How To Use AI For Marketing Your Books

AI is a dirty word in many publishing circles - and with good reason.  The flood of AI generated books on Amazon is discouraging to say the least! 

But, as with most technological innovations, there are bound to be both good and bad consequences, and today I’m going to focus on some of the positives.

Here are some of the ways that authors can… and should…use AI.  Not to write or create books…but to help market them more efficiently.

AI For Marketing

AI can help you create social media content.

I know I should post regularly on social media.  And honestly, I even enjoy it!  But sometimes I just have ZERO inspiration or ideas for what to actually post!  In one of those moments, I recently asked ChatGPT for some help.  

And boy did it deliver!  Here are a couple screenshots of what it generated:

Not only did it provide me with ideas for visuals to include and ready-to-use text that I can customize to my liking, but it also suggested hashtags and even included adorable emojis!

If you want more specific responses, you can include a link to your Amazon listing, and you can even take it a step further and ask it to generate a posting schedule for the next three months or longer!

Another way to use AI to help with your social media efforts is to ask it for help with research. For example, I wanted to post some farm-related trivia on my social media.  ChatGPT generated a list of high-interest facts…and when I wasn’t sure about some of them, it even provided sources! 

AI can generate lists of leads for school visits, retail stores, and more!

Another great way to use AI for marketing, is to research and compile lists of sales leads.

For example, for SEASONS ON THE FARM, I wanted to reach out to local farm-related businesses about sponsoring classroom visits for local schools.  Rather than spend hours Googling and entering contact information into a spreadsheet, I simply asked ChatGPT to do it for me! (Did you know it can create spreadsheets?)  

While it can’t always access specific emails addresses or contact info, it’s a great starting point, and has saved me lots of time. 

This same method could be used to generate lists of schools to contact about school visits, retailers to reach out to, and more! 

⚠️WARNING: ⚠️ AI is generally accurate, but not always! For example, in one of my searches for local stores, it generated this list:

Cape Girardeau is a nearby town, and some of these listings are correct, but we don't have a Books-A-Million in Cape Girardeau. (and never have as far as I know!) So, it's important to verify all the information!

AI can help you write press releases and outreach emails.

It’s crazy how I can write a creative and engaging children’s book, no problem...but then beat my head against a wall when asked to write a simple press release or outreach email.  

AI can help with that too!   

Here’s an example where I put in the link to my upcoming book and my website and asked ChatGPT to write a press release I could send to local media outlets.  

A few things to note, here. First, if you're totally new to marketing and publicity, you might not even know the correct format for a press release...and ChatGPT did a good job of providing me with that!

Notice that it left blanks for me to fill in with specifics when necessary. A huge time-saver!

And last, I just want to say that nowhere on my website...or anywhere...did I write that quote! ChatGPT totally made that up! (I sound pretty good though, right?) This is just another example of how AI can be a great starting point to get where you're going...but you still need to review carefully and put your personal touch on anything generated using AI.

But, overall, ChatGPT provided a basic template that would have taken me an hour or so write, in just 2 minutes. I call that a win!

AI can help you improve your Amazon listing, back cover copy, and more.

As Vicky Weber talks about in this blog post, the quality of an Amazon listing can be critical to a book's success.

But how do you know if what you have is good...or not?  

We always recommend getting some feedback from fellow authors or a marketing expert. But in the absence of that, AI can critique or offer alternatives to the content of your current listing to help you improve it.  

Here's a little experiment I did with my own book listing:

Is the new version better? Honestly, I'm not sure! But, if you're stuck wrestling with words and struggling to find the right phrasing, ChatGPT might be able to offer some inspiration!

You can also ask it for ideas for A+ content! I thought it came up with some great ideas!

Now, obviously, you'll still have to do the work of creating the graphics yourself. (Although, Canva's AI features are improving daily!) But this gave me some ideas about what to include that I hadn't considered before.

AI can help you build your email list.

One of the most popular marketing strategies for authors is to offer a free downloadable PDF on your website in exchange for email addresses. This helps you build your email list by offering potential customers something that will make their life easier!

With children's books, a free activity for kids makes a great lead magnet. But if you're not a teacher, sometimes it's hard to come up with ideas that are both fun and practical. Again, I tested ChatGPT with my own book.

Not too bad!

While I personally feel that word searches and coloring sheets are way overdone, there are a few ideas here that I really like! But, I'd still have to do all the hard work of creating the resource. So, I thought I'd see if ChatGPT could give me a head start with that part too...

With a few minor tweaks, and some Canva magic, I think these prompts could be a great lead magnet for my website!

Another great way AI can help you build your email list, is by helping you craft the newsletters or emails you send to your subscribers. For example, maybe you have an upcoming book signing, a recently published blog post, and a photo of your new writing desk that you want to share with your subscribers. Tell ChatGPT that information, and ask it to generate an email to your subscribers.

Again, this is not a situation where you can just copy and paste whatever it gives you. After all, your subscribers want to hear from YOU...not a robot! But, if you are like me, and barely have time to send emails in the first place, let alone worry about organizing and structuring each email perfectly, getting a first draft from ChatGPT and simply editing it to match your personal style and voice, can be a huge timesaver.

How could YOU use AI for marketing?

AI is not going away. In fact, it's getting more advanced and helpful everyday. While I personally don't believe it will ever replace human art, I do understand the fear it can create in authors and artists alike.

But...as a former teacher who is older than the internet....I also believe that those who refuse to learn and utilize new technologies (especially those as revolutionary as AI) are going to quickly fall behind the curve in any industry.

As with most things in life, there is no black and white answer to the AI age. The best we can do is keep learning, keep improving, and keep creating!

If you need help marketing your children's book, consider joining our Profitable Picture Books Program! For just $27/month you'll get a comprehensive guide through the publishing world, including help with marketing and more!