Marketing and advertising campaigns vary book by book. However, here are some things we may do: we work with a PR company for release day promotions, blog tours, and NetGalley placements, submit books to various book promotional companies like BookBub, Bargain Booksy, Fussy Librarian, ENT and many more, work closely with distributors and retailers to submit books for retailer/distributor specific promotions including promotions tailored to specific foreign markets, submit books for reviews and for features at various media outlets, advertise on social media platforms and retailer sites, and more.
If you are open to making a video of up to 2 minutes talking about your book while you’re holding it in camera view, we would love to feature it on our Instagram Reels, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube channel. Please send it to us at publisher@harborlanebooks.com. This would be non-exclusive to us, so you’re free to upload it on your own social media and website as well. If you’re not comfortable with doing that, that’s okay!
Please send us an email at publisher@harborlanebooks.com with memorable quotes and snippets of exciting scenes from your book so we can use these materials in promotional videos and graphics that we create.
We do not require you to market or advertise your book(s), however, it is strongly encouraged as the more marketing and advertising the better. We do not book signings or other events for you and we do not provide physical marketing materials–these are your responsibility. However, we do provide the artwork for you to order your own banners or other materials for signings/events upon request.
If you want to market and advertise your book, you can look into the following:
Here are promotional services that you can use to market your book. We also utilize some of these book promotion services for our books, so please check with us first before booking a promotion.
https://blog.reedsy.com/book-promotion-services/
https://litring.com/services/
https://store.freshfiction.com/advertising/
https://store.freshfiction.com/e-mail-marketing/
Here are some companies for blog tours and other PR services that we have heard/seen good things about:
https://tbrandbeyondtours.com/services/ (at the time of writing this, they provide FREE services–this is mainly for Middle Grade Fiction and YA Fiction)
https://xpressobooktours.com/services/
https://www.lonestarliterary.com/content/advertise-0
http://www.rockstarbooktours.com/p/authors-and-publishers.html
https://www.goddessfish.com/virtual-book-tours/
https://mtmctours.com/services/ (they offer many services, including TikTok and Instagram blog tours and audiobook tours, etc)
http://www.lolasblogtours.net/
https://www.jeanbooknerd.com/p/book-tour.html
https://lonelypagesbooktours.wordpress.com/services/
There are many more companies like these out there! Just do your research and read reviews. If you aren’t sure if the company is scammy or not, please reach out to us and we will look into it as well. We do not want our authors to be taken advantage of.
You can run ads for your book(s) as well. These can be Facebook ads, Instagram ads, Pinterest ads, TikTok ads, BookBub ads, etc.
Below is a list of books and resources that might help you with marketing your book, creating ads for your book, building your brand as an author, and building a newsletter:
How to Market a Book: Overperform in a Crowded Market by Ricardo Fayet
Amazon Ads for Authors: Unlock Your Full Advertising Potential by Ricardo Fayet
Marketing Books for Free: How I Market My Books Without Spending a Dime by Kate Hall
Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert
The Author’s Guide to Marketing Books on Amazon: (2025 Update) by Rob Eagar
The Prosperous Writer by Honoree Corder, Brian D. Meeks, Michael Anderle
Creative Business Books for Writers and Authors by Joanna Penn
Below are a list of book review services, please do not submit your book to any of these if your book is already released AND in the Kindle Unlimited program. If your book is available at wide retailers, you’re more than welcomed to. If your book is in Kindle Unlimited, you may only submit your book to these during your book’s preorder period. Please read each service’s terms and conditions.
AuthorsXP
BookSirens
Booksprout
Hidden Gems
You are also at liberty to submit your book for a BookBub Featured Deal or Bargain Booksy deal, however, you will need to make sure that you inform us if you get accepted so we can discount your book to $0.99 or free. Please keep in mind no royalties are earned on books that are free.
Reach out to your local magazines, newspapers, and news stations to see about placing an ad or doing an interview about you and your book.
Reach out to local libraries, bookstores, coffee shops, boutiques, etc. to see if they would be interested in buying some of your books to sell on consignment. However, bookstores and libraries can order your book(s) through ipage (Ingram) to receive a wholesale discount. You can also see about having a book signing at your local library, bookstore, or coffee shop. Please keep in mind, we do not allow returns.
If you’re a children’s author, you can contact local schools to see about doing school visits including virtual classroom visits.
New social media platforms to get on, if you’re interested in doing so:
Harbor Lane Books 