J.D. Cunegan

So, you wrote a book.

Congratulations! You’ve truly accomplished one of humanity’s greatest feats.

Now, all you have to do is tell people about it.

Unfortunately, book sales don’t come out of thin air. Your book doesn’t magically appear on the shelf at Barnes & Noble, and you’re probably not going to be like Scrooge McDuck swan diving into a pool of coins any time soon (though the more I think about it, the more that sounds like it would hurt).

The reality, particularly for self- and independently-published authors, is that we have to be marketers as much as writers. Problem is, many of us are not all that good at it (even those of us who literally have a day job in marketing). Why is that? Well, I’ve got a theory.

No bunnies involved. Promise.

What Even is Marketing, Anyway?
At its essence, marketing is about solving problems. The potential customer has a problem; you have a product or service that will help them solve it. For the vast majority of the things we sell in the capitalist hellscape that is America, that is the one fundamental truth.

But what about books?

What problems are books solving? And how can you, the author, let readers know that your books, in particular, will solve their problem?

Well, that’s a bit tricky. I posed this exact question to Dayana Kibilds, vice president at higher education marketing agency Ologie and outspoken advocate for email marketing (seriously, she co-wrote a book on the subject). Her response?

“Fiction isn’t solving a problem — it’s fulfilling a desire.”

The “fix” here really isn’t a fix at all. It’s offering readers a place to escape. At the risk of sounding overly Gen Z (when I very much am not Gen Z), book marketing is as much vibes as anything else. Your books don’t exist to solve a problem; they serve to offer readers a place to go when the real world proves to be too much (which, let’s face it, is often these days).

How does that manifest in your book marketing? Well, that’s the rub, innit?

Do Not Displease the Digital Gods
So much of book marketing these days takes place on the interwebs. Whether it’s a website, a blog platform like Substack, social media, the 1,600-pound gorilla that is Amazon… it’s almost impossible to be an author these days without a digital presence. There is still a place for face-to-face interaction, through conventions and bookstore events, but most of our readers, and most of our purchases, are likely online.

On the one hand, that’s great. Because the Internet is global. I can post something on the site of my choosing, and theoretically, there are no barriers as to who can stumble upon my work. Whether they subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on BlueSky or happen upon my name in some other fashion, there are no limitations to the size of my audience.

Only… there are.

Every author who isn’t already a household name likely has experienced this: you have a great idea for a social post for your books. You post it, then sit back and wait for the impressions and the clicks. Only, there’s nothing. No likes. No reposts. I hop on over to the Threads algorithm, only to find this great post got… five views. If I’m lucky.

But then, you offer some pithy response to someone’s else’s post that has nothing to do with books. Tens of thousands of views, hundreds of likes, several comments, and maybe a couple new followers.

Algorithms are not an author’s friend, especially if your post has a link in it (which most book promo posts do, because why wouldn’t you want to direct potential readers to the sites where they can find your work?).

Even on BlueSky, which openly brags about how there’s no algorithm, I struggle to be seen. I guess my one bit of advice to other authors is: realize it’s not that other people don’t think you or your stories are worthy of their support. Chances are, they’re never even seeing what you post in the first place. Even if they follow you!

So, how do you get around the algorithm? How do you hawk your wares on platforms that are hostile to anything sniffing of commerce (despite the capitalism of it all)?

That’s a very good question. I’m open to ideas.

The Digital Elephant in the Room
Let me preface this section by reiterating that I am against generative AI, in all uses. It is unreliable, it is grotesque, and it feeds off of both intellectual property and finite environmental resources. You will never catch me using AI to write, edit, create cover art, or market my books (or anyone else’s). Anything you get from me will be 100% human-made.

Still, I completely understand the urge for some authors to turn to generative AI as a marketing tool. Marketing a book is hard, and in some respects, it’s expensive. Sometimes, prohibitively so. But the result, on top of being unethical, seldom produces better results.

