—Book Promotion Services
Book Promotion Services for Ads, Email, Launches, and Reviews
Book marketing is an integrated launch system covering Amazon listing optimization, paid ads, email outreach, and a structured review pipeline across a 30 to 90 day window. AuthorWings sells it as three book marketing packages for self-published authors, $1,999 to $7,499, run as one coordinated campaign instead of six freelancers each selling a piece of it. Most self-published books sell under 1,000 lifetime copies, and the marketing math, not the writing, is usually why.
—WHAT YOU GET
What a book marketing agency actually does (and what cheap promotion services hide)
The line item on the invoice says “marketing.” The actual deliverable is six different jobs done across 30 to 90 days.
A real marketing engagement handles six jobs in sequence: foundation work (a sellable Amazon listing and optimized keywords), an author platform (website, email capture, autoresponder), advertising setup (Amazon Ads built around your genre’s real cost-per-click economics, not templates), launch coordination (pre-order, launch-day sequence, review-pool activation), email and reader outreach (newsletter swaps, ARC distribution, BookBub work), and ongoing visibility (post-launch ad management and ranking monitoring).
Set against that breakdown, most cheap promotion services stop looking cheap. The $99 “Amazon ad campaign setup” or the $199 “social media blast” sold on freelance platforms covers a slice of one of those six jobs and ignores the rest. The author pays for one piece, sees no measurable result, hires another vendor for the next piece, and ends up 9 months later having spent $3,000 across 5 vendors with no integrated launch and no compounding visibility.
AuthorWings book promotion services price the integrated work on day one: one strategy, one launch calendar, one team coordinating Amazon, email, ads, and outreach. And when marketing alone cannot fix what is actually a manuscript or audience problem, we tell you that on the consultation call, before you buy.
What affordable book marketing services actually cost
Affordable is a real category, but it starts higher than most authors expect. Foundation at $1,999 is the floor at which the six jobs above can be done properly, and it covers the first one only: a sellable listing, an author website, an email list, and an autoresponder, with no campaigns running. Below that number you are not buying cheaper marketing, you are buying a fraction of one job and paying for the rest later in vendor sprawl.
If $1,999 is above your budget right now, the honest answer is to wait and build the email list yourself rather than spend $400 across four freelance gigs. We will say the same thing on the call. The cheapest useful thing you can do before hiring anyone is write down who specifically buys this book and why.
—WHY IT MATTERS
What book promotion services actually achieve (and what no service can promise)
Marketing transparency is rare in publishing because the math does not flatter most authors. The numbers below are not designed to discourage you. They are designed to set the realistic ceiling for your genre and budget so you can make an informed decision instead of buying into a fantasy.
What authors actually earn
Marketing does not guarantee an outcome band. It shifts the odds of reaching one. Open any row for what it takes.
What it takes
Publishing alone. No paid promotion, no email list, no launch sequence.
What it looks like
A handful of launch-month sales tapering to single digits a month by month three.
When it happens
The default when marketing is skipped, or when it's social media posts only.
What it takes
Optimised listing, email capture, a basic launch sequence, 30 days of post-launch monitoring.
What it looks like
A 200-copy first month, 80 in the second, tapering to roughly 800 lifetime by month nine.
When it happens
Within 12 months for non-fiction with a platform; 18 to 24 for fiction debuts.
What it takes
Multi-platform distribution, 30 days of Amazon Ads, a BookBub-style promo, an email list past 500.
What it looks like
An 800-copy launch month, 200 to 400 a month sustained through month six, around 3,000 lifetime.
When it happens
Within 9 to 12 months, when the launch runs cleanly and the ads find product-audience fit.
What it takes
A 60-day campaign, media coverage from your own outreach, a paid editorial review, a trailer, an email list past 2,000.
What it looks like
A 2,500-copy launch, 600 to 1,200 a month sustained through month nine, 8,000 or more lifetime.
When it happens
Within 12 to 18 months, and only when manuscript quality, niche fit, and execution all line up.
What it takes
An exceptional manuscript, the right timing, a viral discovery moment, often a category-defining book.
What it looks like
A BookTok breakout, an acquisition offer from a traditional publisher, 5,000+ a month sustained.
When it happens
It can't be planned or bought. Marketing supports a book like this; it doesn't create one.
Bars share one scale: a full bar is 50% of authors.
Royalties shown are the author's share on a $4.99 Amazon ebook at the 70% rate, which is $3.49 a copy, before tax, ad spend, and production costs. Bands are indicative and don't account for every author, so the shares above don't total 100%. Distributions reflect Written Word Media indie author surveys and WordsRated industry data. Outcomes vary by author, genre, market, and effort. AuthorWings does not guarantee specific sales results.
