As long as books have been around, people have historically been interested in traditional publishing (i.e., when a publisher acquires your book for money).
It’s easy to understand why we are so obsessed with getting our books published. Walk into any bookstore and see the rows and rows of books gracing the shelves. The legacy authors. The greats. The books that are still getting published hundreds of years later. The BookTok stars. The lead tittles. The mega hits. If they can do it, you can do it too, right?
Whether you already have a book deal, you’re in the querying trenches, or you just landed an agent (or hope to), a very specific, very romantic fantasy often sets in.
You think that once you get the book deal, you will have a team of experts to help you sell that book.
Because that is the ENTIRE point of having a team, right?
If you’ve read any of my previous Substacks (or talked to any authors who are actually honest), then you know this is a complete lie.
Landing a traditional contract or securing a shiny six-figure advance does not mean the industry is going to champion your work. In fact, for about 90% of authors on any given seasonal catalog, publisher marketing consists mostly of blasts to overworked media lists and a whole lot of crossing fingers, luck, and timing.
I’ve spent years in this business—as a bestselling author with Big Five publishers, an author of nonfiction books that (somewhat) crashed and burned, and as a book doula helping hundreds of writers navigate this wild landscape.
If there is one lesson I want EVERY SINGLE PERSON TO KNOW, it’s this: if you don’t learn how to market your own book, nobody else is going to do it for you.
From the author’s lens, this makes zero sense though. We’re not marketers! We’re WRITERS! Of course a publisher should market our books! That’s the whole damn point of having a publisher! And up until a good twenty or thirty years ago, publishers did their jobs (and sometimes—gasp!—they even did them well).
But things have changed: social media has crept in, authors now have massive followings, voracious readers, and we are all expected to have this “work around the clock” mentality that was once reserved for story.
Now, we must wear all the hats.
If you love wearing those hats, great. Good for you! Keep doing what you’re doing. If you don’t (hello, have we met?), here are a few important things you need to know about traditional publishing and some cool things you can do to actually market and sell your book.
Before we get into the cool stuff, it’s important to understand how a few things work when it comes to publisher marketing. Instead of publishers splitting their marketing dollars down the middle, they operate on a brutal power-law distribution:
The lead titles (top 10%): These are the mega-advances, the massive celebrity memoirs, and the proven bestsellers. They get the billboard in Times Square, the prime front-table placement in bookstores, national TV bookings, paid book tours, and a dedicated team breathing life into the campaign every day.
The midlist (everyone else): Your marketing and publicity budget is practically non-existent, and your assigned publicist is likely an overworked pro or entry-level assistant trying to manage 20 other titles that exact same month.
When a midlist book doesn’t immediately blow up in week one, the publisher usually doesn’t pivot or double down. They cut their losses, shift their focus to the next season’s heavy hitters, and move on.
Which can leave you beyond devastated that the book you just spent years of your life writing, querying, and finally getting published is forgotten JUST A WEEK after launch!
Unless you keep it alive, that is.
Remember: If you view a publisher as a savior instead of a distribution machine, your book is a sitting duck before it even hits shelves.
I have been so, so guilty of this. I still do it. I tell myself that maybe this next book, maybe this next publisher, maybe THIS TIME IT WILL ALL BE DIFFERENT! Guess what? On the fiction side, with 3 publishers and 9 books, it’s never been different. A hard dose of reality, but it’s the truth.
So what are we supposed to do if we still want a traditional book deal even though we know that the marketing is most likely going to fall completely on our shoulders?
Forget the usual advice about street teams and launch week discounts. (I HAVE suggested those and they DO work, but it’s also what everyone else is doing.) If you want to build genuine momentum without begging algorithms for attention, try these instead:
Pitch non-book Substack recommendations: Stop chasing traditional media reviewers. Instead, find 5 to 10 popular Substack newsletters whose themes or general vibe match your book. If you write fiction, look for lifestyle, pop culture, travel, or essayist newsletters that cater to your target reader profile; if you write nonfiction, look for niche newsletters in your specific field. Pitch the creator on featuring your book in their “What I’m Reading/Loving This Month” digest. Newsletter readers actually buy books because the trust factor is built directly into their inbox.
Pitch bulk sales to non-traditional groups: Retail readers buy one copy at a time, but organizations buy in bulk. For nonfiction authors, this means pitching corporate teams or professional associations aligned with your topic. For fiction authors, think bigger than standard book clubs: pitch local women’s networks, alumni groups, regional arts foundations, or lifestyle societies. Offer to host an exclusive private virtual Q&A, character-deep-dive, or craft workshop for their members (provided the organizer buys a copy of your novel for every single attendee).
Master the micro-location drop (and host non-traditional events): Instead of competing with dozens of other authors for a low-attendance bookstore reading, meet readers where they already hang out. Leave signed copies at boutique hotels, independent coffee shops, wellness spaces, or high-end waiting rooms with a custom bookmark inside that invites them to take it home. Better yet, host your launch events in those exact spaces, such as a cozy wine bar, a local clothing boutique, a flower shop, or a plant nursery. If you write thrillers, host an event in a moody speakeasy; if you write romance, partner with a local bakery or bridal shop. When you host an event where people aren’t expecting to find books, you eliminate the competition of readers browsing other books and create a far more memorable experience. (True story: One of my most successful events EVER was at a Costco. As people drifted by, I would ask: “Would you like a book with your 48 rolls of toilet paper?” And almost EVERYONE said yes.)
A traditional publisher is great for several things: distribution, editorial polish, and trade credibility. However, they are not an instant audience generator!
Once you stop expecting a publisher to hand you a career on a silver platter, something incredible happens: you get your power back. You stop waiting on an overworked marketing department (that simply doesn’t have the bandwidth) to care, and you start building a career that YOU own. That YOU control. That YOU can dictate book by book.
Is it a lot of work? Yes, of course it is.
But when you turn that work into doable, actionable tasks that feel fun and aligned with who you are, everything shifts.
I’d love to hear from you: What’s the biggest lie you’ve uncovered about the business side of publishing?
Rea
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