5 Budget-Friendly Book Marketing Ideas: A DIY Guide for Busy Authors
Marketing your book on a budget (and a tight one at that)? You're not alone. As a self-published author, you're already juggling writing, editing, and publishing, so finding time and money for marketing can feel overwhelming.
But here’s the good news: effective book marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. This DIY guide will show you practical, budget-friendly strategies to get your book out into the world. By the end, you’ll have actionable steps to build your community and sell more books.
Looking for more personalized insights? Follow me on www.instagram.com/stephmoonco or visit my www.stephmoonco.com for more resources.
Build a Strong Elevator Pitch
A compelling elevator pitch is one of the most powerful tools in your marketing arsenal—and it’s completely free. But what exactly is an elevator pitch?
An elevator pitch is a one to two sentence description of your book that tells what your book is about and who it’s for.
Why does it matter? Because how you talk about your book is how others will talk about it, too. You are your best salesperson and a strong elevator pitch helps people remember your book and who it’s for.
Tips to Craft an Effective Elevator Pitch:
Be Clear: Focus on why your book is special and who it's for. Be detailed.
Be Concise: Avoid lengthy explanations. Imagine you only have 10 seconds to grab and keep the person's attention.
Be Memorable: Use vivid language or comp titles if it helps. Really good comp titles can tell people exactly who your book is for.
Pro Tip: Practice saying your elevator pitch until you can say it as easily and confidently as your phone number.
Cost: $0
Leverage Organic Marketing on Social Media
Social media is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to reach your readers. You can do it for free (or very low cost) and from the comfort of your own home. The key here is consistency.
Step 1: Pick Your Platforms
Choose one or two platforms to focus on. One or two platforms is enough - especially if you’re just getting started.
Start posting. The best platform to be on is the one you feel most comfortable and want to be on. For example, if you despise making short form video content, Tik Tok might not be the best choice. Or if you do not like writing medium-longer length posts, LinkedIn might not be the best choice. Go with the platform that you want to be on. There are readers on every single platform.
Spend some time in the actual app and on the platform. Learn how to post, how to use the features and how to engage with your community. Get comfortable with the data and insights the social media platform provides. Being able to see the numbers is super helpful when you’re trying to see what worked and didn’t.
Tools to create images and videos can have a small monthly fee. Most of these services also have free versions. Try the free version and if you like it and need the extras that come with the paid version, get it.
Step 2: Get Comfortable Being Visible
Being visible can feel really fresh and vulnerable. But, being visible is part of the process of marketing. I’ve heard countless times from authors:
“I’m a writer and not a marketer or sales person.”
“I’m an introvert.”
“I like to stay behind the screen.”
“Does anyone even want to hear what I have to say?”
Please don’t feel bad if you’ve thought this or said this, but let’s figure out how to get through this instead of ignoring it. Even though you might be introverted, showing your community who you are is part of what sets you apart and makes you memorable.
Remember, you are worthy of sharing your story and taking up space.
Pro Tip: To help with steps 1 + 2 - Post 30 times in 30 days. Why? It helps you understand how to actually use the platform and gives you a sense of what you like to and want to post.
I do this challenge myself when I need a little kickstart or want to get excited about social media again.
Engagement Tip: If posting feels awkward, act how you wish someone else would act. Want readers to share reviews? Share your own reviews of books you’ve read. Want more personal connections? Start by sharing a bit about yourself.
Cost: $0 to low cost.
Connect with Your Community
Building your community is an essential part of marketing. And doing this is completely free.
Your community is the group of people that are going to create a groundswell of interest and momentum for your book.
So now the question is how do you actually build a community?
Get to Know Your Ideal Reader: What do they care about? What problems does your book solve for them?
Engage with Other Authors: Join Facebook groups, attend virtual writing events, and comment on other authors’ social media posts.
Provide Value: Create the content that you want to be known for. If you are writing a business book, share your stories and frameworks so that your audience begins to know how you ran and grew your business. Part of building a community is being part of it and providing value.
Building community helps refine your ideas and messaging. Your readers will eventually become the buzzmakers who help spread the word about your book.
Bonus Tip: Look for people in and around your niche to connect with. Your community will be your biggest supporters.
Cost: $0
Collaborate with Other Authors & Creators
Collaboration is a powerful way to reach new audiences. Collaboration is basically a fancy way of saying - work together with a brand or fellow creator. “Work together” can look like a lot of different things - use your imagination here and think outside the box.
To get you started, here are some steps to make your collaborations work well:
Identify Similar Creators: Find authors or creators who share a similar audience and vibe as you.
Build Relationships: Engage with their content authentically—comment, share, and support them.
Be Creative and Suggest Collaboration Ideas: Some easy examples to suggest - newsletter swaps (where you create content for each other’s newsletters), Instagram or YouTube Lives, in-person events.
Pro Tip: Building trust takes time. Your first couple interactions with the creator or brand should be organic engagement - not an “ask.”
Cost: $0
Make Your Book Easy to Find
Part of marketing your book is making it easy to find. I’ve run into too many authors who make it the readers job to find their book. They insist that their readers can search for their name and find their book or that mentioning the title of their book in a few pieces of content is enough. They do this because they think people will remember it if they are interested.
Instead, if you make it easy for your reader to find your book - you will get more book sales or at least more visibility for your book.
So how do you practically do this…
Update Your Bios: Include a link to your book on all social media platforms.
Email Signature: Add your book title + link
Bylines: When writing guest posts or articles, include your book in your author bio.
Personal Website: Create a clear section dedicated to your book.
Cost: $0
You can market your book on a budget. What matters more than how much money you spend is how consistent you are on moving your marketing plans forward. Consistency in your marketing efforts and increasing your visibility will get your book out to the right people.
Remember, marketing is a marathon, not a sprint—small and consistent effort leads to long-term success.
If you want a detailed timeline on what you can do during the year before your book comes out, check out The Author’s Agenda. This resource gives you the tasks on how to make the most of your book launch.