—WHAT WE OFFER
Four book marketing layers, ordered from foundation to authority
A book launch is not one thing. It is four distinct layers built in sequence. Skipping a layer or buying them out of order is the most common reason marketing engagements fail to produce sales. Each layer answers a different question about your book’s discoverability.
I
Required for every tier
Foundation Layer
The base infrastructure every book needs before any promotion runs. A sellable Amazon listing (optimized title, subtitle, description, A+ Content briefing, 7 to 21 keywords). Author Central, Goodreads, and BookBub author profiles. Author website with email capture and lead magnet. Working autoresponder sequence for new subscribers. Without this layer, every promotional dollar leaks because there is nowhere for interested readers to land. Required for every tier we offer.
II
The engine
Paid Acquisition Layer: Amazon book advertising services
Amazon Ads for authors is the engine that drives most ongoing self-published sales. A real ad account is structured around your specific genre’s cost-per-click economics (CPC ranges from $0.20 in non-fiction niches to $1.50+ in romance subgenres), with separate Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands campaigns for product targeting, keyword targeting, and category targeting. Most DIY authors lose money on Amazon Ads in the first 90 days because they use generic templates instead of genre-specific structures. Amazon book marketing services live or die on this layer, so we set up and manage the account through the launch window. Ad management runs 30 days in Launch and 60 days in Campaign. Foundation tier builds the listing and platform this layer runs on, without running campaigns.
III
The reliable one
Email and Reader Outreach Layer
The least visible layer, the most reliable. Your email list is the only audience asset Amazon cannot take away. This layer covers ARC distribution to advance readers (typically 50 to 200 readers depending on tier), newsletter swap coordination with authors in your genre, BookBub featured deal applications, and review-pool activation in the 7 to 14 day launch window. Email opens beat social media reach by roughly 10 to 1 for book promotion. Every tier builds the email list itself, and ARC platform setup is included in all three. Newsletter swap and reader outreach coordination scale up in Launch and Campaign.
IV
Premium top
Authority and PR Layer
The premium top layer. Paid review coverage (Kirkus, BookLife, Foreword Clarion). PR Newswire or BusinessWire press releases. Book trailer (in-house production with stock footage and motion graphics, or premium with custom voiceover). Related services sold separately: podcast interviews, sponsored broadcast segments, media outreach, awards submission, and billboard campaigns. This layer is for authors who already have audience traction and want to expand into authority positioning. Most first-time authors do not need this layer for launch. It is included in the Campaign tier, and available piece by piece as add-ons on Foundation or Launch.
—INVESTMENT
Book marketing packages pricing across 3 tiers (Foundation, Launch, Campaign)
Each package price covers integrated marketing work at the level your launch actually needs. Three book promotion packages map to three launch goals: foundation infrastructure for organic discoverability (Foundation), an active 30-day Amazon Ads launch (Launch), or a full 60-day multi-platform campaign with PR and authority positioning (Campaign). All tiers include the foundation layer because every paid campaign leaks money without it.
| Feature |
Foundation $1,999 Infrastructure, no paid ads Choose Foundation |
Most Popular
Launch $3,499 30-day Amazon Ads launch Choose Launch |
Campaign $7,499 60-day multi-platform with PR Choose Campaign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope and foundation | |||
| Best for | Building marketing infrastructure first | Foundation plus a 30-day Amazon Ads launch | 60-day multi-platform launch with PR |
| Campaign timeline | 3 to 4 weeks setup | 3 to 4 weeks setup + 30-day campaign | 3 to 4 weeks setup + 60-day campaign |
| Payment options | Single / 50-50 / 3 mo | Single / 50-50 / Milestone / 3 mo | Single / 50-50 / Milestone / 3 mo |
| Author website | 4 pages, mobile responsive | 4 pages, mobile responsive | 4 pages + book launch sales page |
| Email list and welcome automation | Setup + lead magnet + 3 emails | Setup + lead magnet + 5 emails | Setup + lead magnet + 5 to 7 launch emails |
| Paid ad campaigns | |||
| Amazon Ads management | ✗ | 30 days active | 60 days active |
| Facebook or Instagram Ads | ✗ | ✗ | 60 days active |
| BookBub Ads | ✗ | ✗ | 60 days active |
| Ad image variations | ✗ | 2 variations | 3 variations per platform |
| Outreach and PR | |||
| Influencer outreach | ✗ | 5 to 10 micro-influencers | 15 to 20 micro-influencers |
| Press kit and media list | ✗ | ✗ | Press kit + 40-outlet list, yours to pitch |
| Podcast interview | ✗ | ✗ | 1 interview, booked and prepped |
