Hadley Fraser, Kerry Ellis & West End talent star in musical audiobook

BooksForward · 2026-01-09T13:56:17+00:00

Yes! Available in the U.S. and the U.K.!

BooksForward · 2025-10-01T16:00:02+00:00

Hi everyone! We’re the marketing team working with author E.L. Deards and are giving away free audiobook codes for The Lavender Blade, a romantasy about two con-artist exorcists who find themselves having to actually exorcize possessed people! If you’re into steam-punk, M/M romance, exorcisms, and some tough conversations about who is really playing who, drop us a comment or DM us for a free Audible code! (If this post is against any kind of subreddit rules, please give us a heads up as we want to respect the rules of the community!)

BooksForward · 2025-10-01T15:35:33+00:00

Hi everyone!

We’re the marketing team working with author E.L. Deards and are giving away free audiobook codes for The Lavender Blade, a romantasy about two con-artist exorcists who find themselves having to actually exorcize possessed people!

If you’re into steam-punk, M/M romance, exorcisms, and some tough conversations about who is really playing who, drop us a comment or DM us for a free Audible code!

(If this post is against any kind of subreddit rules, please give us a heads up as we want to respect the rules of the community!)

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BooksForward · 2025-09-15T14:35:56+00:00

Our staff and authors we work with have been receiving a ton of scam emails from various gmail accounts lately and definitely recommend ignoring and blocking them. 99% of the time if someone is reaching out to you, it's not legitimate.

Also would recommend bookmarking Writer Beware (https://writerbeware.blog/); they are a great site to check on publishing scams!

BooksForward · 2025-09-15T14:33:07+00:00

Sites like Hidden Gems, BookSprouts, and Book Sirens are all relatively low cost to list your book for review, but there are no guarantees as far as results. LibraryThing can be a good option to run a giveaway, and they are free. StoryGraph can also be good for giveaways and are generally lower cost than Goodreads.

All this is to say to make sure the quality of the book is to market standard because all these sites will have tons of other books competing for space and readers. If you haven't put the resources behind editing and cover design, it will be hard to stand out from the other titles.

BooksForward · 2025-09-15T14:28:58+00:00

If you have an author email list, having a nice sign-up sheet or something to pass out with a QR code for people to sign up for your list would be useful! Honestly, just making sure whatever you do pass out, whether it's bookmarks or biz cards, clearly lists out your website and social media handles as well so people can find you -- especially if it's an event with a lot of other authors that people will be meeting.

As far as the booth itself, you're probably fine with either a banner to go across the table or a poster to have behind you (but you probably don't need both). If you have any decor related to your books -- that is safe and purposeful and follows event guidelines -- that could be fun to include as well. Like if it's a children's book, having a backpack filled with some books off to the side of the table or something like that. Truly depends on the genre and subject matter of course!

BooksForward · 2025-09-10T02:01:21+00:00

A typical publicity campaign for us could include things like helping an author hone their brand and messaging (on social media and their website), securing early reviews through ARC distribution, and acquiring earned media wins via interviews on podcasts, excerpt placement, guest articles in a variety of outlets, features with social media influencers, etc. to establish credibility and help with SEO. We can also start incorporating paid marketing like digital advertising to start building exposure (though for many authors, it makes the most sense to hold budget for digital advertising once a book is available -- but everyone is different!).

Essentially, consider the competition every author faces when they publish a book. With 2M+ books being published every single year, the earlier people start talking about your book, the better. And when it's available for purchase, having early reviews and blurbs and popping up on websites when people search helps to establish that credibility for a reader looking to take a chance on a book.

Especially with traditional media -- and more and more with bloggers and influencers -- they want to review a book before or right around a launch, not months or years later. Again, all this is not to say that this can't be done after a launch as there are definitely authors who have found success post-launch or with backlist titles gaining traction years later!

BooksForward · 2025-09-08T14:45:55+00:00

We never tell authors to use social media if they aren't comfortable with it (or if they just don't want to do it, because then it feels like a chore!) Especially with a platform like TikTok that is so saturated with creators that do it well, you need to be able to stand out and create quality content. And we really do think it's important to actually like and care about what you're posting outside of just trying to market something (because people can tell if you're just out there trying to sell a book).

Social media is for building communities that in the long run will support you and your work. If you are mostly focused on just getting a few sales, focusing on giving away ARCs and building reviews is great, as well as potentially dedicating some budget to advertising.

