How to Promote Your Book to Book Clubs, Libraries, and Bookstores: An Interview with Author Kimberly Nixon
Whether you’re a traditionally published or self-published author, you’re going to have to promote your book on your own time and your own dime, for the most part. There are exceptions, but plan on being your own marketer. For the past year or so I’ve been watching Kimberly Nixon do a heck of a job promoting her novels on social media and in her newsletter. She always seems to have an event lined up with a book club or library. I decided to reach out and ask her about how she’s pulling off her impressive book promotions.
Kimberly is the author of two historical novels—Rock Bottom, Tennessee, and Rock Bottom Rising. The stories revolve around the real-life adventures of her grandmother who was convicted on felony larceny charges for robbing a train in the 1920s. Here’s our conversation—
[Kim Lozano] Kimberly, I do want to know how you plan and organize all these events, but first, where are you in the book publishing/marketing timeline right now? I know you’re working to promote your book, Rock Bottom Rising.
[Kimberly Nixon] I released my second book in the Rock Bottom Series, Rock Bottom Rising, in February 2024 and I’ve been heavily marketing both books since then. As an indie author, book promotion holds the same level of importance as writing to engage my reader base. I feel a strong connection to my readers and have narrowed down my readership demographic. By focusing my advertising and platforms to hit these wonderful bookworms, I’m able to engage with my readers quite often and in many ways. And I love that interaction! My readers send me indie bookstore recommendations in their area and invite me to their book clubs. They comment on social media and send me emails. Right now, two readers have made it their mission to get my books into film. I promised to name one of my minor characters after them in future books.
What’s your big-picture approach to creating a marketing plan?
My three-tiered plan is based on hitting many markets:
- Author appearances including book clubs, libraries, indie bookstores, and genealogy groups to talk about family story research.
- Advertising on many platforms (which means I’ve tested what does and doesn’t work).
- Engaging when I can with my readers.
I’ll wind down this full-on effort in a few weeks to focus on book #3. At that point, I’ll write 75% of the time and market 25%.
Let me ask you about #1 in your marketing plan. And let’s just talk book clubs. Do these invitations come your way primarily because of the advertising and social media marketing you do?
The book club invitations come from social media, Facebook ads, a targeted email, and word-of-mouth. Most libraries and many bookstores have some sort of book club and I try to address that in a sales sheet mailing to libraries and bookstores. My novels also have book club questions at the end of the books that explore my main character’s choices. Because I advertise this, some book clubs have chosen my books for their discussions
Can you tell me a little more about that sales sheet you send out to promote your book? What do you include in it and how do you select the libraries and bookstores you want to target?
My sales sheet has information about both of my books and includes my genre, my Goodreads and Amazon ratings, my keywords (“1920s Prohibition Era Tennessee” and “Based on a true story” for example), and where to find my books—including my ISBNS. I also provide information about my speaking availability. I’m available for book club discussions in libraries and bookstores and for short talks on topics like “Expert Tips to Verify the Family Story” or “Indie Publishing”. Of course I provide photos of the book covers and myself with contact information, including my website and email address.
I know that most of my readers come from Tennessee, Texas, and Ohio (thank you Meta and Amazon ads for this information). I research indie bookstores in these states and also use worldcat.org to find libraries that carry my book and those that don’t. Then I’ll contact the appropriate person to arrange for them either to carry my books, schedule a book club, or inquire about giving a speaker topic. I do mini book tours to visit these states several times a year. I also attend events by Zoom. Many libraries only take requests from their patrons, and the best foot-in-the-door with indie bookstores is through their customers.
How do you handle your book sales at these events? Do you keep enough books on hand to bring them with you and sell them yourself or does the venue handle sales? And do libraries allow you to sell books when you do an event with them?
Every event is different. For book clubs, sometimes I arrange to send a bundle of signed books to the organizer a month ahead. Other times, I sign books on book club day that book club members already bought elsewhere. Or perhaps they bought an ebook and want to purchase a signed paperback copy from me at the event. If a library hosts a book club, most likely the library purchased enough books to lend out for the book club members. Still, sometimes people want to buy a signed book from me.
Libraries are all different as to what they allow. Some have no issue with me selling my books (I always have enough on hand after my talk). Others ask for a 10% donation to their friends of the library organization (and I make sure they mean 10% of the profit, not book price) or a donation of one signed book. Others do not allow book sales. In that case, I ask for an author honorarium for the event.
Various other organizations allow book sales after my talk, such as rotary clubs, genealogical groups, and library associations.
Bookstores always carry the books and I do a signing after my talk.
I imagine most new authors are intimidated by the idea of learning how to use Facebook ads. Any advice for others wanting to dip their toe in the online ads world?
Two pieces of advice:
- Authors can take advantage of the many free courses for Amazon ads (David Chesson has one and Author Ad School is another) and Facebook ads (Hubspot has free courses). I listen to about two a month even now.
- Start small. I sometimes spend only $15 for a campaign. Make sure your Facebook page is a business page (to allow ads). Also make sure that you are not using the app to create your Facebook ad because there is a 30% tax when using the app instead of a webpage. Tweak your ads if they don’t bring results. Try new audiences. Try a different creative (visuals and text).
When I create a post about my books (a review, or it’s #30 in its category on Amazon, for example) or if I’m having a promotion of some sort, I go to my web Facebook and turn that post into a boosted post. I play around with creative media in Canva and only spend $5 a day for 3-5 days. I know who my audience is (age 35+, women, mostly from the eastern half of the US) and I target them. Also, whenever I have an event, I turn it into a Facebook event and then boost that event for a cost of only $20 or so for two weeks. I target readers who live within thirty miles of the event and it surprises me how many come because they’ve seen it on Facebook.
Are there any other books, websites, or author groups you recommend that helped you learn how to promote your book and that might help other writers?
I read Jane Friedman’s book, Publishing 101: A First-Time Author’s Guide to Getting Published, Marketing and Promoting Your Book, and Building a Successful Career, and I took several courses with Deanna Roy before I indie-published my first novel. Since then, I cruise two Facebook groups for most of my information. One is Wide for the Win and the other is 20BooksTo50K. I recently took David Gaughran’s course on Amazon ads and Judith Briles’ Ninja Marketing class offered by the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. I think I picked up over 50 tips in her class on how to hone my marketing plan.
Whether a writer is indie-published or traditionally-published, marketing is a huge part of being a successful author. Fortunately, I enjoy it and find joy in connecting with my readers.
Kimberly Nixon writes about family stories featuring strong, determined—and sometimes wild—characters. She wrestles these personalities based on true stories into main characters in her works of fiction. She is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writing Association, several writing groups, and the Writer’s League of Texas. Currently, Kimberly is working on a memoir retracing her father’s footsteps during World War II as a way to get to know her father who died young.
WHERE TO FIND KIM’S BOOKS:
Signed Copies are available at kimberlynixon.com
Ebooks are available at Amazon
