How to market a self-published book in the UK: a step-by-step plan

Most marketing advice for indie authors is a long list of tactics in no particular order. Try them all at once and you’ll wear yourself out, with a bit of everything going and very little to show for it. The plan below shows you how to market a self-published book in the order that usually pays back, so each step makes the next one work harder.

We’re assuming you publish yourself, mostly through Amazon KDP and maybe other retailers too, and that your time and money are limited. You can do every step on your own. Where outside help makes sense, we’ll say so.

Step 1: Is your book actually ready to sell?

Marketing sends people to your book’s page. If the page doesn’t persuade them, you’ll waste every pound and hour you spend after that. So check four things before you promote anything at all.

Start with the cover. At thumbnail size it should tell a browser the genre. Readers decide in about a second whether a book is “for them”, and the cover carries most of that decision.

Then the description. Lead with the hook and leave the backstory for later. Keep the paragraphs short, make it obvious what kind of read this is, and use comparisons readers will recognise.

• Categories. When you set up a book, KDP lets you select three categories. Pick ones that honestly fit the story, since that’s where the right readers browse.
• Keywords. KDP gives you up to seven keywords or short phrases. Its own advice is to think like a reader (setting, character types, themes, tone) and not to repeat your title.

Get these four right and everything after works better. Get them wrong and no amount of posting will rescue you.

Step 2: Who is the book for, and what do they already read?

You can’t reach “anyone who likes a good story”. Name three to five recent books your ideal reader loves, then read their descriptions and reviews. The words readers use about those books are the words that will sell yours. That short list feeds your keywords and your ad targeting, and it shapes what you post, so give it an evening of your time.

Step 3: Should you go exclusive with Amazon or publish wide?

Decide this early, because it shapes the whole plan. Enrol an ebook in KDP Select and Amazon says the digital edition must be available exclusively through KDP. You cannot distribute it digitally anywhere else, and that includes your own website. What you get back is automatic inclusion in Kindle Unlimited, plus access to Amazon’s promotional tools: in each 90-day enrolment period you can run a Kindle Countdown Deal or a free book promotion, though not both. You can still sell print editions elsewhere.

There’s no single right answer. Your genre counts, and so does how many books you have and how much time you’re willing to spend dealing with retailers. Just make the choice on purpose, because it changes what you can offer readers in Step 4.

Step 4: What should you own before launch?

Retailers and social networks can rewrite their rules whenever they like. Two things protect you.

A website with your name on it

Keep it small if you want. It has to say what you write, list every book in order with buy links, and ask readers to join your list. Register your author name as a domain today, even if the site itself comes later. A well-built author website also gives bloggers and podcast hosts a place to find your bio and photo, and festival organisers too.

A mailing list

Your list is the one audience no algorithm can take off you. Put a sign-up link at the back of every book and on your website, and give people a reason to join. According to the ICO’s guidance on electronic mail marketing, in the UK you generally need specific consent before you send marketing emails, and each email needs an unsubscribe option. Growing the list and deciding what to send are covered in how to build an author mailing list.

Step 5: How do you plan the launch?

A launch packs attention into a few weeks so that readers and retailers are looking your way at the same moment as your own channels. Count backwards from release day. You’ll need finished files and a pre-order page, then an announcement to your list and your launch-week posts, and after that a plan for the weeks that follow. Taking ebook pre-orders on KDP? Pre-orders are available for ebooks only, and you must submit the final manuscript at least 72 hours before release. Our book launch timeline for indie authors lays out what to do and when.

Step 6: Which social media should you use, and how?

Choose one or two platforms where your readers already hang out and that you can keep going for months. Weeks won’t do it. Facebook and Instagram work for a lot of genres, and short video works for authors who are comfortable on camera. Regular posts about the world of the book and the writing life, along with what readers are saying, build recognition far better than one burst of noise at launch.

Done consistently, it does shift the numbers. Our founder, Jack Cartwright, is a USA Today bestselling author who has sold more than a million books. Our team runs his Facebook page, where followers went from 4,664 to 5,789 between July and October 2026, and a single reel posted on 27 July reached 53,827 impressions (figures from Metricool).

Step 7: When should you start paying for ads?

Ads amplify whatever is already there. When the cover and description, backed up by reviews, turn browsers into buyers, ads bring you more of those browsers. When they don’t, ads just help you lose money faster.

Your two main choices are Amazon’s own ads and Meta’s ads on Facebook and Instagram. KDP authors in the UK can use Amazon Ads, and Sponsored Products ads (the ones that show up in shopping results and on product pages) are cost-per-click, so you only pay when someone clicks. Start small. Judge by sales, never by clicks alone, and let each test run long enough to tell you something. On Meta, test one book against one audience with one image at a time so you can see what’s actually working.

What about reviews?

Reviews help readers decide. Be careful how you get them, though. Since April 2025, UK law has treated fake reviews, and reviews that hide an incentive, as a banned practice, which makes them automatically unfair and illegal. A lot of authors build a team of early readers who get an advance copy and are free to post an honest review. You can organise that yourself or hire a specialist to do it. Retailers have their own review rules on top, so read them before you start.

Step 8: How do you keep a book selling after launch?

Write the next book. For most fiction, nothing sells a book like another one in the same series or genre.

Use your back matter, too. Finish every book with a link to the next one and to your mailing list. And email that list regularly, not just when you’ve got something to sell.

• Refresh, don’t restart. Every few months, go back over your categories, keywords and description, and try a new ad image when results start to drop off.
• Keep your brand consistent, so every new release looks like it belongs to the same body of work.

How we can help

We started life as Jack Cartwright’s own team. We ran his social media and videos. We also looked after his ads and his book covers as well as his website, so he could get on with writing. We can run your social media, plan and manage launch and reader ad campaigns, and build the website all your marketing points to. Before any creative work begins, we agree a clear brief, scope and fee with you. Everything we offer is on our page of marketing services for self-published authors.

Sources

• Amazon KDP: KDP Categories
• Amazon KDP: Make your book more discoverable with keywords
• Amazon KDP: Self publishing and KDP Select
• Amazon KDP: Kindle Countdown Deals
• Amazon KDP: Pre-orders
• Amazon KDP: Advertising for KDP books
• ICO: Electronic mail marketing
• GOV.UK: Reviews and social media endorsements, what businesses and content creators must know