How to Market a Self-Published Book: Proven Strategies to Boost Amazon Sales
If you're a self-published author looking to increase visibility, grow your readership, and boost book sales on platforms like Amazon KDP, this guide is for you. Using effective book marketing strategies can make the difference between a book that disappears in the sea of listings and one that generates consistent sales.
In this guide, you will learn:
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Below, we’ll cover essential tactics like Book Deal Sites, KDP Select Promotions, Email Marketing, and Social Media Tips — all designed to help you drive traffic, generate sales, and build a loyal fanbase.
🔥 1. Leverage Book Deal Sites to Boost Visibility and Sales
When you run a price drop or free book promotion, Book Deal Sites can amplify your reach by promoting your book to thousands of eager readers. But not all sites are equally effective.
Top Tips for Using Book Deal Sites:
- Use marketing platforms like Freebooksy, and Bargain Booksy as they have large, genre-specific subscriber lists.
- Promote FREE eBooks to capture long-term readers who may go on to purchase other books in your series (start off with book one or a prequel of a series).
- Schedule promotions during strategic times (like weekends) for higher visibility.
- Check each site’s subscriber list size and genre relevance before investing in a listing.
Pro Tip: Running a KDP Select Free Promotion in tandem with an ad can result in a big boost to your Amazon Kindle rankings. This exposure can also increase sales after the free period ends.
💸 2. Master Book Series Pricing to Build Long-Term Revenue
If you have a series of books, your pricing strategy can make or break your profits/sales. Here’s how to do it right:
- Make Book 1 FREE or 99p to act as a "reader magnet."
- Use the first book to funnel readers into the rest of the series.
- Price subsequent books higher (e.g., £1.99, £2.99 or £3.99) to maximise earnings.
Pro Tip: Monitor sales and page reads on Amazon’s KDP Reports, especially if you’re using KDP Select. Track which promotions bring new readers into your series.
✉️ 3. Email Marketing: The Secret to Long-Term Book Sales
As I’ve already discussed in this post an email newsletter/subscriber base is one of the most valuable marketing tools for indie authors. It allows you to engage directly with readers and promote new releases, sales, and freebies.
How to Build and Use an Email List:
- Use platforms like, Getresponse, or MailerLite to collect subscribers.
- Offer a free book (or novella) as a "lead magnet" to encourage sign-ups (if you want to market as series, make sure it’s a series relevant book, preferably book 1.
- Send regular newsletters to build familiarity and keep your readers engaged.
- Share behind-the-scenes stories, sneak peeks, and exclusive content about you, your writing and even pics of locations where your books are set (readers love to see these).
- Subtly promote your other series books and upcoming releases within your newsletter.
Pro Tip: Use tools like BookFunnel to cross-promote with other self-published authors in your genre. Find authors with a similar-sized list for “newsletter swaps” to avoid wasting time on large, unreachable authors. This method builds exposure to an audience already primed to read books like yours.
📚 4. Run KDP Select Promotions (FREE & Discounted) to Rank Higher on Amazon
Being enrolled in KDP Select gives you access to two important promotional tools:
- Kindle Countdown Deals – Offers a price drop for a limited time, displayed on Amazon’s countdown clock.
- Free Book Promotions – Make your eBook free for 5 days in a 90-day period, driving traffic and reviews.
Best Practices for KDP Promotions:
- Plan countdown deals before launching book 2 or 3 in a series to boost pre-orders and page reads.
- Use your email list and Book Deal Sites to promote your KDP deal for maximum visibility.
- Ask readers you know/trust to post reviews after your promotion, as social proof encourages more readers to buy.
5. How to Use Effectively Social Media
Social media can be a valuable tool for author branding, but it shouldn't be your only marketing strategy. Many authors waste time posting on platforms where their target readers aren’t active.
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Focus on 1-2 platforms where your readers hang out (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), but prioritise one channel until you see results.
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Learn from successful indie authors and see how they are leveraging social media effectively.
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Share reader-centric content, not just "Buy My Book" posts. Use engaging content that your followers will find interesting and care about, such as:
- Reader polls
- Open-ended questions with simple "yes" or "no" answers
- Book teasers
- "What are you reading?" posts
- Behind-the-scenes content, like photos of scene locations from your books
- Ask for likes and shares. It’s better to have a small, engaged audience than a large following of inactive users.
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Engage with comments. Always reply politely and join in when people are commenting on a trending topic on your timeline.
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Post discounts and special deals to keep your fans interested.
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Offer exclusive content to loyal fans as a reward for their support.
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Consider advertising on Facebook. If you do, make sure to learn how to use it effectively. David Gaughran is a highly recommended resource for Facebook Ads, and much of his guidance is free and practical. Unlike most so-called "book marketing gurus", his advice is trustworthy and won't cost a fortune.
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Track and analyse your social media performance. Use Facebook Page/Meta Business Suite Marketing & Follower Engagement tools to gauge the effectiveness of your posts, tweets, and engagement. Use the data to improve your strategy.
