23 Tactics to Promote an Audiobook

Audio is the fastest-growing segment in publishing. If you have an audiobook edition of your book,
congratulations! You now have access to thousands of new listeners. But how can you best reach these
listeners and tell them about your book?

First, it is important to keep in mind that your audiobook is another format of your book. While there are
things you can do to market your audiobook specifically, any general marketing activities will also promote
your audiobook. To help you maximize your marketing efforts for your audiobook, we have compiled a list
of 23 tactics to help you reach listeners and effectively promote your audiobook.

CONNECTING THE DOTS:

1. Be sure to link all of your editions to each other when doing book promotion. In Amazon Author
Central, you can request a link if it doesn’t appear automatically within a week of publication.

Create a link on Books2Read.com for the major retail outlets where your book can be purchased –
remember to include all the places where you have distributed your audiobook.

Your book’s sales page on Outskirts Press, and/or your own custom website if you have one, should also
have the links to all of your editions.

Use ACX Bounty links for your audiobooks. These unique book URLs can earn you income if someone uses
it when buying their first book via Audible. You can access these links in your ACX Completed Projects
menu.

Access the ACX Promo Codes from your Sales Dashboard and share them with audiobook reviewers. Or
send them to fans as part of a social media giveaway.

Once your book is on Audible, be sure you set up your Audible Author Page. Don’t forget to include
information on that page about your Amazon Author Page, which will list ALL of your books (even if they
aren’t audiobooks)

Create a variety of audio products. Try creating an abridged version of your book or short stories/
segments that are spin-offs of your book. These shorter audios can be published at no cost on sites like
YouTube or SoundCloud.

Just like Kindle Box Sets, you can also create audiobook box sets, which appeal to readers who are looking
for longer content. Box sets are a great value for the listener and allow you to still make money even when
discounted.

GETTING CREATIVE:

Create a variety of audiograms at getaudiogram.com or Headliner.app. Audiograms are audio snippets
in video format. Use excerpts from your audiobook to create these. You can also use recordings of you
reading from your book.

Use these shareable videos on social media and on your book’s webpage/website. After all, according to
G2 Crowd, “social video generates 1200% more shares than text and image content combined.”

Use Canva.com to share images and quotes on social media. Canva will help you create properly sized
images for each social media platform. Use quotes from your audiobook, create an image of a phone or
tablet displaying your book cover next to a set of headphones—the possibilities are endless. Be sure to post
the images to all your social media accounts with a link to your audiobook and use appropriate hashtags
(like #audiobook, #audiobookobsession, #audiobooksrock, #audiobooks, and #audiobooksforkids (if your
audiobook is in the juvenile category). There are also hashtags for every book genre, which you should
always include.

Share audio files through BookFunnel.com to get new readers (or in this case “listeners”) interested.

Video is king, so upload your audiobook video trailer to YouTube and other social media platforms. You
may think YouTube is just for video, but many people use it to listen to podcasts, music, and audiobooks.
A sample chapter from your audiobook with your book cover as the background is also great content to
post to YouTube. As always, include links to buy your audiobook in the description. If you’re feeling brave,
you could upload the entire audiobook and monetize it.

A QR code that links directly to your audiobook is a useful tool for both digital and print advertising.
Business cards or bookmarks with the QR code lead people directly to your audiobook and can be shared
at live events with anyone who has a smartphone. QR code generators are available for free online.

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES:

2. Spend a little on paid advertising. Social media advertising is relatively inexpensive and can be
highly targeted to interest groups and demographics specific to your audiobook. Be sure you
research the best way to use each platform and watch your ROI.

If you use Constant Contact or MailChimp for email follow-up to your lists, be sure to include audio
so people can listen. You should always be building an email list to use in book promotion. This allows
you to have an independent way to reach your readers. Use your email list to share updates about your
audiobook pre- and post-release.

Libraries are an often-forgotten segment to market to. Findaway Voices distributes your book to library
listeners who can then listen for free, and you still get paid. And the library gets to license independent
books, which are cheaper to buy and use. Libraries are more likely to digitally stock an independent book,
since it doesn’t take up space on shelves and it gives readers more options. You may get a smaller payment
per read, but you gain a follower who may recommend or buy your other books (or the book they heard so
they can listen again and again). Make sure you tell your fans they can get your book free at the library if
they ask the librarian to order.

Use your eBook to sell your audiobook. Give away chapters from your eBook to hook readers and promote
your audiobook edition for the workday commute.

Encourage fans to use Amazon Audible Matchmaker, to scan your Kindle book for matching audiobooks.

Discounted eBook services are a great way to promote free/cheap ebooks. BookBub’s Chirp will help you
do the same thing for your audiobook. Go to Chirpbooks.com and check it out.

Use AudiobookBoom.com to reach audiobook listeners. If you provide review codes, listeners may leave
your book a review, and reviews help with sales.

Get your audiobook reviewed at Audiofile Magazine and use their advertising service to promote your
audiobook.

The Audio Publishers Association has opportunities to promote your audiobook and lists resources for
reviewers – which, again, helps sales.

Send your pitch packet to podcasters in your book’s genre and offer to do an interview. If they don’t have
space for you at the moment, offer to buy advertising. People who like listening to content usually listen
to multiple sources (podcasts, audiobooks, talk radio, etc.). Be sure that you tell the podcaster the benefit
to them, and their listeners, in interviewing you.

If you’ve been considering making your book more accessible by adding an Audiobook format or additional
eBook editions (Amazon Kindle, Apple iPhone/iPad, Barnes & Noble Nook), now is the time to take action.
Outskirts Press offers multiple print, eBook, and audiobook options to fit every author’s needs. For more
book marketing ideas, visit your Marketing C.O.A.C.H. Dashboard in your Publishing Center.