| Press release writing | ✗ | 1 press release | 2 press releases |
| Launch assets | |||
| Paid book review coordination | ✗ | ✗ | Kirkus, BookLife, or Foreword, fee paid direct |
| PR wire coordination | ✗ | ✗ | PR Newswire or BusinessWire, fee paid direct |
| Standard book trailer | ✗ | ✗ | 60-second video |
| Social media profile setup | ✗ | 2 platforms | 4 platforms |
| Social content for launch | ✗ | 15 posts | 20 posts |
| Strategy and reporting | |||
| Strategy calls | 1 launch sequencing call, 60 min | Mid-campaign and end-of-campaign review | Weekly calls, 8 across 60 days |
| Performance reports | Baseline snapshot at handover | Weekly | Weekly across 3 platforms |
| Dedicated account manager | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
In every tier
- Amazon listing optimization
- Goodreads profile setup
- Author bio writing
- Secondary channel recommendation doc
- ARC platform setup (BookFunnel or NetGalley)
- Accounts and data stay in your name
—ADD-ONS
Five book promotion add-ons that solve specific launch problems
These add-ons sit on top of Foundation, Launch, or Campaign tiers (Campaign tier already includes Paid Review, PR Wire, and Standard Book Trailer). NetGalley and BookFunnel setup used to sit here and are now included in every tier at no extra cost.
Paid Book Review Coordination
$199
We prepare the file, choose the category, submit, and follow through with one review platform. You pay the review fee directly to the platform, so nothing is marked up. Kirkus is $450 for a 250-word review or $599 for 500 words. Foreword Clarion and BookLife cost less. All three let you decline publication if the review is unfavourable, so the risk is financial rather than reputational. Worth buying if you need trade credibility for non-fiction, library acquisition, or a quotable line for your cover. Skip if you write genre fiction, because most romance and thriller readers have never read a trade review.
PR Wire Release Coordination
$299
We write the release and set up distribution through PR Newswire or Business Wire. The wire fee is paid by you directly at the distributor's published rate, with no markup from us. A wire release puts a public press footprint under your name that journalists, podcast producers, and event organisers can find when they search for you. It does not produce coverage by itself, and anyone claiming otherwise is selling you a distribution receipt. Worth buying if you have a real news angle. Skip if you are running a quiet launch.
Standard Book Trailer
$999
A 60-second video with script, motion graphics designed in-house, voiceover, music, and 2 rounds of revision. Stock footage and motion graphics, not actors. Delivered in wide and vertical cuts so it works on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube as well as your Amazon A+ Content video slot. Worth buying if your launch includes video-first platforms. Skip if your readers read more than they watch.
Premium Book Trailer
$1,999
A 90 second video with premium voiceover, custom motion graphics designed in-house, premium music licensing, and 3 rounds of revision. Same in-house production model as Standard, with longer runtime and higher production values. Worth buying for multi-platform social campaigns or non-fiction authority books where production quality signals seriousness. Skip if Standard fits the budget. Cinematic live-action trailers with actors and a crew are a different product, quoted individually from $7,500.
Custom Author Website
$4,999
Built from scratch by our in-house team. No page-builder themes, no plugin stack assembled to approximate a design, which is why it loads fast and nothing breaks on an update. You get custom design approved before coding starts, a mobile-first build, technical SEO with schema markup, an AI discovery layer so answer engines can read your site, Google Search Console and GA4 set up in your own accounts, and email capture wired to your autoresponder. It ships with an AI assistant trained on your book and services, so a visitor browsing at two in the morning gets a real answer instead of a contact form. First year of hosting, updates, and assistant usage included, then $199 a month. Worth buying if your book supports a business through speaking, consulting, or coaching. Skip if you write fiction, since your readers buy on Amazon.
What you pay us, and what you pay directly
Two of these are coordination services. On Paid Book Review and PR Wire, our fee covers the submission, the platform selection, and the follow-through, while the review fee or wire fee is paid by you directly at the vendor's published rate with no markup, so you see exactly what each costs. The trailers and the website are the opposite: built in-house, including script, motion graphics, voiceover, music licensing, design, and development, with no third-party cost to add. The website carries one ongoing cost after the first year, $199 a month for hosting, updates, and the assistant's running usage. Vendor rates shown are 2026 figures published by each platform and can change without notice.
