4 Collaborative Book Marketing Ideas

“It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed” 

• Napoleon Hill

Book marketing success as a self-publisher doesn’t mean you have to do everything on your own. 

Even though you lack the support of a traditional publisher, you can draw upon a far more valuable resource – your fellow indie authors.

But what are the ways to unlock the collaborative power of other writers, and how can you work well together to enjoy the maximum possible mutual success? 

Create a team for your book launch

While it’s possible to successfully launch a book on your own, it’s often a lot better to use a team.

When you call upon other people to help with the process, you tap into additional talent and personality that would otherwise be missing.

Also, don’t overlook the potential complexity of launching a book. You need to execute a series of tasks within narrow timeframes to get the best results. The worst thing is to miss out on something crucial because its success was all resting on one person.

If building and running a book launch team sounds stressful, try not to let it be. Your team can be as big or small as your needs and resources allow for. 

Of course, an ineffective team can be worse than doing everything on your own. 

So what are some ways to help ensure your launch team collaborates smoothly?

• Link your launch to the bigger picture.  Everyone should be on board with the bigger purpose of your book. If everyone is excited about how it will make life better for people who read it, expect a lot more enthusiasm. 

• Set clear expectations for communication. The entire team should know when and how to communicate. Consider setting up a dedicated platform like a Slack channel or social media group.

• Reward and appreciate your team. Offer an incentive your launch team would love. This could be a special edition of the book or just the chance for their work to be shouted out as well. 

Putting together a team for your book launch not only allows you to share in the excitement of getting your book out into the world but also increases the initial marketing momentum your book needs to succeed. 

Work with other authors on interviews

One of the warmest ways to collaborate with other authors is through interviews and podcast appearances. The spoken format allows everyone’s personality to shine through, creating endearment and engagement from listeners. 

To make the most of your interviews with other authors, consider the following tips. 

• Tailor your pitch to the show. When you appear on an interview with another author, you should make sure both your pitch and actual interview content are tailored to the show itself. Showing up prepared to deliver the maximum amount of value to those listeners in particular is a recipe for success. 

• Promote your interview after it’s live. To help ensure your interview is heard as widely as possible, make sure that everyone involved promotes it through as many relevant channels as they have access to. 

• Maximize the win/wins. You should always aim to give as much, if not more, value than you get from appearing on an interview. Return the favor to your host if you can, or look for other ways to promote their work. 

The golden rules to keep in mind when appearing on interviews is to provide as much value to the listeners as possible and to do everything to further the relationship subsequently. 

Partner up for a box set

While releasing a box set bundle of your books can be an effective solo marketing tactic, its power is often multiplied when you work with other authors.

If you can find a good fit between nonfiction niches or fiction genres, you have a great chance of delighting the readerships of everyone involved and creating new mutual fans. 

But how can you ensure everything gets as much from the process as possible?

• Align your marketing efforts. Ensure that every author featured in the box set is promoting the bundle release across their social platforms and email lists. However, if there’s a lot of overlap, coordinate carefully about the frequency and messaging of any promotions. Otherwise, you run the risk of spamming fans who happen to already follow multiple authors. 

• Add value to the original books. If it’s feasible, consider adding extra value to the original book editions that are now being bundled together. This could be as simple as special digital box art for the release or as complex as extra chapters or resources not found in the original books. 

• Monitor results and consider repeating. Take the time to reflect on the launch after you have enough data to evaluate it. If the launch was well-received by readers, and beneficial for the authors involved, consider doing something similar in the future. 

Creating a collaborative box set with other authors is one of the best ways to offer the maximum amount of value to writers and readers alike. It’s also a great way to get extra eyes on older book titles, so don’t overlook it if you have a back catalog. 

Start a book marketing mastermind 

Being an indie author, especially during our current era of remote working, can sometimes feel a little isolated and disconnected. 

If you want to feel a strong sense of connection with your fellow self-publishers and book marketers, consider creating a mastermind group. 

A small, mutually committed circle of fellow authors is one of the best ways to foster a sense of connection and mutual growth. 

The following ideas will help your author marketing mastermind to function effectively. 

• Meet regularly. Establish clear guidelines on how often to meet ensuring that everyone has input and can meet the agreed commitment. 

• Have a format for contributions. Ensure that the mastermind meetings are carried out with a defined structure and format, and ensure everyone in the group has input into if the structure is working well for them or should be adjusted in the future. 

• Share resources and results. Create a space of mutual trust and openness where group members feel able to share their results and ideas about promotional campaigns such as Amazon Marketing Services. 

A mastermind group allows you to create a collaborative bond with other authors that may end up being one of your strongest sources of support throughout your author career.