📚Prepare Your Self-Published Book for the Holiday Season

Plus, I'm sharing a November content 🗓 to help you strategize your marketing plan and a “Put It Into Practice” section to set you up for success this holiday sales season.

Before you know it, the holiday season will be here, and readers will be on the lookout for the perfect giftable book. So, that means the holiday season is one of the biggest sales periods for the book market as a whole. With careful planning and the right marketing strategy, you can maximize your self-published book's online visibility and boost your sales during this lucrative season.

Today, I’m sharing seven tips for your early holiday book sales plan, a sample online marketing strategy for November you can follow or customize to your preferences, and a “Put It Into Practice” section to help you get started!

Grab a notepad and get ready to start your holiday sales planning!

1. Start Early with Holiday Promotions 🎄

The earlier you begin marketing your book for the holidays, the better. Ideally, I want you to start planning this month. That will allow you enough time to put together your promotions and social media campaigns and plan any partnerships with other self-published authors or book influencers. This early preparation ensures that your self-published book gets in front of readers who are ready to buy gifts early (think Black Friday and Cyber Monday).

✅ If you haven’t started your holiday marketing plan yet, don’t panic! There’s still time! Use this article to help you focus on ramping up your efforts. Then, plan for more targeted and intense campaigns in mid-November and early December.

2. Offer Limited-Time Discounts and Deals 📢

As holiday shoppers, we all love a good deal! And your future readers are no different. Offering a limited-time discount is a great way to attract new readers and encourage holiday gift purchases. Create specific promotions for your book around key shopping dates, including Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and even Christmas Eve (this is perfect if your book is in eBook or audiobook formats) for the best-intentioned last-minute shoppers.

You may also want to consider bundling your book with other products, like limited-edition merchandise you’ve produced for the holidays or additional digital content (like a free chapter of your next book), to create a truly unique gift package.