How to Market a Self-Help Book to Boost Sales

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Did you know that the personal development industry in the U.S. was valued at $11.4 billion in 2022? This is proof that there is definitely a market for the self-help book that you aspire to make. From 2013 to 2019, sales of self-help books exploded with an annual growth rate of 11%. But self-help titles also exploded simultaneously, nearly tripling to 85,000 units sold. Selling your books in this highly competitive market as an independent writer with limited resources can be challenging. Here are some suggestions on marketing self-help books to make the process more user-friendly and assist in boosting your sales.

Who is the audience for your self-help book?

The first step to self-publishing a book for self-help is knowing who your audience is and/or could be. When it comes to marketing self-help books, the topic of your book is a good guide toward finding your ideal readership and defining your target audience. You’ll want to break down your ideal audience using demographics and the lesser-known psychographics, which classifies people according to attitudes and other psychological criteria. These statistical analyses should provide insight into your readers’ purchasing behavior. What about your book helps to offer solutions to specific problems? Answering this question will provide a path toward identifying readers for whom your book will not just be desirable, but necessary.

Next, when learning how to market a self-help book, you’ll need to become clear about your author brand. Your author brand should communicate why you are a trusted authority. Flaunt your credentials! Your pertinent experience should be front and center in your bio, press releases, author website, and social media. There’s a saying in book publicity: “no one interviews a book!” Your personality and charm will always be the key factor in driving sales. You’ll need to decide how much of your own personal experience you’ll want to include and what tone of voice you’ll use; much of this will again depend on your book’s subject matter. Your visual presentation online should represent the vibe of your author brand, including colors and choice of fonts.

Strategic approaches to reach your audience

There’s a plethora of marketing resources that cover strategies after your book launch, but it’s important to consider the before, during, and after. Successful book marketing tactics will drum up excitement, see a boom in sales for initial launch, and should be able to sustain interest. Let’s dive deeper into knowing how to market your book.

Pre-launch strategies

Before release, you’ll need to create a solid marketing plan for the whole book launch process with the main goal of building anticipation among your current followers. Make sure your website is updated, your web presence is current with your most-recent visuals, and that you have been engaging your readers on social media with two-way interactions. Consider starting a newsletter, podcast, blog, and/or Patreon account, depending on what makes sense for your book positioning and author brand.

This leads to the most important pre-launch marketing strategy: encouraging preorders. The more preorders you have, the more likely it is that buyers will order more from you in advance so it can pay to heavily promote preorders. Offer incentives with every preorder; these can include custom bookmarks and merch items tailored to your specific book. For example, a self-help book about nutrition might include printable affirmation cards and worksheets or even fridge magnets to help readers achieve their nutritional goals.

Launch tactics

If you have planned thoroughly in advance, the actual launch of your book will be a simple execution of your strategy. Let your budget determine whether you should have an in-person book launch party, virtual event, or some combination of the two. Coordinate any interviews and press reviews to come out as close to your launch event as possible, then reach out to book bloggers and podcasts that might cater to your target audience for coverage.

When self-releasing, you’ll want the book to be available for purchase in multiple formats (printed books, eBooks, audiobooks) everywhere, including Amazon, Google, Kobo, Apple, and indie stores. It’s a good book marketing strategy to offer a promotion in conjunction with the launch. This can include signed physical books and/or a free download of the book for a limited period of time. Encourage your readers to post about and review the book on various platforms. If your budget allows it, you may want to purchase ads on Amazon, Facebook, and elsewhere; you will want these to be highly targeted to your ideal readership.

Post-launch sustenance

The book is out in the world — now what? In marketing self-help books, the post-launch can be just as important to a book’s success as the previous stages. It is required and crucial for you to be actively involved at every stage! You’re the engine driving the train, but being a human with limited time, resources, and energy means you will need to focus and direct your efforts strategically.

The post-launch will involve continuing the same work you’ve been doing since the beginning: engaging on social media, working your email list, trying to garner press attention, making podcast/blog appearances, pursuing submissions for book awards, and using giveaways and freebies as incentives to post reviews of your book and subscribe to your email list, Patreon, or blog.

Harnessing online tools to amplify your reach

Your online presence is very important in convincing potential readers and booksellers of your book’s importance. In learning how to market a self-help book, one tool besides interviews and guest posts on blogs is having ready-to-go, digestible excerpts from your book that can function as standalone articles and/or blog posts. These will serve as adjuncts to your book, explaining topics in further depth and giving readers the history behind the book’s creation. Articles like these are promotional tools to spread awareness and let readers know more about you as an author and a person, enticing them to purchase.

The tried-and-true marketing method of an email list is still a useful tool for authors marketing self-help books. It can be helpful to have multiple lists, especially one for your superfans who will be most engaged in helping you promote your book. Building a network of superfans is one of the most important marketing activities you can do; fostering genuine connection with them, keeping them informed about your latest activities, and being able to contact them quickly and efficiently will in turn inspire them to take action on your behalf. This can be especially helpful regarding reviews, as positive reviews early on can really boost your book’s visibility. Having a group of motivated readers willing to be your foot soldiers is invaluable.

Boosting author credibility and visibility

This leads nicely into the next step in marketing self-help books: how to boost you and your book’s credibility and visibility. In the area of self-help, credibility is a huge bonus; self-help authors generally present themselves as experts and need their readers to see them as such. One strategy to enhance this image is to seek endorsements from influencers and other experts in your area of expertise. Collaborative blog posts, reviews, and quotes for your press materials can go a long way in establishing credibility. Pursue these relationships and see what you can offer them in return; authentic, mutually beneficial professional relationships can be of high value to both parties in a myriad of ways — not just in increasing book sales.

As said before, you’ll want to encourage your readers to leave positive reviews about your book in any place possible online. Your superfan network, however small, will be priceless in getting the process rolling. However, it’s one thing to encourage people to review your book and another thing to get them to review it positively. Negative reviews are inevitable and they might sting when they happen, especially if they are from someone whose opinion you value. It’s important not to let it deter your ultimate goal of getting your book out there, though. It’s good and healthy to acknowledge the hurt and unfairness, but also consider if there is any kernel of truth in the criticism; this can be used to inform your future books in positive ways. Ultimately, it’s just one opinion among many, so read it, process it, and then move on as undeterred as possible.

Ready to transform lives and boost your book sales?

Marketing self-help books is a lengthy process. It’s vital that you prepare well in advance of your book’s release and be deeply involved in all stages of the promotion. There is nothing and no one that will sell your book better than you! Your personality is doubly important in the category of self-help, as being recognized as a trusted source and authority in your field can lead to a long and successful career as an author and perhaps more.

It’s also very likely that you didn’t write this book for the money alone. Self-help books can actually save people’s lives; your marketing in this way is like a kind of ministry — more of a calling than an onerous task to be avoided. See your efforts as an opportunity to reach and help more people and make a positive difference in the world by writing a self-help book. Reminding yourself of this daily can help in completing all the hard work required to release your book. And while there are no guarantees, a positive message presented authentically can often lead to great commercial success; people will be attracted to your legitimacy and that leads to book sales.