Hell, sometimes, it’s worse.

Earlier this year, I set up a Facebook ad for my novel Summertime, Assassins, and Other Skullduggeries. I have mixed results with Facebook ads, but there was no harm in setting up a weeklong run with a targeted audience (fans of such fiction as John Wick and Kill Bill, specifically). I uploaded the image I wanted, wrote my ad copy, set all the parameters, and hit Run Ad.

Three days later, scrolling through my Instagram stories, I saw an ad for my book. Only… it wasn’t the copy I had written.

Turns out, when you set up an ad through Facebook (Meta) these days, they will run the ad with all the specs you submitted, and they will also use AI to create a few separate ad variations that will also run. It’s a feature turned on by default; you have to de-select it when setting up your ad.

Worst of all? The AI-generated ad copy was terrible. No one would buy my book based on it.

I have the sales chart to prove it.

For Meta to roll out this “feature” without notice smells fishy to me, and it does nothing to address the ethical minefields surrounding generative AI. I haven’t run a Facebook ad for one of my books since, and it’s not just because I don’t typically see a lot of sales from it.

The AI train has made it to email as well; I’ve been inundated with unsolicited emails from people who claim to have read my book and desperately want to offer their services in spreading the word. No price information, often no link to their website, and such flowery talk of my work that it feels like a) they’re trying to butter me up, and b) they’re writing a book report on something they didn’t actually read.

These emails are particularly pernicious, because they feel like people are preying on authors who are eager for people to notice their work.

My rule of thumb: if an unsolicited email from someone you’ve never heard of seems too good to be true, it very likely is. And if you’re ever in doubt, ask other authors.

It’s Not You. Hell, it’s Not Even Them.
I wish I had something more positive to offer here. But I’ve been a self-published author for a decade now, and I feel like I know less about what sells books these days than I did when I started. And frankly, a lot of this is stuff out of authors’ control.

Realize this, fellow authors: low book sales are not an indictment of you as an author.

Read that however many times you need before it sinks in. Odds are strikingly low that people are coming across your website, or your Goodreads or Amazon listing, rolling their eyes, and scrolling past out of disgust. Chances are, they don’t even realize you exist, or you write in a genre they don’t read, or–perhaps most likely these days–disposal income is increasingly hard to come by, and books are one of the things people are tightening their belts on.

Oh, and have you heard? The number of Americans reading for pleasure has plummeted.

Some readers are pulling back on how much they spend on Amazon, either for financial or ethical reasons. And given Amazon’s place in the book market (especially for indies), that’s money out of our pockets. There are plenty of other places indie authors can sell books, but Amazon remains king.

I readily admit I don’t write in popular, TikTok-friendly genres. Even worse, I mash genres together to write stories that can be hard to categorize. My stuff isn’t trendy, so I tend to get lost in the weeds, even in spaces specifically catering to indie authors.

There are people on the verge of losing access to food and healthcare, and there seem to be a lot more people looking for jobs than there are jobs available. They simply may not have the funds to buy books right now, no matter what they’re priced.

So, I guess the best advice I can give is to breathe, take a step back, and keep doing the best you can. Do what you can with the resources you have. Being a creative person in a society that doesn’t value creativity is stressful enough, and you’re better off putting all your focus and energy on the story.

Just remember: this isn’t personal. We’re all in the same boat.

About J.D. Cunegan
J.D. Cunegan is known for his unique writing style, a mixture of murder mystery and superhero epic that introduces the reader to his comic book-inspired storytelling and fast-paced prose. A 2006 graduate of Old Dominion University, Cunegan has an extensive background in journalism, a lengthy career in media relations, and a lifelong love for writing. Cunegan lives in Hampton, Virginia, and next to books and art, his big passion in life in auto racing. When not hunched in front of a keyboard or with his nose stuck in a book, Cunegan can probably be found at a race track or watching a race on TV.

Follow J.D. on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, BlueSky, Substack, and Goodreads.