Tips and Tools for an Authorpreneur to Market Your Ebook: Build Your Following. Sell More Books.
Real books. Real campaigns. Real results.
Book marketing is not about doing more things. It’s about doing the right things in the right order, paying attention to what the numbers are telling you, and following through.
Over the years, I’ve helped authors build review momentum, improve Amazon visibility, grow audiences, and create stronger book launches.
Here are some of the results.
The Numbers
100
Book Reviews in 3 Weeks
For Sue Hitzmann’s MELT Performance, a reviewer campaign generated 100 book reviews in approximately three weeks around the book launch.
“Marquina did a great job getting 100 book reviews in 3 weeks.”
Sean Riggs — Chief Digital Officer, RGA Creative
79
Reviews in 5 Days
The MELT Performance campaign generated 79 reviews in just five days.
“Wonderful to see so many amazing messages and posts. Thanks so much for getting this to happen Marquina!!”
Sue Hitzmann — Founder & CEO, MELT Method
#1
New Release in 4 Amazon Categories
Guitar For Absolute Beginners by Dan Emery reached #1 New Release in four Amazon categories and #1 Best Seller in its category.
“And—it was a success! The book was a #1 Amazon New Release in 4 categories and a #1 Best Seller in our category.”
Dan Emery — Founder & CEO, NYC Guitar School
#1
New Release for 5 Weeks
Working with author Nick Jankel, we helped build the visibility and momentum that took his book to #1 New Release on Amazon for five weeks and counting.
“Marquina and I together got my book to be a No.1 New Release on Amazon for 5 weeks and counting.”
Nick Jankel — Author
1072
New Leads in Just Over One Week
One campaign generated 1,072 new leads in just over one week at a reported acquisition cost of $413.70.
“Wow – 1,072 new leads in just over 1 week at the cost of $413.70! Amazing!”
Annick Lewis
2x+
Industry-Expected Open Rates
For Romana King’s book launch, we worked with a small, relatively unengaged cold list. The campaign generated email open rates more than double the industry expectation.
“We gave her an unengaged, short (a few hundred) cold list as part of the task and she more than doubled the industry expected open-rates.”
Romana King — bestselling author
Sales Momentum
3 → 7 Books Sold Per Day
Author Shala Nicely reported that sales of Is Fred in the Refrigerator?
Increased from approximately 3 books per day to 7 books per day.
She later reported: 5,400+ Copies sold! and an ongoing sales rate of approximately 5–7 books per day.
“What I learned from you has been instrumental in Fred’s sales.”
Shala Nicely, LPC
More Amazon Wins
#1 On 3 Amazon Bestselling Author Lists
For Dr. Bridget Walker’s Anxiety Relief for Kids:
“You have launched this book to #1 on 3 Amazon Bestselling Author lists and given me invaluable expertise and enthusiasm.”
Dr. Bridget Walker, PhD
The results aren’t just about rankings.
A successful book campaign can mean different things for different authors.
Sometimes it’s getting a book into the right Amazon category. Sometimes it’s generating the reviews that give new readers confidence. Sometimes it’s creating a sustained increase in sales. Sometimes it’s reaching the people the author wrote the book for in the first place. And sometimes it’s giving an author a strategy they can continue using long after the campaign ends.
That’s why I look beyond launch day.
Visibility
Getting the book in front of the right readers.
Reviews
Creating reader momentum and social proof.
Amazon
Using categories, keywords, positioning, advertising, and launch strategy to improve discoverability.
Audience
Building relationships with readers and growing the people who can become long-term fans.
Sales
Watching the numbers and adjusting the strategy based on what is actually happening.
Momentum
Building something that continues to work after the initial launch.
A Broader Marketing Track Record
My work has also included digital marketing, publishing platforms, audience growth, SEO, email marketing, and growth campaigns for publishing companies, startups, and other organizations. Some selected results from that work include:
Organic Search Growth
Approximately 10× growth in organic search for Riffle landing pages over a three-month period.
New Subscribers / Month
Approximately 50,000 new subscribers per month for the Riffle Select ebook deals newsletter.
Fan Page Growth
19% fan-page growth during a HarperCollins/Ecco Books campaign.
Social Reach / News Feed Impressions
More than 15,000 social reach / News Feed impressions during a Simon & Schuster campaign.
What does success look like for your book?
There is no universal formula. Your book, audience, category, platform, timeline, and goals are unique. My job is to figure out what success should look like for your particular book—and then build a strategy to get there.
Let’s Make Some Numbers.