—MEDIA AND PR
Media services, split by what we can guarantee and what nobody can
Media falls into two categories and most agencies blur them on purpose. Some placements we can commit to a number for, because we control the booking or the slot is a paid one. Earned coverage is a journalist deciding your book is worth their readers' attention, and no agency can promise that. Everything below is labelled either way.
Podcast Campaign
$1,999
Two podcast interviews with hosts whose audience matches your subject. We research the shows, write and send the pitches, handle scheduling, and prepare you with talking points and a practice run beforehand. You approve every show before we confirm. Afterwards you keep the recordings, clips sized for Instagram and TikTok, transcripts, and the episode links. The interviews are guaranteed, the specific shows are not, and any service promising a named famous podcast is selling an ad slot. Worth buying if you have a subject a host can build an episode around. Skip if you write genre fiction with no author-side hook, since those audiences rarely convert.
Broadcast Authority Package
$4,999
Sponsored placement. Guaranteed. Two lifestyle segments on network affiliate stations in two markets, 2 to 4 minutes each during morning or midday programming. Includes market selection, 60 minutes of media training, on-camera coaching, talking points, an edited highlight reel, and every file delivered to you. These are paid segments carrying the station's sponsored labelling, not a producer choosing to feature you. Worth buying if you monetise credibility beyond royalties. Skip if you write fiction, because lifestyle segments are built around expertise.
Media Campaign
$12,999
Earned outreach. No placement guarantees. Twelve weeks pitching trade, vertical, and regional media: the outlets that respond to independently published books and whose lead times fit a launch window. Weeks 1 to 2 build positioning, press kit, media training, and a list of 60 to 100 named editors. Weeks 3 to 10 pitch in waves with two follow-ups each and a weekly log you can audit. Two podcast interviews and one broadcast segment run alongside, so you finish with assets regardless of what the pitching produces. Worth buying for non-fiction with a clear subject authority and a launch 12 weeks out. Skip for genre fiction, which sells through ads and reader communities.
National PR Campaign
from $19,999
By consultation only. National desks work on their own timelines, commonly four to six months from pitch to publication, and self-published titles start from a harder position. We quote these individually and decline more than we accept. The qualifier is platform: prior media, an audience, a credential, or a finding an editor would want first. Without one, a national campaign spends heavily on pitches that never get opened. Book a call and we will tell you whether national fits, the Media Campaign serves you better, or your launch is too early for either.
PR Coordination
$1,999
The publicist is paid directly by you. If you want a specialist rather than an agency campaign, we source candidates against your subject, review their placement history, check references, run the brief, and stay on as your account manager for reporting. You contract and pay the publicist yourself. Their rate is their rate, we do not mark it up, and you see every invoice. Freelance book publicists commonly work from $3,500 per month upward across three to six months. Skip if you want one invoice and a single point of accountability.
What is guaranteed here, and what is not
Two things in this section are guaranteed because we control them: the number of podcast interviews we book, and the sponsored broadcast segment, which the station sells and labels as sponsored. We guarantee the count and that you approve every show and market before we confirm. We never guarantee named outlets. Everything else here is earned outreach, which means a journalist or producer choosing your book, and nobody can promise that outcome. Podcast booking and station fees are included in the package prices shown. On PR Coordination the publicist is contracted and paid directly by you at their own rate, with no markup from us. Rates shown are 2026 figures and may change.
—HOW IT WORKS
How book launch services actually work across 6 documented steps
Most marketing failures trace to one root cause: the campaign launched before the foundation was built, or the foundation got built and no campaign followed. These six steps prevent both.
I
Days 1 to 3
Discovery and Launch Audit
A 45-minute consultation maps what you have (manuscript status, edit status, cover, existing email list, ad history, prior promotional activity, audience size on social platforms, genre, comparable titles) and what you need (which tier, which channels, which ad budget, which timeline). We identify pre-launch gaps before contracting (manuscript not edited yet, no email list, no Amazon listing, no author website). Written proposal with tier, scope, timeline, ad budget recommendation, and payment plan delivered within 48 hours.
II
Weeks 1 to 4
Foundation Buildout
The infrastructure layer that every paid campaign depends on. Custom 4-page author website built and tested, Amazon listing optimized (description, A+ Content briefing, 7 to 21 keywords depending on tier, BISAC categories), Author Central and Goodreads profiles set up or optimized, email list configured on MailerLite or ConvertKit, lead magnet created and connected to autoresponder, welcome email sequence (3 emails) written and live. You review and approve every deliverable before campaign work begins. Authors who skip this step lose 30 to 50% of their ad spend in the first 30 days because there is nowhere for clicked traffic to convert.
