A book without a plan tends to get marketed in bursts: a flurry of posts in launch week, then silence. A written book marketing plan fixes that by deciding in advance what you'll do, when, and how you'll know if it's working.
Below you'll find a 12-month template you can copy, a week-by-week launch table, a sample budget and the KPIs worth tracking. It's written for nonfiction authors, self-published or traditionally published, but most of it applies to any book.
What goes into a book marketing plan?
A useful marketing plan for a book answers six questions on one or two pages:
- Reader: Who exactly is this book for? One sentence.
- Promise: What will they get from it? One sentence.
- Goals: What does success look like at launch and at 12 months?
- Channels: Which two to four channels will you commit to?
- Timeline: What happens each month, and each week around launch?
- Budget and KPIs: What will you spend, and which numbers will you watch?
Keep it short enough that you'll actually reopen it every month. A 40-page plan that sits in a folder does less than a one-page plan taped above your desk.
Key takeaway: The plan's real job is to make you start early. Most of the best launch opportunities are booked months in advance.
How do you set goals for a book marketing plan?
Set goals you can influence directly, not only outcomes you can't control. "Hit a bestseller list" depends on many things outside your hands. "Get 25 honest reviews in the first month" and "do 12 podcast interviews in the launch quarter" are things you can plan for.
Good goals usually fall into three groups:
- Reach: interviews, articles, events, newsletter mentions.
- Proof: reviews, endorsements, editorial reviews.
- Owned audience: email subscribers, which outlast any single launch.
Sales are the result you care about, but treat them as the outcome of those three rather than the only goal.
How do you choose your channels?
Pick channels where your reader already pays attention and that you can keep up for a year. For most nonfiction authors, a strong core is:
- Email list (owned, every author needs one)
- Podcast and media interviews (borrowed audiences that already trust the host)
- Reviews and retail-page optimization (turn visitors into buyers)
- One content or social channel you enjoy
Add paid ads or speaking if they suit your book and budget. Our complete guide to book marketing compares each channel's effort, cost and best use in one table.
What does a 12-month book marketing plan template look like?
Copy this book marketing plan template into a document and replace the bracketed parts. "Month 0" is your publication month.
BOOK MARKETING PLAN: [Book title]
Publication date: [date] Format(s): [hardcover / paperback / ebook / audio]
READER: This book helps [specific reader] to [specific outcome].
PROMISE: After reading, they will [change / result].
GOALS (launch quarter): [#] reviews, [#] interviews, [#] new subscribers
GOALS (12 months): [#] copies, [#] speaking events, [#] subscribers
CORE CHANNELS: 1) Email 2) Podcasts/media 3) Reviews/Amazon 4) [one more]
MONTH -6 Positioning locked: reader, promise, title, subtitle
Author website + book page + email signup live
Reader magnet created (checklist, chapter, mini-course)
MONTH -5 Media kit / one-sheet, headshot, short and long bio
Target list: podcasts, newsletters, publications, partners
Endorsement requests sent (blurbs)
MONTH -4 ARC plan: list of advance readers, review platforms chosen
Guest article ideas drafted; first pitches sent
Publisher check-in: their plan, dates, who does what
MONTH -3 ARCs sent; launch team recruited and briefed
Podcast pitching in full swing (episodes to air in launch weeks)
Retail page draft: description, categories, keywords
MONTH -2 Pre-orders open and announced to email list
Interviews recorded; guest articles submitted
Launch-week emails and social posts drafted
MONTH -1 Follow up with ARC readers; collect endorsements for page
Confirm air dates; build launch calendar
Launch promotion planned (price, bonus, event)
MONTH 0 LAUNCH: emails, reviews posted, interviews airing, events
Share every interview; thank every host and reviewer
MONTH +1 Second wave: remaining interviews air; follow-up email
Review count check; add editorial reviews to retail page
MONTH +2 Content from the book: articles, posts, clips from interviews
Start or test small paid ads if retail page converts
MONTH +3 Quarterly review of KPIs; drop what isn't working
Pitch speaking: conferences, associations, companies
MONTH +4 Ebook price promotion + newsletter push
Bulk-sale outreach to organizations
MONTH +5 New podcast and guest-article round on a fresh angle
MONTH +6 Six-month review; plan year two (new edition, course, talk)
The template runs six months before and six after publication, which is the 12-month window where most of the planning pays off. Months before -6 are for writing the book; months after +6 should repeat what worked.
