Beth Anderson, Children's Writer

When new authors learn that much of the marketing and promotion for their book will be left to them, it can be daunting for many who are not “natural salespeople.” In this post, Susan Johnston Taylor shares tips for starting a marketing group, a group of kid lit creators who band together to learn and support each other. 

Susan is offering a GIVEAWAY to one lucky person who leaves a comment below: your choice of a custom marketing tool or a signed copy of ANIMALS IN SURPRISING SHADES: POEMS ABOUT EARTH’S COLORFUL CREATURES.

Congratulations to Donna Gwinnell Lambo-Weidner, winner of a NF PB critique from Jessica Stremer! 

Start a Picture Book Marketing Group! by Susan Johnston Taylor

Once the ink had dried on the contract for my debut picture book, Animals in Surprising Shades: Poems About Earth’s Colorful Creatures, I knew I needed to start thinking about marketing. My first several post-college jobs were in marketing, public relations and project management for nonprofits and a startup, but I’d never promoted a book before.

My editor suggested I look for a debut group so we could support each other in our marketing efforts. Back in 2021, a few other authors who’d recently signed contracts for 2023 books posted in the 12 x 12 Facebook group, and we started talking about creating the group that’s now called PB Spree.

A lot of these groups focus on debut authors. But some of our founding members had previous books, so we’re not technically a debut group. We simply call ourselves a picture book marketing group. (I later joined two other book marketing groups, Green PB 2023 and STEAM Team Books, but other people run those groups and I support as much as I can.)

How have these groups helped on my author journey? Read on to find out.

How Marketing Groups Can Help You & Your Book

• Broader reach. Having a group of 15 kidlit creators in different parts of the world (including the U.S., Canada, Singapore, and Pakistan) means our books get exposed to more readers!

We set up PB Spree accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Those accounts amplify member’s social media posts, and we tag PB Spree on anything we want shared (pro tip: tag your marketing groups in a Twitter image to save characters in a tweet).

We also support each other’s social media posts by liking, commenting, RTing, or sharing from our individual accounts. Plus, we’ve done giveaways and collaborated on giveaways with other marketing groups. All this makes social media feel less like screaming into a void.

• Knowledge sharing. Watching other members launch their books gave me ideas for social media posts and other strategies to try. I can also consult other group members if I need suggestions on, say, where to order bookmarks or how to pitch myself to conference organizers.

Before joining PB Spree, I mostly used Twitter, but the group gave me the nudge to branch out to Instagram and learn how to make reels. Now, I love making them, and I’m even teaching it to others! 

• Support and camaraderie. Even more valuable than social media shares is having an intimate group of creators who can commiserate over the ups and downs of life and launching a book. When one of us panics about a launch party or a disappointing review, we offer real-time support through our private group.

It’s also nice to cheer on each other at in-person and virtual events. When I attended the Texas Library Association (TLA) conference for the first time, I got to meet my PB Spree sisters Ellen Leventhal and Erika Lynn Jones in person!

Tips for Creating Your Own Book Marketing Group

• Figure out the best communication channel(s). Green PB has optional Zoom meetings, which is a lovely. PB Spree has members scattered around the world, so we rarely meet in real time. We mainly communicate asynchronously over email and private message.

PB Spree initially used a private Facebook group to organize things, but some posts and comments got missed. When a few members considered leaving Facebook, we created a Google email list.

Other groups use Slack, Discord or other communication tools. It might take a little trial and error to find the best approach for your group. If something’s not working, it’s worth fixing.   

• Divide and conquer. Create teams to spread around the workload and play to members’ strengths. PB Spree members in the design team take turns creating our social media graphics in Canva. We also created teams for each social media platform.

Our team structure has evolved over time. We originally had a TikTok team, but no one was truly jazzed about it, so we reassigned members to other teams. When new members apply (via a Google form we share in various Facebook groups for kidlit creators and with our own networks), we ask them to participate in two teams. That workload is spread around the group, and we cover for each other as needed.

• Create a wait list. At least one person’s book will probably get postponed indefinitely. Or someone will get overwhelmed with life and decide to leave. This happened to PB Spree several times. Periodically, we’d have people ask if we had space for new members, so a waitlist is a fair way of keeping track of who asked first. (Confession: We didn’t do this at first, and I wish we had.)

I’m so glad to have had support from PB Spree, Green PB and STEAM Team Book members as I launched my debut picture book earlier this year and as I continue promoting it. I’d love to hear your experiences with book marketing groups!

Giveaway! Leave a comment below for a chance to win your choice of 1) a custom sell sheet for your book designed by Susan (open to traditionally published or self-published authors anywhere in the world) or 2) a signed copy of Animals in Surprising Shades: Poems About Earth’s Colorful Creatures (US addresses only). Winner announced 7/7/23.

BIO: Susan Johnston Taylor is a Writing Barn fellow and author of Animals in Surprising Shades: Poems about Earth’s Colorful Creatures (Gnome Road Publishing, March 2023). School Library Journal called it “A STEAM-themed poetry collection that should have broad appeal for young readers.” Her poetry also appears in 10.10 Poetry Anthology: Celebrating 10 in 10 different ways. As a freelance writer for over a decade, she’s written over a dozen titles for the educational market and published nonfiction articles in children’s magazines including FACES, Highlights for Children and Scout Life. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and their two rescue dogs.