📉 6. Why Posting Your Book in Facebook Readers Groups Rarely Leads to Sales
If you've ever tried marketing your book by posting it in Facebook reader groups, you may have noticed minimal engagement — often just a handful of likes (if any) and little to no comments or shares. This experience is more common than most authors realise, and there’s a reason for it.
Here’s a breakdown of why simply posting about your book in Facebook groups rarely works as a sales strategy and what you should do instead.
1. Facebook's Algorithm Limits Visibility
- Facebook only shows posts to a small percentage of group members. If the post doesn't receive likes or comments early on, it gets buried.
- The more engagement a post receives, the more Facebook will promote it to other group members. If nobody interacts, it disappears.
- Just because a group has 10,000+ members doesn’t mean they’re active participants. Many users join groups but never engage with posts.
- Engagement is everything. If the group has poor engagement overall, your post will be seen by fewer people.
3. Readers Scroll Past "Buy My Book" Posts
- People join Facebook groups for entertainment, not to be sold to.
- "Buy My Book" posts are boring. Readers don't know you, so they scroll right past.
- To stand out, you need to offer something valuable, such as a gripping excerpt, an interesting backstory, or a reader-focused question.
4. Low-Quality Groups Are Not Marketing Goldmines
- Posting in large multi-genre groups isn’t effective. Readers in these groups may not even be interested in your genre.
- Multi-genre groups are often full of authors, not readers. You’re marketing to your competitors.
5. Unpaid Posts Get Less Priority Than Paid Content
- Facebook prioritises paid content over unpaid (organic) posts.
- To get your book seen, you might have to pay for an ad. But remember, not all ads are created equal.
Personal Example:
As an author I was once a member of 20 Facebook readers/bookish groups with a combined audience of 250,000 people. Despite this vast potential reach, very few people engaged with my book promotion posts. I came to learn that this isn’t unusual. Without engagement, your posts effectively disappear into the void.
How to Spot Low-Engagement Groups:
- Scroll through the posts.
- Count how many have 10+ likes, comments, or shares.
- If most posts have none or only a handful of likes/shares, that group has poor engagement with it's followers.
If you’d like help building an effective Facebook ad strategy for your books, check out David Gaughran's Facebook ads for authors. You will need to subscribe to access this page though, but don't worry it FREE!
❌ What Doesn’t Work
- "Like for like" groups where nobody reads your book or engages with your content.
- Posting in random readers groups or multi-genre book groups that don’t align with your target readers. These groups may have thousands of members, but their interests are often too broad.
💡 Pro Tip:
Instead of spending hours on social media, focus on email marketing and author cross-promotions. These methods are far more effective at generating sales. Collaborate with authors in the same genre and use tools like BookFunnel to exchange newsletter promotions or join giveaways.
7. Avoid Blog Tours (Unless You’re Strategic About It!)
Many well-meaning authors book blog tours to promote new releases, but these often deliver poor results. Here’s why:
- Limited reach: Many blog tour hosts don’t have large, engaged subscriber lists and lack a solid understanding of how to market a book launch effectively.
- Ineffective social media posts: Random posts on social media about your book do not guarantee engagement, clicks, or sales.
Learn From My Mistakes
When I was starting out, I booked several blog tours. One organiser shared my gritty crime thriller with romance and cosy crime readers, as well as other multi-genre groups. She claimed to have a reach of one million readers across the main social media platforms.
After digging deeper, I discovered she had almost no likes or shares on her posts. The people she used for the tour were well-meaning amateurs with no email subscribers and no ability to track or assess their marketing efforts. Ultimately, those blog tours produced only a handful of sales and cost around £100 each. They were all a complete waste of time and money!
If You’re Considering a Blog Tour, Ask These Questions:
- What are your reader metrics? How many email subscribers do you have, and which genres are they fans of? Be cautious of tour hosts with generic “book lover” followers, as they often aren't specific to your genre.
- How many clicks and email opens do your blog tours generate on average? Ask for specific numbers to gauge the effectiveness of past campaigns.
- Can you provide evidence of success? Request screenshots of subscriber counts, email open rates, click-through rates, and examples of successful marketing campaigns that resulted in book sales.
- Do you have testimonials from authors you've worked with? Look for genuine feedback from authors who saw a tangible increase in sales. But don't trust the blog tour organisers word; contact the authors!
Beware of This Common Pitch:
Blog tour hosts often promise to “create awareness of your book across multiple platforms to thousands of readers." What this really means is that they’ll post on Facebook, Instagram, and maybe X (formerly Twitter) for a week.
The reality?
Even if they have 50,000 followers, only a tiny fraction of those people will see the posts. Social media platforms limit the reach of unpaid posts, and only the most engaged fans will see them. The result? Your book promotion is lost in a sea of ignored social media content. It’s unmonitored, ineffective, and a poor use of your marketing budget.
What to Do Instead:
- Only do book tours with hosts who have genre-specific audiences. They should have an established email list of thousands of dedicated readers who love your genre.
- Look for blog tours that include email marketing, not just social media posts. Email marketing delivers much higher engagement and better conversion rates.
- Use BookFunnel promotions. Partner with other authors in your niche through BookFunnel and run cross-promotions. This strategy allows you to reach genre-specific readers who are genuinely interested in your type of book.