III
Week 4 to Week 5
Ad Account Setup and Strategy Lock
Amazon Ads account audited or created, structured into campaigns based on your specific genre’s CPC economics (cost-per-click ranges from $0.20 in non-fiction niches to $1.50+ in romance subgenres). Initial keyword targeting, product targeting, and category targeting campaigns built. For Campaign tier, Facebook/Instagram and BookBub Ads accounts also configured. Ad creative produced (3 image variations per platform for Campaign). You set the daily budget. We hand you a written campaign architecture document showing every campaign, every targeting strategy, and the success metrics we will track. No spending begins until you approve.
IV
Days 1 to 30 (Launch) / 1 to 60 (Campaign)
Active Campaign Management
This is the work the tier price actually pays for. Daily Amazon Ads bid adjustments based on what’s converting. Search-term harvesting (every 2 to 3 days, profitable search terms get promoted to their own campaigns, unprofitable ones get negative-targeted). Facebook/Instagram audience refinement based on click-through rates. BookBub category and pricing optimization. Influencer outreach (Launch: 5 to 10 micro-influencers, Campaign: ongoing through campaign window). Podcast interview booking and press kit build (Campaign tier only). Weekly performance reports show ad spend, conversions, ranking changes, and royalty estimates. You receive plain numbers, pulled from the accounts that stay in your name.
V
Launch Day to Day 14
Launch Window and Visibility Push
The 14-day window where launch sequencing actually matters. Pre-order ramp (Campaign tier only, configured during foundation buildout). Email blast to your list on launch day. ARC reader review activation (advance readers post reviews in the first 7 days for review velocity that Amazon’s algorithm rewards). Social media content rollout (Launch: 15 posts, Campaign: 20 posts plus sales-page launch). Newsletter swap coordination if you have an author network. PR wire release (Campaign only). Book trailer rollout (Campaign only). Daily campaign monitoring during this window because Amazon’s algorithmic boosts and penalties happen within hours, not days.
VI
Final Week
End-of-Campaign Review and Forward Plan
Detailed report showing what was spent, what was earned, which channels converted, which keywords drove sales, which ads underperformed, which audiences engaged. Full data export from every platform (Amazon Ads, Facebook Ads, BookBub Ads, Author Central, email platform). Recommendations document for the next 60 to 90 days: which campaigns to keep running at lower budgets, which to shut down, which keywords to expand, which ad creative to refresh. Campaign tier includes a 60-day forward plan you can execute yourself or hand to another vendor. We do not lock you into ongoing retainers. The data and the playbook are yours.
—WHEN WE ARE NOT THE RIGHT FIT
Three scenarios where book marketing services are the wrong move
Marketing is the wrong service for a specific kind of book at a specific stage. Buying it before the prerequisites are in place is the fastest way to spend $1,999 to $7,499 and not produce sales lift. Read this before you book a launch consultation.
Manuscript Not Finished or Edited
If your book has not been through professional editing, marketing will not save it. Reviews land in the first 14 days and they are merciless. “Needed an editor,” “rough in places,” “could not finish” are the patterns. Once those reviews land at 1-star and 2-star, no amount of ad spend, PR, or influencer outreach reverses them. Edit first, market second. The order is not negotiable.
Try this instead
Editing comes first. Start with our book editing services
No Defined Reader Yet
Marketing services optimize the path from “potential reader sees your book” to “potential reader buys your book.” If you cannot describe the specific person who would buy this book and why, marketing optimization has nothing to optimize. A book written for nobody in particular sells to exactly that reader: nobody. The marketing campaign reveals the audience problem, but at $1,999 to $7,499, it is an expensive way to learn it.
Try this instead
Spend a week answering “who specifically will buy this and why” in writing. If the answer is hazy, the problem is positioning, not promotion.
Book Not Published Yet
If your book is not live on Amazon, Apple, Kobo, B&N, or any other retailer yet, there is nothing for ad clicks to convert against. Foundation tier can build the email list and author website pre-launch, but Launch and Campaign tier ad campaigns need a live, purchasable book to drive traffic to. Publishing setup comes first, marketing follows.
Try this instead
Our book publishing service handles KDP, IngramSpark, Apple Books, Kobo, and B&N setup in your name with full rights and royalties retained.
—Compare
How to judge the best book marketing services: AuthorWings vs other book marketing companies
Five places to hire book marketing. Three of them lean on guaranteed-outcome or "bestseller" promises that run against the FTC's truth-in-advertising rules, and one charges premium-retainer prices while reporting largely through its own dashboards rather than accounts you own.
