Children’s book author marketing strategies have their peculiarities. However, the secret is that the most effective promotion methods are almost free. Thus, children’s book marketing can be both efficient and on a budget. Authenticity plays a significant role. You should be an out-of-the-box thinker and, somehow, a trailblazer to succeed in bookselling. 

To the stars through difficulties

Books cannot sell themselves without good promotion. Maybe, you`ll become more famous than Joan K. Rowling or Stephen King one day, but to create excitement about your book, you should go rather strong. 

A gripping plot, appealing advertising, and great cover are important for book promotion. Yet, an author has to have a marketing plan. A good one consists of a mix of traditional PR, online marketing (social media, selling platforms), marketing via email, etc.

Here’s one more pitfall. Although kids are the target audience, an author should win their parents` hearts first to make adults buy a book. It’s especially true for online selling and email marketing. The point is that you should gain permission from adults to send emails. Furthermore, children can follow you on social media and look for your books. However, they aren’t able to make online purchases. Kids ought to be either extremely persuasive to make parents buy them a book or you should assure parents that your book is vital for kids. Plus, most boys and girls under the age of 11 read in print, which also prevents authors from releasing online books. 

Are these facts dissatisfying? Not at all. It just means that children`s book author marketing strategies should be based on these facts.

Your Name Matters

Book marketing is very competitive. One of the proven ways to sell your product is to create a fan base. Imagine how it’s cool when your books are being sold before they are published. Or, when your series is on a separate shelf in a book shop. Thus, you should think about your author`s brand too.  It’s your unique identity. Tell more about yourself on the back cover of a book. Share your story with readers on social media. Create an account and be an active user. 

Everyone has his or her own life story. A children’s book author is supposed to have his own one too. How did you become an artist? What prompted you to take up writing? Create an image of yourself as a children’s author using your personal life story. Also, you need a platform to share your thoughts. It’s an online place to:

• Give pieces of advice in the area you are an expert in;
• Contact with readers;
• Publish your previous books;
• Share your news, etc.

How to find your audience?

To get your book off the ground you have to think of the readers. Who are they? Boys or girls? Or, maybe, both? What do they like? What are their values? What are their interests? What are they dreaming about? And, most importantly, how old are they? You should do market research to answer these questions. 

It’s very important to be a trailblazer in a niche. Take funny stories about a group of small dinosaurs. Are there no other similar stories? Hardly. You have to have better chances to grasp kids` attention. The niche can already be taken because there are so many children’s books. For that matter, ask yourself if there`s something special about your book? Can it stand out from the crowd? Well, some authors are artists first of all, and not entrepreneurs who write low-quality bestsellers. Still, marketing is everything today, so you’d better find the highlights. 

What is your target audience?

Kids` age determines everything about your book: its style, content, cover, etc. According to the readers` age, one can define such types of books:

• Books for toddlers;
• Books for preschoolers;
• Books for elementary school students;
• Middle-age fiction and non-fiction books;
• High school students’ fiction.

What about picture books?

Illustrations are very important for picture books. Children judge by the cover. To succeed, find a professional children’s illustrator. Of course, your story and ideas matter too. But pictures are the first thing to catch their eyes. Picture books for toddlers have no more than 200-300 hundred words or none at all. Also, they’re usually written in verse. Poetry can actually help kids develop reading skills. 

Pages of the picture books for toddlers are made of cardboard and are small and light enough to hold them. Books for kids between 4 and 8 are heavy on illustrations too but are more loaded with words (approximately 1000). They have gripping plots and several characters. Their size is larger due to the illustrations. 

What are the features of each age group?

Compare your book to a picture book. Is it more complex and longer? How many characters does it have? If it surpasses picture books, then your book belongs to middle age or elementary school fiction. These kids are between 5 and 9 years old. Make sure the book has illustrations on each page. Also, don`t write more than 3 thousand words. 

Chapter books work for middle-aged kids. The plot is gripping and has many twists. But don’t write too long books. Be sure it’s no longer than 150-170 pages. Also, the characters should be strongly defined. They are either positive/negative or combine both features that are clearly visible to young readers. Characters` actions tempt kids to think about eternal values. But don’t make it too confusing or rhetorical.

Books for young adults have many pages and comprehend difficult themes. They may demonstrate all ranges of emotions and touch upon philosophical issues. Keep in mind that high school students are tech-savvy, thus you can create and sell ebooks for them online. 

Places to Market Children’s Books

Meet your target audience in person to make a memorable impression and persuade them to buy your book. It’s no less powerful than social media. You can share photos and videos from your meetings on social media. It`s a double approach. There can be such venues as:

• Libraries;
• Book shops;
• Schools;
• Kindergartens;
• Cafes;
• Parks;
• Book clubs, etc.

Ok, but how to put it into practice? Here are some ideas.

• A book reading. Take part in a free event where you can familiarize future readers with your book. To make a presentation of a picture book, talk more about illustrations. Also, you can act scenes from the book. For elementary and middle-age students read an excerpt. Persuade kids to ask questions. Besides, give out bookmarks with your website on them. Also, place useful information on them such as a multiplication table to make children use the bookmarks frequently. 
• A book club meeting. Contact an organizer to allow you to give a speech at a book club meeting. Keep in mind that the event is for parents. Make a list of reasons why your book is special and worth buying it. Also, give out bookmarks as a gift for their little ones. 
• Cultural events in cafes, and parks. Look for events where a children’s author can give a speech. The address should be both remarkable and easy to understand. Something like Tedtalks. Look for examples on Youtube but try to be original. Also, give out small gifts with the name of your book, contacts on it, etc. By the way, you may raffle several books. 
• Pay a visit to a school or kindergarten. Ask a principal for an invitation to a school public event where your book presentation may be appropriate. Present a school library with several samples of your book. It would be better if parents were invited too, especially at kindergarten, because it depends on them whether a child will have your book.
• The actual paper book can become a great tool for promoting your brand online. You can put a QR code on the book cover which will lead to your website, boost traffic on your website and increase sales. There are modern QR code generators built for enterprise needs. 

The main thing is to be everywhere. Jump at every opportunity to appeal to the public no matter whether it’s dozens or hundreds of people. You’ll reap the benefits one day. 

Online Children’s Book Marketing

We’ve talked about online presence a little. Yet, to keep your book in the readers` light of sight you should have a plan. There are 3 must-haves:

• Web page;
• Blog;
• A page on social media.

These are your main platforms where you can do whatever you want. Try to be helpful and interesting to your audience. 

But that’s not all the possibilities. The Internet provides you with endless opportunities.

Contact other websites

Provide information about new releases, events you take part in as well as places where readers can buy your books. Also, write about successful presentations and attach several photos. Let it be not an advertisement but an article. Contact website owners to publish it on their web pages. Choose the ones whose target audience are the young parents (if your book is for toddlers).

Involve bloggers

Ask bloggers who make reviews on children’s literature to take your book into consideration. Also, look for groups on Facebook where parents discuss kids’ books. Ask them to make a review of your story. 

Wrapping up

These are the most effective and proven ways to market your book in 2022. Be active and persistent. Fight for every reader and very soon you will have devoted young fans of your talent.