We will be regularly updating this page with downloads and links we’ve found that we think will be helpful for writers, publishing professionals, or anyone trying to market their work.
Advertising and Marketing
9 Advertising Trends to Watch in 2024 by Scott Weiss — Scott Weiss from Hubspot reviews trends in digital advertising and social media advertising — April 9, 2024
Behind the Bestsellers: Best Book Marketing Campaigns of 2024 On Authors Breeze, Christina N. Hummell reviews the marketing campaigns of three recent bestsellers and what made these campaigns successful — March 6, 2024
Brenda Novak on 9 Book Advertising Tactics I’ve Tried… And Which Ones Worked! – from BookBub
Artificial Intelligence
ChatGPT vs. Google Bard vs. Bing Chat vs. Claude: Which generative AI solution is best? Eric Enge on SearchEngineLand compares genAI tools ChatGPT, Bard, Bing Chat Balanced, Bing Chat Creative, and Claude based on four metrics. January 26, 2024
“What Remedies Do Authors Have When Fraudulent Work Appears on Amazon?” by Jane Friedman (August, 2023)
“The Supreme Court Case of Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith: What, If Anything, Does It Mean to Artificial Intelligence?” by Roy Kaufman of Copyright Clearance Center on Scholarly Kitchen (June 6, 2023)
“Generative AI and Intellectual Property Law: A Special Report” from Variety Intelligence Platform (May 1, 2023) (subscription reqd)
Web Metadata and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The Profound Impact of Generative AI on Search – David Shapiro, Senior Vice President of Earned Media at NP Digital (June, 2024)
Zero-Click Content; The Counterintuitive Way to Succeed in a Platform-Native World by Amanda Natividad on SparkToro (July 25, 2022)
How to Optimize Your Meta-Titles, Descriptions and Keywords by Robin Burton
Seven Essential Content Marketing Lessons from Rand Fishkin’s Whiteboard Fridays by Michelle Lin
BookTok
Does Literary Fiction Also Work on BookTok? On Book Riot, Arvyn Cerézo explores the problems literary fiction has getting traction on BookTok — January 9, 2024
I’ve Got 60 Seconds to Hook You: Bookstagram vs BookTok On Book Riot, Ashlie Swicker gather opinions on readers’ different experiences — January 9, 2024
BookTok’s Racial Bias On The Cut, Tyler McCall investigates the evidence that BookTok’s secret algorithm is racist — November 18, 2022
Instructional Videos
THE AUTHOR AND THE MARKETER: Working Together to Connect to Readers: Bridget Marmion & Dale Kushner (March, 2022)
THE YA TODAY: An Editor, Agent, and Blogger Discuss the Book, the Audience, the Crossover
A Presentation by Emilia Rhodes, Peter Knapp, Katiebabs, and Bridget Marmion (June, 2016)
CAN I WRITE THAT WHILE THEY’RE STILL ALIVE?
A Presentation by Bridget Marmion, Boris Kachka, Elinor Lipman, and Jan F. Constantine (March, 2016)
Editing
Kinds of editors and levels of edit–what every writer and editor should know (updated) – blog post by Pat McNees on Writers and Editors
Some Tips on Editing Your Manuscript (PDF) – from the William Faulkner – William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition
Publicity and Promotion
The Art of Publicity: How Indie Publicists Work With Writers by Tess Taylor on Poets & Writers
Seventeen New Book Release Marketing Examples – including Social Media Headers, Author Q&As, Giveaways, Book Excerpts and Peeks Behind the Scenes – from BookBub
A General Book Campaign Timeline by Sarah Russo (PDF)
Sample Author Questionnaire compliments of Bridget Marmion Book Marketing (.docx)
Writing
A Writer’s Secret Weapon: Add a Listening Pass to Your Editing Arsenal – Author and writing coach Suzy Vadori on how to enable your laptop to read your work to you and why that’s useful – April 24, 2024
Publishing
Start Here: How to Get Your Book Published — Jane Friedman offers basic advice on how to get traditionally published and on how to self-publish — updated April 10, 2024
The Big Five U.S. Trade Publishers and Their Imprints. A graphic showing all the imprints of the “Big Five” U.S. trade publishers by Ali Almossawi, a software engineer, data visualization designer, and author. Updated August, 2023.
