Writers in the Storm

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March 7, 2022

A Marketing Revamp for your Older Book Title

by Penny Sansevieri

Refresh Your Old Book

Book marketing strategies change a bit when you’re promoting an older title, so it’s important to keep your marketing plans separate for your new releases and your backlist.

But that means something can be done to spike book sales on this older title!

10 Strategies to Reignite an Older Title

Whether it’s a single book or your entire backlist, here’s a quick rundown of marketing strategies that can help you revive and reignite a book that no longer falls in that “new release” window.

#1 Do a Cover Update

If your book is more than a year old and not selling well, re-do the cover. Find a professional cover designer that has a strong portfolio in your genre and get their help.

Related reading: Book Covers 101: Updating Your Cover

#2 Do a Goodreads Giveaway

Get yourself set up and commit to networking with the winners and build your presence on the site.

Related video: Allessandra Torre's video on promoting your book with Goodreads

#3 Do a Limited-Time Discount Promotion

Go as low as you can go for 2 or 3 days (fewer days creates urgency) and submit the book to sites that are dedicated to promoting Kindle deals.

#4 Run BookBub Ads

Because BookBub ads are so visual, this will work especially well with a new cover. When using book marketing strategies like this, be smart about running your ads to target those who are most likely to resonate with your book, regardless of its pub date.

Related reading [with video]: Tutorial: How to Use BookBub Ads to Promote Any Book

#5 Create a Book Bundle

If your older title is part of a series, bundle the first two titles to create a new product. If you write non-fiction and cover the same topic you can do a bundle as well!

#6 Build Book Marketing Strategies Around Current Events

If there is something in the news cycle related to your book or industry — speak up! Pitch yourself to online influencers for guest pieces or interviews. Get really active on social so you show up for trending topics. Definitely plan a dedicated blog post. Consider whether or not you can provide value by releasing a special newsletter.

Related reading: 30+ Bite-Sized Ideas for Book Marketing

#7 Run New Amazon Ads

Amazon ads are easy to create and won’t break your budget if you’re paying attention!

Related reading: Beginner's Guide to Rocking Amazon Ads

#8 Update Your Amazon Page

Changing up your subtitles and descriptions can really make a difference for drawing in new, interested buyers.

Related reading: Monopolize Your Indie Author Real Estate

#9 Change Up Your Categories and Keywords

It’s amazing how much more exposure you can get on Amazon by using the right categories and keywords.

Related reading: Using Amazon Categories to Sell More Books

#10 Don’t Stop Pitching for Reviews

Of all the book marketing strategies, this is one that’s frequently neglected. Be sure to use your email list and social media to remind people to post a review after reading the book. Remember, a book with 20 reviews is more likely to keep selling than a book with only 3 reviews.

Related reading: Help Your Readers Write Good Reviews and Building Street Teams

What strategies have you used to reboot an older title? Do you have any questions for Penny? Please share them with us down in the comments!

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About Penny

Penny C. Sansevieri, Founder and CEO of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a bestselling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. She is an Adjunct Professor teaching Self-Publishing for NYU. She was named one of the top influencers of 2019 by New York Metropolitan Magazine

Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most innovative Amazon visibility campaigns as well offering national media pitching, online book marketing, author events, and other strategies designed to build the author/book visibility.

She is the author of 18 books, including "How to Sell Your Books by the Truckload on Amazon," "Revise and Re-Release Your Book", "5-Minute Book Marketing for Authors," and the newly-released “From Book to Bestseller.”

AME has had dozens of books on top bestseller lists, including those of the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal

To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, visit www.amarketingexpert.com.  

8 comments on “A Marketing Revamp for your Older Book Title”

  1. What a useful post. As I'm published by a small independent publisher, some of these I can't do, but I can certainly set about others. Thank you.

    1. Good for you, V.M! I loved that this list covered so much ground. I have many friends with large backlists who can benefit from this information.

  2. Would it be useful to change the title to rejuvenate interest in a book self-published book? My debut novel was a finalist in 2 Rising Star categories and easy to find by googling the title. Then an agented writer published her debut with the same title and my visibility suffered. I would like to give my book another chance. Maybe too much time has passed. Good article with lots of helpful advice. Thank you.

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