Marketing services report card
Five options graded on three things you can check before you buy: where the reports come from, how specific the named deliverables are, and whether paid placements are labelled as paid.
Outcome honesty
- Reports come from a four-hour sub-category screenshot
- Guarantees a bestseller status that isn't one
- Verifiable? Economically meaningless
Deliverable specificity
- Named items: a promo blast and a screenshot
- Report cadence: one launch screenshot
- Forward plan: none
Placement labelling
- Paid placements: sold as an achievement
- Owned vs earned: not distinguished
- Told before you buy? No
Outcome honesty
- Reports come from vendor screenshots only
- Guarantees are vague and unwritten
- Verifiable? No
Deliverable specificity
- Named items: one or two generic services
- Report cadence: none scheduled
- Forward plan: none
Placement labelling
- Paid placements: listed as "features"
- Owned vs earned: never stated
- Told before you buy? No
Outcome honesty
- Reports come from their internal sales data
- Guarantees implied through "partnership" language
- Verifiable? The royalty contract obscures it
Deliverable specificity
- Named items: rarely specified in the contract
- Report cadence: occasional
- Forward plan: the contract simply continues
Placement labelling
- Paid placements: buried in contract terms
- Owned vs earned: in-house channels sold as reach
- Told before you buy? Only if you ask
Outcome honesty
- Reports come from their dashboard, sometimes yours
- Guarantees framed as soft hype
- Verifiable? Partly
Deliverable specificity
- Named items: ten or more, specified
- Report cadence: weekly, polished decks
- Forward plan: yes
Placement labelling
- Paid placements: disclosed on request
- Owned vs earned: blended in one coverage report
- Told before you buy? Varies by firm
Outcome honesty
- Reports come from your own ad and email platforms
- Guarantees: explicitly none, FTC-compliant
- Verifiable? Yes, on accounts you own
Deliverable specificity
- Named items: 10 to 20 per tier, named in the contract
- Report cadence: weekly through the campaign
- Forward plan: a 60-day plan you keep
Placement labelling
- Paid placements: named as sponsored on the page
- Owned vs earned: separated into different services
- Told before you buy? Yes, on every card
Boutique agencies deliver as specifically as we do, at two to seven times the price. Where none of them match us is telling you which placements were bought and which were earned.
The honesty grade scores where outcome reports are sourced and whether claims can be checked against platforms you control. The specificity grade scores how many deliverables are named contractually and whether a forward plan is included. The labelling grade scores whether owned and sponsored placements are disclosed as paid rather than presented as earned coverage. Based on FTC endorsement and truth-in-advertising guidance, and on each option type's publicly published service tiers.
—Frequently Asked Questions
Book marketing services for self-published authors: 21 questions asked before launching
Twenty-one questions, ordered the way they typically come up in launch consultations.
Do I keep 100% of my royalties and rights when you run my marketing?
Yes. AuthorWings is fee-for-service, so we take a flat project fee and never a share of your sales. You keep 100% of your royalties and full rights to your work. Every account we build or manage stays in your name: your Amazon Ads account, your email platform, your Author Central and Goodreads profiles, your author website. Ad spend goes from you directly to each platform, never through us. When the campaign ends you keep the accounts, the data, and the forward plan, with no ongoing claim on your earnings and no retainer lock-in.
How much should I budget for ad spend on top of the tier price?
Depends on tier and genre. Foundation tier needs zero ad spend (no campaigns run). Launch tier authors typically commit $500 to $3,000 in Amazon Ads spend over the 30-day window, scaled to their genre's CPC reality. Campaign tier authors commit $2,000 to $8,000 across 60 days, distributed across Amazon, Facebook/Instagram, and BookBub. We will give you a recommended ad budget on the consultation call based on your specific genre's cost-per-click economics. Ad spend is paid by you directly to the platforms, never to us.
When should I start marketing, before launch, at launch, or after?
Foundation buildout starts 4 to 8 weeks before publication date. The Amazon listing optimization, email list, and author website need to exist before launch day so launch traffic has somewhere to land. Active campaign management starts at launch day for Launch tier (30-day window) and 1 week before launch for Campaign tier (60-day window with pre-order ramp). Authors who hire marketing services after launch typically lose the algorithmic boost window that Amazon gives new releases, which is the most valuable visibility you will get for that book.
What if my book has been out for 6 months and I want marketing now?