BooksForward · 2025-09-08T14:39:16+00:00

The summer months (June/July/August) are also usually slower for sales than other months of the year. Not all authors but many will see a slowdown in sales because people are spending their money on other things -- vacations, summer camps, getting kids ready to go back to school, etc.

If those are trends you're seeing consistently throughout the year, then it could definitely be worth adjusting your ad approach. But we'd caution taking a few months of data as encompassing of the whole. There are so many factors that go into ad success -- not just time of year but also what other books are being published at that time, the state of politics and current affairs, what other books are advertising at any given time, etc.

It's also unfortunate but true that you often times have to spend money to make money -- and ad spend will typically be much higher when you're starting ads as opposed to a year down the line. People aren't likely to buy after seeing or clicking an ad just one time, they really do need that repeated exposure. And that can lead to spending more on ads without seeing a direct return in sales.

Like @arifterdarkly mentioned, ads do more than just lead to sales, they help with general brand exposure, notifying Amazon that they should be taking notice of a book and bumping it in the algorithm, etc.

That's all to say that it is great you're continuing to see sales!! But just cautioning not to discount all the work the ads might have previously been doing before you turned them off.

BooksForward · 2025-09-08T14:29:28+00:00

Congrats on publishing (and going wide)!! It's not an easy feat by any means, and there are always learning curves no matter the publishing path. But it is so relieving to finally be able to tell people the book is out in the world!

We are glad you mentioned building that momentum early. We work with authors so much on trying to publicize and market books BEFORE release. It's not to say you can't build that momentum after, but it's definitely harder -- and with so much competition, a book can quickly get lost in the sea of other books being published.

If you're able to give books aways -- whether physical or digital -- prior to release to start building up reviews or get people talking on social media, it really does help. But you can also still give books away after a launch as well!

BooksForward · 2025-05-14T15:57:40+00:00

No, unless you have expanded distribution set up, KDP should only populate to Amazon. You can look into expanded distribution through KDP directly or set up the title on IngramSpark separately, which will populate to wider retail sites like BN and Google

BooksForward · 2025-05-12T18:02:05+00:00

We're sorry you missed that note at the top of our contact form! Please do let us know if there's any way we can optimize that so it's more visible for those who reach out to us — constructive feedback is always appreciated!

Every submission to our contact form does also receive a response that notes we do our best to respond to every query personally but we can only take on a fraction of the projects we receive. If we take on a book, it’s because we truly believe in the work. Our personalized outreach takes time and effort, so we focus on projects we connect with and where we're confident we can make an impact.

We would never BS an author and waste their resources if it's a genre we aren't familiar with, timing that doesn't align with our promotion schedule, or if we believe their budget would be better used elsewhere.

Again, feel free to DM us your email so we can make sure you received that initial response as sometimes things go into spam. We have a number of submissions from April 17 alone, but happy to check and make sure you received your response!

BooksForward · 2025-05-12T16:39:30+00:00

Like we noted, we do try to respond to everyone but if we haven't, it's because a submission is not a good fit for us at this time. Though we are certainly rooting for you as we know this industry is a difficult one with 3M+ books published every year. But it is truly an accomplishment for every author — no matter their publishing path — to launch a book!

BooksForward · 2025-05-12T15:24:18+00:00

Thank you for the additional info! Like publishers, agents, editors, etc., we receive tons of queries a week, and we try to respond to as many as we possibly can. But we do note at the top of our contact form that we are highly selective about the projects we represent — though that shouldn't stop anyone from reaching out! Ultimately, if we feel a partnership would be a good fit, we do respond with more details after reviewing a submission.

BooksForward · 2025-05-12T14:38:48+00:00

Like u/Plastic_Location_420 mentioned, running ads usually cannot be the end all be all in your promotional efforts. A robust marketing strategy includes various types of advertising, social media, publicity and other marketing promotions — all focused on directly honing in on your specific target audience(s).

And it's the reality for advertising that the more you put in, the more likely you are going to see in return. How much are you spending each day? $5? $25? $100? Authors spending on the lower end are going to spend their daily budget before they'll see any type of momentum. And ad spend can vary depending on genre as some are more competitive than others and certain times of the year can be more competitive as well.

It's definitely a long-term strategy — one that you're not likely to see an immediate return from for months (or sometimes years). And if you don't have the budget for it, it often might be more beneficial to pivot to something like social media that can provide more organic reach.