How do you turn the template into dates?
Work backward from your publication date. If you'd rather skip the arithmetic, our free launch timeline calculator takes your publication date and returns a dated plan you can drop straight into the template.
What should happen week by week around launch?
The eight weeks around launch are where your plan gets most specific. This table shows a typical sequence for a nonfiction book.
| Week | Focus | Key actions |
|---|---|---|
| -6 | Pre-orders | Announce pre-orders to your list; share why you wrote the book |
| -5 | Launch team | Confirm ARC readers have the book; share launch dates and guidelines |
| -4 | Media | Confirm interview air dates; submit guest articles |
| -3 | Content | Publish a teaser article or chapter excerpt; email list |
| -2 | Logistics | Finalize launch emails and posts; prepare promotion or bonus |
| -1 | Final push | Pre-order reminder email; remind launch team of launch day |
| 0 | Launch | Launch email; ask ARC readers to post reviews; share each interview |
| +1 | Momentum | Second email with a new angle or interview; thank reviewers |
| +2 | Proof | Add early reviews and endorsements to your retail page and website |
Don't try to fit everything into launch day. A steady run of interviews and mentions across several weeks usually serves a nonfiction book better than one big spike.
How should you allocate a book marketing budget?
Decide the total you're comfortable spending without needing it back quickly, then split it. The allocations below are sample starting points, not rules. Adjust them to your channels.
| Budget line | Smaller budget | Larger budget | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Review copies and ARC platforms | 25% | 10% | Printing, postage, ARC listing fees |
| Website, email software, design | 20% | 10% | Often a one-time setup plus a monthly tool |
| Paid ads (Amazon, social) | 25% | 20% | Start small; scale only what converts |
| Promotions (deal newsletters) | 20% | 10% | Ebook price promotions |
| Publicity or booking help | 0% | 40% | Publicist, podcast booking, PR |
| Events and travel | 10% | 10% | Launch event, speaking travel |
Two rules make any budget go further. First, fix the retail page before buying traffic; ads sent to a weak page waste money. Second, spend on reaching readers you've already identified, not on broad awareness.
Tip: Keep 10 to 15% of your budget unallocated until month +2. By then you'll know which channel deserves more.
If you're weighing paid deal newsletters, check their rules before you plan around them. BookBub, for example, requires a discount of at least 50% off the book's recent price for a Featured Deal and accepts only a fraction of submissions.
Which KPIs should you track in a book marketing plan?
Track a small set of numbers monthly, and the same ones each time so you can see trends.
- Sales by format (publisher statements, KDP reports): the outcome you care about.
- Email subscribers (your email software): your owned audience, which outlasts any launch.
- Reviews and rating (retail and Goodreads pages): the proof that converts browsers.
- Interviews and articles (your own log): reach into new audiences.
- Visits to your book page (website analytics): interest you can measure.
- Ad cost vs. royalties (ad dashboard): whether paid traffic pays back.
Put these in a simple spreadsheet with one row per month. Add a notes column for what happened that month, such as an interview airing or a promotion, so you can connect spikes to causes.
How do you get ARC readers and reviews into the plan?
Reviews need the longest lead time of any launch task, which is why they appear three to four months out in the template. Recruit ARC readers from your email list, your network and review platforms, send copies early, and follow up close to launch.
Keep it compliant. Amazon's community guidelines allow free advance reader copies but don't allow you to require a review in exchange or try to influence it. Our step-by-step guide on how to get book reviews covers recruiting, platforms and outreach emails.
What are common book marketing plan mistakes?
- Starting too late. If your plan begins a month before launch, many slots are already gone.
- Too many channels. Four done well beats ten done badly.
- No owned audience. Every plan should grow your email list.
- Goals you can't influence. Set activity goals alongside sales goals.
- No review dates. Put a monthly review in your calendar and actually change the plan.
- Stopping at launch. The template's second half is where long-term sales come from.
How do you keep the plan going after launch?
After month +3, the plan becomes a rhythm: a few interviews or articles a month, a regular email to your list, a promotion each quarter and a fresh angle every few months. Each new appearance sends readers to the book and to your list.
If the launch window is the part you'd rather not run alone, our book launch marketing team books podcast interviews timed to your pre-order and launch weeks. Either way, write the plan first. It is the cheapest marketing decision you'll make.