Backlist marketing is genuinely possible but the strategy differs from launch marketing. The new-release algorithm boost is gone, so we cannot recapture it. What we can do: optimize the listing for evergreen discoverability, build the email list and author platform you skipped originally, run a structured Kindle Direct Promotion campaign (one of our specialty services at $1,499) to reignite sales velocity, and structure ongoing Amazon Ads at a sustainable budget. Backlist marketing typically takes 90 to 180 days to show meaningful sales lift, vs 14 days for launch marketing. Foundation tier is usually the right starting point.
Can you guarantee my book will hit a bestseller list?
No, and any service that guarantees this is selling you fantasy. Some services pump a heavily discounted book through coordinated promo blasts to hit a sub-sub-category list for 4 hours, then call it "bestseller status" for marketing purposes. The "bestseller" claim is technically accurate and economically meaningless because the sales velocity dies the next day. Guaranteed-outcome and fake "bestseller" framing runs against the FTC's truth-in-advertising rules, which bar unsubstantiated performance claims and deceptive endorsements, and its 2024 rule targets fake reviews and testimonials directly. We do not market books that way. We focus on sustained sales velocity and ranking that continues after the campaign ends, not screenshot moments.
Will my Amazon Ads still run after the campaign management window ends?
Yes, if you keep them funded. The campaign architecture we build is designed to run profitably at lower management intensity once the launch window closes. Campaign tier ends with a 60-day forward plan that you can execute yourself or hand to another vendor. Most authors continue running their best-performing campaigns at $5 to $25 per day in spend after our active management ends, which is sustainable for backlist sales over 12 to 24 months. Nothing rolls into a retainer when the window closes. The campaigns are in your account, you own the data, you control the budget.
Can you help with the audiobook launch separately from the ebook launch?
Yes, but it is a distinct campaign with different mechanics. Audiobook discovery happens primarily on Audible (Amazon-owned) plus Apple Books and Spotify. The promotion levers are different: Audible Plus catalog placement, audiobook-specific ad networks (Chirp, Authors Direct), narrator-driven social audience reach, audio-sample optimization. We can run audiobook-specific marketing campaigns as a custom-quote service after launch. Foundation tier optimizes for ebook + print discoverability primarily. Campaign tier touches audiobook through ACX setup but does not run audiobook-specific advertising campaigns.
What if my book is part of a series, should I market each book separately?
Series-marketing strategy differs significantly from standalone marketing. The cleanest approach is to launch Book 1 with full marketing, optimize for read-through to Book 2 (Amazon's algorithm tracks this and rewards series with high read-through rates), then launch each subsequent book with lighter marketing focused on existing series readers plus a small new-reader acquisition push. Discount-the-first-book strategies (Book 1 free or $0.99 permanently) often outperform paid acquisition for ongoing series sales. We will map series strategy on the consultation call if you have multiple books planned.
Can I see examples of marketing campaigns you have run for other authors?
Yes and no. We can show you anonymized case studies (genre, tier, ad spend, sales outcome) on the consultation call, but we do not publish specific author names or specific book titles in our marketing materials without explicit written permission, which most authors choose not to grant. Reason: many authors hire marketing services privately and do not want public association with paid promotion. The case studies show real numbers (ad spend, conversions, ranking changes, royalty estimates) without naming the books, which is standard practice in this category.
What happens if my ads underperform during the campaign window?
Underperforming ads are normal in the first 7 to 14 days of any new campaign. Amazon's algorithm uses that window to learn which audiences click your ads. The campaign management work in Step 4 of the process is designed to identify underperforming campaigns within 48 to 72 hours and either restructure them (different keywords, different targeting, different creative) or shut them down to protect your ad spend. We report weekly on what is working and what is not, with specific recommendations. If a campaign is structurally broken (genre mismatch, weak creative, wrong audience), we restructure it. If your ad budget is genuinely too low for your genre's CPC, we tell you on the consultation call before you spend.
Do you offer monthly retainer marketing or only project-based campaigns?
Project-based by default. Foundation tier (3-4 weeks), Launch tier (30-day campaign window), Campaign tier (60-day campaign window). After the project ends, you have a forward plan and the campaigns are in your account to run yourself or hand to another vendor. Some authors return for second campaigns 6 to 12 months later for backlist reignition or new book launches. We do not offer ongoing monthly retainers because most authors do not need that intensity of management on books that are 12+ months old, and the ones who do are usually better served by hiring an in-house marketing person at that scale.
Do you work with authors outside the United States?