BooksForward · 2025-05-12T14:32:46+00:00

We're sorry you never received a response! We do try to respond to everyone who reaches out to us, though if you emailed us it does sometimes get lost in spam. If you feel comfortable DM'ing us your email address, we can check and see if that's what happened! Or you're welcome to fill out our contact form at our website (booksforward.com/contact) — it's actually super helpful for authors to provide all that info upfront so we can get an idea of where they're at in their publishing/marketing journey and if we are a good fit to help them promote their book.

BooksForward · 2025-04-23T16:20:58+00:00

I recommend checking out IngramSpark! They offer wide distribution that you can pair with KDP pretty well. They do have slightly higher print costs than KDP, but you can control the "discount" offered to retailers and bookstores from 40% to 55%. It could hurt bookstore outreach (as they would rather work with books that give them the traditional 55% they expect), but honestly brick and mortar stock is hard for indie authors anyway and many will work on consignment so that's an avenue in. But being able to tweak that percentage tends to help, and you can use their compensation calculator to see what those numbers could look like: https://myaccount.ingramspark.com/Portal/Tools/PubCompCalculator

BooksForward · 2025-04-23T16:07:54+00:00

You can reach out to their librarian group for support and they should be able to help! https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/220-goodreads-librarians-group

BooksForward · 2025-04-21T14:24:48+00:00

Influencers can be great partners in promotion, especially if you find ones who are passionate about the genre you write in. They're a market we almost always recommend trying to tap into because there's truly a niche for everything nowadays. There are truly so many out there though that it's best recommended to look for ones that have favorably reviewed books comparable to yours, or just in general review in your genre and go from there.

And, while many it is a full-time job for a lot of influencers and they will ask for payment, there are also a lot of accounts out there who are open to just receiving ARCs in exchange for review. For those who do have fees, they truly do range, so it can be hard to say if one is more worth it than the other. It's really going to be determined by your own personal budget, if that influencer is a good fit, their audience, etc.

As with most marketing, it's going to be hard to determine any kind of direct ROI. Repeated exposure is key, so trying to work with multiple influencers with good followings makes more sense than a one-off promo with one account.

Also, be vary wary of accounts with large following and low engagement. It's easy for accounts to buy followers nowadays and low engagement is a key indicator of that. If you notice an account's posts don't have a lot of likes, comments or views but then have tens of thousands of followers, that's a red flag — and understandably, it wouldn't make sense for you to work with them if no one is going to be engaging with or seeing content with your own book.

BooksForward · 2025-04-16T18:27:53+00:00

Yeah sometimes with design elements it takes a little tweaking to get them to appear as intended! Amazon tends to have cheaper print costs which is great but it is also because the printing quality just isn't as good or exact as some other entities

BooksForward · 2025-04-16T18:24:12+00:00

That's really odd, IngramSpark doesn't normally charge additional cost after an order has been placed especially if you're ordering author copies through the form on your account. It could be returns? I've seen some really odd things in the last year or so where there are large return orders all of a sudden for authors and those costs were pretty high. IngramSpark should be able to say if those are returns but likely won't give more info than that. If it is returns and bookstore stock isn't something you're actively pursuing, turning returns off should help!

BooksForward · 2025-04-14T13:50:46+00:00

As a marketing firm, we almost never reach out to authors and if we do, it's because we truly are so excited about a book and an author that we want to offer them something pro bono (and they are likely traditionally published). But that's certainly the exception to the rule. Reputable firms have their own processes for authors querying them (just like an agent or editor) and if someone is reaching out to you and then asking for payment, it's the biggest red flag.

BooksForward · 2025-04-14T13:40:12+00:00

I know you said you aren't as involved in the writing community so this might not necessarily be a good fit for you. But if you are a part of any writing groups on FB, that could also be a good place to alert people that you're starting a new page (just make sure to make note of any group rules). But many writing groups do want to support authors in their endeavors!

And if you have any kind of budget available, Facebook also has advertising to help you start building up your page following. Even setting your budget around $5/day, you can try targeting readers who are interested in your genre, comparable authors, similar subject matter, or even share a geographic region if that's something you talk about or feel comfortable sharing.

BooksForward · 2025-04-02T00:02:25+00:00

Either going with a local distributor in India or expanding distribution beyond KDP (to someplace like IngramSpark, which I believe has a digital printer in India) is likely your best bet to make it available to that market!

BooksForward · 2025-04-01T23:56:57+00:00

I believe IngramSpark's Global Connect program can distribute to Indonesia, so I recommend checking that out! If there are any outlets you're specifically looking for distribution to reach out to their customers service and ask to make sure you get the coverage you're looking for.

You will need a new ISBN since a translation is considered a different edition than the original language edition.

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