How to Write Non-Fiction: Book-centred marketing
“Creating more work is one of the most effective marketing techniques of all.”
—Ryan Holiday, Perennial Seller
Your book can market itself if you set it up for success, and although this works best if you intend to write multiple books in a series, it can still work with a stand-alone.
Write books that people want to read and make them easy to find
The easiest way to market a non-fiction book is to write books that people want in the first place.
• Research the categories and sub-categories for your target market using Publisher Rocket
• Use a keyword-specific title or subtitle
• Use a professional cover that resonates with your niche
• Use an effective book sales description that catches the attention of your target readers and makes them want to buy
• Ensure the book sample or Look Inside entices readers to download a sample or buy now
Write more books and vary the length
If you have more books, you have more ways for people to discover you, more streams of income, and more options for marketing and promotion.
You don’t have to write long books that take years to write every time. A lot of non-fiction books are short, around 25,000 to 40,000 words.
I vary the length of mine, with Your Author Business Plan and Productivity for Authors coming in under 30,000 words, while my writing craft books, including this one, are longer.
Write in a series or around the same topic
If you write multiple books aimed at the same audience around the same topics, you can use the series field on the publishing platforms to link them together, even if they don’t need to be read in order.
A series page displays the books as a group and helps readers discover other titles they might find useful. Packaging books in series also enables the sales platforms to serve your books to more people through email and personalised recommendations.
I have books in two non-fiction series under the author name Joanna Penn. This book is part of my Craft Books for Authors, and I also have Creative Business Books for Authors — each series has its own page on Amazon.
Another example of an author using series successfully is Ryan Holiday, who originally wrote books about media and marketing before writing multiple books about Stoicism. After the success of The Obstacle is the Way, he focused on writing other books in the niche, tackling Stoicism from different angles with different types of books. He now has thought-leadership books like Ego Is the Enemy, dip-in books like The Daily Stoic, a journal, special edition bundles, and even children’s fable books all around the same topic.
Vary pricing with premium options, bundling, and discounts
Offering a range of products with varied pricing allows you to reach readers with different preferences and budgets. You can also space out the availability of these over time.
You could launch a premium limited edition hardcover with a Kickstarter campaign, or sell direct from your store or at an in-person event. This would be the highest tier of book sales, and you could also bundle the launch with a course or other higher-priced products. You could also release other formats at the same time in order to provide your fans with early access and retain more of the profits.
I did this with Pilgrimage and Writing the Shadow, initially releasing them both on Kickstarter only for all editions, including the special hardbacks. My average order value (AOV) on those campaigns was around £37 (~US $48), much higher than it would have been if I had released on the mainstream retailers.
A month or so later, I published the basic editions — ebook, audiobook, paperback, and large print — on the retailers for the usual market rate. These editions appeal to a different kind of reader, and also reaches an audience beyond your own.
You can also release the ebook or audiobook on streaming platforms and unlimited reading platforms so readers and listeners can get it as part of their membership, as well as borrow from the library.
Discounts and periodic promotions are also effective tools for boosting visibility and sales, especially if you use platforms that support countdown deals or group discounts.
Additionally, you might offer a bundle of books at a discounted rate or create exclusive, high-value options like signed editions or bundled courses to engage your readers further.
Of course, you will only have control of pricing and discounts if you self-publish, since traditional publishers manage all this if you publish with them.
Use paid advertising
Paid advertising can be a great way to reach readers, sell more books, and build your email list, but you need a budget; time for learning, testing, and management; and a clear business strategy.
Your sales may also drop off unless you sustain advertising over time, so this tactic should be used in conjunction with other marketing techniques.
Paid advertising is useful if you’re starting out or if you don’t have a platform since you don’t need to spend years developing an audience first. You can just turn advertisements on and — if you show the right ads to the right audience at the right time — you will start a stream of clicks and buys.
It’s also great for established authors with multiple books as it can increase revenue and scale your audience.
However, paid ads are also extremely competitive and many of the platforms can be expensive if you’re only relying on book sales income to make money.
Do your research, set your budget, take time for testing, and stay aware of cash flow, especially if you outsource your ads, as you’ll be paying a freelancer on top of the ad costs.
I use paid advertising as a key part of my non-fiction marketing and while there are many options, there are a few platforms I use consistently.
Amazon Ads work well for books with a clear target audience, and I’ve found that Amazon ads are profitable for my non-fiction books under my author name Joanna Penn. While you can specify which other books, categories, and keywords to target, I have found auto-ads work well. I choose the book and the country-specific store, enter a budget per day, and then leave the algorithm to find an audience for clicks, while optimising for sales.
This automatic approach hasn’t worked for my fiction as J.F. Penn as I write across so many genres, but my Joanna Penn non-fiction books have a clear target audience.
If you want to target your Amazon Ads manually, you can find appropriate keywords and comparison books and authors using Publisher Rocket at www.TheCreativePenn.com/rocket
Make sure your books are appropriate for advertising. As Ricardo Fayet says in his book Amazon Ads for Authors,
Amazon Ads can work for any book (or series) that is commercially viable… A book that has been written with a clear target market in mind, or fits nicely into a commercial niche; a book with an eye-catching, genre-appropriate cover, as well as an enticing book description; and a book with a good number of positive reviews. If your book doesn’t meet this criteria, it just isn’t ready to be advertised.
Clearly, Amazon Ads are only for books on Amazon, but Meta Ads are much more flexible as they can send traffic wherever you like. I’ve used them successfully to find readers for my non-fiction Shopify store, CreativePennBooks.com, as well as other stores.
BookBub Ads can be useful for specific genres or by targeting specific authors, and Written Word Media is also a great start for email list blasts.
You can now buy ads on pretty much every social media platform, from X to LinkedIn and TikTok. Some authors engage in sponsored content with influencers, and you could also consider buying placement in niche-related podcasts, YouTube videos, and email lists.
You can learn how to do this kind of paid advertising yourself, or you can hire people to help you. Check out the Reedsy Marketplace for freelancers who work specifically with authors: www.TheCreativePenn.com/reedsy
There are plenty of platforms and plenty of opportunities to buy traffic to your books if you have the budget, but make sure to monitor cash flow and measure the return on investment (ROI) for your campaign.
It’s worth also revisiting your definition of success since authors who pay for significant ad spend may end up only breaking even, or out of pocket. If your goal is visibility and ranking, then that might work for you, but if your goal is profit, you need to consider other options alongside, or instead of, advertising.
Questions:
• How can you leverage book-centred marketing for your book?
• What are your thoughts on paid advertising? How could you use it for your launch or ongoing marketing?
• What are the things to watch out for to ensure success, whatever that means to you?
Resources:
• Amazon Ads — advertising.amazon.com
• Amazon Ads for Authors: Unlock Your Full Advertising Potential — Ricardo Fayet
• Meta Ads — business.meta.com
• Publisher Rocket for researching Amazon ad keywords and book targets: www.TheCreativePenn.com/rocket
• BookBub advertising — partners.bookbub.com
• Written Word Media — WrittenWordMedia.com
• Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work that Lasts — Ryan Holiday
• Reedsy Marketplace — www.TheCreativePenn.com/reedsy
• Joanna Penn Craft Books for Authors on Amazon — www.TheCreativePenn.com/writing-craft
• Joanna Penn Creative Business Books for Authors on Amazon — www.TheCreativePenn.com/creative-business