Yes. AuthorWings works with self-published authors across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Campaigns center on your primary retail market, usually the Amazon storefront where most of your readers buy, and we structure Amazon Ads, email, and outreach around that market's economics. If you sell across several English-language storefronts, we prioritize the ones where your genre and price point convert best. Reporting still comes from your own ad and email accounts wherever you are based.
I'm a first-time author with no email list yet. Which tier should I start with?
Foundation tier is usually the right start. It builds the infrastructure a first-time author is missing: the optimized Amazon listing, the author website, the email list with a lead magnet and welcome sequence. Once that base exists, Launch tier adds the 30-day Amazon Ads launch most debut books need to find their first readers. Campaign tier, with PR and paid review, is built for authors who already have audience traction, so most first-time authors do not need it at launch. On the consultation call we tell you plainly whether Foundation alone is enough for now or whether Launch fits your timeline and budget.
What is the difference between the Campaign tier and the Media Campaign?
Authority is a launch campaign: 60 days of ads across three platforms, launch assets, and reporting. It includes one podcast interview and a press kit with a 40-outlet media list, which is enough to start pitching yourself. The Media Campaign is the outreach done for you, over twelve weeks, across trade, vertical, and regional press. Authority drives sales through channels we control. The Media Campaign pitches editors and producers we do not control and cannot guarantee coverage. Most authors buy Authority first and add media outreach later, once the book has reviews and a track record worth pitching.
Are the podcast appearances shows you pitched, or your own?
Shows we pitch. We research hosts whose audience matches your subject, write and send the pitches, and handle scheduling. You approve every show before we confirm, so nothing gets booked that you would not want on your media page. We guarantee the number of interviews, not the names, because which hosts say yes depends on your angle and their schedule. Any service promising a specific well-known podcast is selling an advertising slot rather than booking you as a guest.
Is the TV segment a real news appearance?
It is a sponsored lifestyle segment on a network affiliate station. The station sells the slot, we book and produce around it, and the broadcast carries the station's sponsored labelling. It is a genuine on-air interview with a real host, and the footage is legitimate for your site and speaker kit. It is not a producer deciding to feature your book. Any agency describing this as "we got you on NBC" without that distinction is relying on you not asking.
Can you guarantee media coverage?
No. Editorial decisions are not for sale, and a firm quoting a fixed number of media hits is either describing paid placement or guessing. What we guarantee is effort you can audit: the outlets pitched, the angles used, and a weekly log showing every contact and its status. Podcast interviews and sponsored broadcast segments are guaranteed by count, because we control the booking, and both are labelled as such wherever they appear.
Why did your prices go up in 2026?
Ad management is labour, not automation. A campaign that performs consumes daily analyst hours across a team, and production work that used to go out to freelancers is now built in-house. The tier table names every deliverable the price buys. We would rather charge what the work costs than price to win a comparison and cut hours where you cannot see them.
How much does it cost to hire a book marketer?
Our packages run $1,999 to $7,499 for the work itself, and the realistic all-in figure is higher because ad spend and third-party fees are paid by you directly. Foundation is $1,999 with no ad spend. Launch lands between $4,000 and $6,500 once you add $500 to $3,000 of Amazon Ads. Campaign lands between $10,000 and $16,000 once you add ad spend across three platforms plus the review and wire fees. Elsewhere in the market, freelance book publicists commonly start at $3,500 a month across three to six months, and premium boutique agencies run $15,000 to $50,000 or more on retainer. Below our $1,999 entry point you are generally buying a single freelance gig rather than a marketer, which is covered in more detail higher up the page.
Which book marketing services have transparent pricing with no hidden tier fees?
Judge it on three checks you can run before you buy. First, is every tier price published on the page rather than quoted after a sales call. Second, is ad spend clearly separated from the fee, because a package that folds ad budget into one number gives you no way to see what was actually spent on your book. Third, do the accounts open in your name, since reports pulled from a vendor dashboard cannot be audited and reports pulled from your own Amazon Ads and email platforms can. Our prices are on this page, ad spend and third-party fees go from you direct to each platform at their published rate with no markup, and nothing rolls into a retainer when the window closes.
Where are you based, and do I need a book marketing service near me?
AuthorWings is a New York-registered company based in Brooklyn, and campaigns run remotely for authors across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Book marketing is not local work. Your readers find you through Amazon, email, and ads, so what matters is whether the agency understands your genre and your storefront, not whether it is in your city. Everything happens over scheduled calls and shared reporting, and the accounts stay in your name wherever you live.
Next Steps
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AuthorWings· Transparent Pricing · 100% Your Rights
Last updated: August 2026