How Ghostwriters Can be Marketing Geniuses for their Authors

By Jennifer Locke

As Julie Andrews sings, “a bell is no bell until you ring it.” And a book is no book until people read it. Before they write the first word of a manuscript, ghostwriters should ask authors this question: “How do you plan to market the book?”

Writing a book takes an enormous amount of effort. Ghostwriters and authors often work together for a solid year, from book conception to publication. Yet publication is just one finish line. Whether or not our authors realize it, when the book releases they’re at the starting blocks of an entirely different race. That race is called “marketing.”

Luckily, book marketing needn’t feel like a Sisyphean task. There are loads of high-touch and low-touch methods to market a book. Ghostwriters can offer authors marketing guidance and customized support. Bonus: offering strategic marketing support increases the value we bring. Consider that when you’re quoting your next project.

Here are 13 ways ghostwriters can help authors market their books:

1. Tell the author to put a link to the book in their email signature. Every time people receive an email from the author, they’re presented with an opportunity to buy. This is called “low-hanging fruit”–might as well take it.
2. Help the author plan a podcast tour. Did you know 34% of Americans ages 12 and up listen to at least one podcast every week? If the author knows people who have their own podcasts, start there–help the author craft a pitch that can be tailored to different podcasters’ tastes and audiences. Then, help the author broaden their scope: pitch podcasts aligned with their future readers’ needs.
3. Help the author pitch articles to outlets aligned with the book. (Pro tip: ghostwriters can offer this as an additional service.) For instance: for business books, pitch articles to Forbes and HBR. For memoirs, try outlets that accept personal essays, such as the New York Times’s “Modern Love” column.
4. Related to #4: if the author is already publishing on a certain writing platform, such as Medium, plan an article or blog series. The author’s bio should include the name of the book (and if possible, a pre-order link) attached to every story.
5. Plan “behind the scenes” social media and newsletter content. People love behind-the-scenes looks. Help the author lift the curtain and share the good, bad, and ugly of the writing and publishing journey (while, of course, respecting confidentiality agreements).
6. As an additional service, write pitches to local news stations on behalf of the author. For instance, are they launching a healthy eating book? Pitch a spot in which the author and host cook a standout recipe.
7. Help the author plan a speaking tour. Develop a pitch that can be tailored to various stages. This tour could be cross-country or simply ‘cross-town.’
8. Help the author gather a “street team” of promoters. These are people who have the author’s back, no matter what. The author tells this street team specifically what they can do to promote the book, from pre-orders to social media posts to writing reviews on Amazon. The author can reach out with action items for the pre-order campaign, launch day, and afterward. (The ghostwriter can craft these emails as an additional service.)
9. Help the author with their elevator pitch so they can feel comfortable talking about the book. You know…with their mouth. An author will always be a book’s number one marketer.
10. Create a pre-order campaign with the author. For example, if the author has a podcast,  listeners who pre-order get access to special bonuses and giveaways.
11. Coordinate an ‘after the book launch’ email campaign for the street team. In these emails, the author will ask readers for book reviews. Create a cadence for when these check-ins will occur.
12. Help authors who are speakers put together a package centered around the book. For example: a workshop for a specific team for the cost of 50 books plus the cost of the workshop.
13. Master Amazon’s algorithm. Get your authors to bestseller status. Adjust your fees in relation to the reach you’re promising (and delivering).

There’s no getting around it: book marketing falls primarily to the author, whether they self-publish or traditionally publish. Ghostwriters can impress this upon our authors at the earliest possible juncture. The more we’re able to strategize with our authors–not just on the book, but on how it will be promoted–the more value we bring to the relationship.

Jennifer Locke is a USA Today bestselling ghostwriter specializing in personal development and memoir projects. Connect with her on LinkedIn or email jennifer@jenniferlockewrites.com.