How Rebecca Skloot began promoting her bestseller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, years before publication (subscription to Wall Street Journal required)
Author Platform Lessons from #1 New York Times Bestseller Rebecca Skloot by Dan Blank
General Setup and Who Does What in a Publishing House by Barbara Greenberg and Julie Schroeder (PDF)
Timeline-for-Publishing-Success-2014 (from the 2014 Brooklyn Book Festival Workshop)
Commonly Used Terms in Publishing – from the AAP’s BookJobs.com
Best Practices for Product Metadata (2015) – from BISG
Self-Publishing
The Indie 50 – The 50 Best Sites for Indie and Self-Published Authors – from August Wainwright
Website
What’s More Important: Author Websites or Social Media? by Jane Friedman
A Step-by-Step Guide to Build Your Author Website by Jane Friedman
AUTHOR WEBSITE: EXAMPLES, TEMPLATES, AND HOW-TO BUILD ONE by Tim Grahl
Blogging
Revealed: 19 Things to Know Before You Start a Blog by Blog Tyrant
How to Start a Blog — Beginners Guide for 2016 by Jessica Knapp
25 Ways to Measure the Success of Your Newsletter by Dan Oshinsky, former director of Newsletters for The New Yorker and BuzzFeed, January 17, 2024
What You Need to Know About Gmail and Yahoo’s Big Changes for Newsletters by Dan Oshinsky on Inbox Collective, January 24, 2024
Your Contacts List Is Your Most Important Social Network. Here’s How to Make It Better. David Pierce reviews CardHop, HiHello, and other apps that help you manage your contacts (Wall Street Journal – subscription required)
Why Email Marketing is King by Arthur Middleton Hughes (Harvard Business Review)
What Ten Studies Say About the Best Time to Send Email by Nathan Ellering
Ten Rock-Solid Reasons Why an Author Should Build an E-mail List by Joan Stewart
How to Build an Author Platform Through Email Lists by Joel Friedlander
BookBub
Carlyn Robertson of BookBub Partners Team on “Getting Started with BookBub Ads” (59 min video on YouTube from February, 2023)
Book Metadata
Mastering Metadata: The Key to Marketing Your Books by Carla King
Social Media Platforms and Tools
The 10 Best Social Media Metrics to Track in 2024 (+ Quick Tips) — On Smartblogger, Sam Driver describes in detail ten key social media metrics — and how to track them — January 3, 2024
Why You Should Be Writing on Social Media by Allison K. Williams (@guerillamemoir) (August, 2023)
Modern Authors Delve into Digital and Visual Storytelling – report by Stephanie Walden on Mashable on how several authors are using social media and blogging to reach readers
Engaging Audiences through Twitter in 15 Minutes a Day by Kirsten Oliphant
An Unconventional Facebook Ads Strategy for Authors by Matt Holmes (August 9, 2023)
Best Practices for Author Facebook Pages and Groups by Kirsten Oliphant
Facebook Blueprint: 50 free eLearning modules (videos) on best practices for creating Facebook Pages and Advertising Campaigns
The Pros and Cons of Using a Facebook Profile But Not an Official Page by Jane Friedman
How to Get Your Book Sales Moving with Facebook Ads. A Case Study by David Penny
ABCs of Authors on Instagram: Everything Your Account Should Have by Dara Beevas, Amy Quale and the writers at Wise Ink
15 Authors Running Fantastic Book Promotions on Instagram by Diana Urban
The Complete Instagram Hashtag Guide for Business by Michael Aynsley
Five Free Ways to Build Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn by Alexandra Rynne
Snapchat
Do You Write for Young Adults or Millennials? Then Try Snapchat by Frances Caballo
How to Use Reddit to Market Your Books (Carefully) by Ricardo Fayet
Goodreads and Reading Communities
Do Goodreads Giveaways Work? By J. M. Ney-Grimm
Audio
Podcasts
Leigh Stein interviews Michelle Glogovac, the “Podcast Matchmaker,” about “How the Pros Pitch Podcasts”
20 Podcasts for Authors on Writing, Publishing, and Book Marketing – a curated report by Diana Urban on BookBub