on both your and your partner’s timelines. You can alternate newsletter broadcasts or social media posts to build excitement for your books or promos with content meant to hype and share your partners’.
10. Don’t Skimp on Social Media.
During the designated promotion period, focus on fostering meaningful engagement, responding to comments, and interacting authentically for the highest quality outcomes. Create posts or videos where you ask questions that are easy or fun for readers to answer, and strive to be their escape from the stress and hectic nature of the season. The quality of your interactions holds greater long-term impact than the quantity. On platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, try responding with Reels to answer questions, follow up on comments, and thank your favorite fans for their support. Goodwill and gratitude always pay out the best dividends.
Final Thoughts
There are many paths to promoting your books during the holidays, and with thoughtful preparation, you can build a winning plan. Be sure to focus your research on what works for bestsellers in your genre, compare your observations to your available resources, and craft a plan that will maximize your reach while minimizing additional stress. As other authors demonstrate, you don’t have to do it all to be successful during the holidays—or the rest of the year. Pick something that works for you and your genre, and stick with it.
One thing is clear: The holidays are an excellent time to promote your books, grow your readership, and boost your sales.
Audrey Hughey
