Marketing & Publicity Resources

Once your book has been assessed, edited, designed and is going to press you can market in the following ways:

 

In addition to the promotional and marketing resources listed below, an NZSA Membership does offer additional marketing opportunities (click here for more on the benefits of NZSA members). If you are a member you can access the following:

  1. New Books Bulletin – List your book in New Books Bulletin for month of release – this goes to all members, our media list, and to all bookshops and library suppliers via Booksellers NZ.
  2. Update your Writers Profile on the NZSA site with details of your book, website, social media links and any reviews.
  3. Send details of your LAUNCH EVENT to ‘office [at] nzauthors.org.nz’ to be loaded into our calendar of events on our website. Do the same on your local branch.
  4. Social Media: Load a picture of your book and any launch events onto Facebook and we will share on our social media. Do the same on your local branch. facebook site. Use Instagram, Snapchat or Twitter to promote your book and any events. Keep your website up to date with your activity, with easy links to click and order.
  5. Literary Bulletin: Keep an eye out for the monthly call for submissions to Speaking Volumes, Nine to Noon on Radio NZ – and use the linked form to submit the title (you will be charged $10 by Booksellers NZ who administer the selection process).

Here is a link to The Learning Network resource kit for media and publicity 

The essential elements to get right in an arts publicity campaign, writing a brief, creating media releases, using AI and other guidance.

How to Create a Professional Author Media Kit for Your Book

Book marketing from Scribe Media

How to create a successful Author Media Kit in 2024: self-publishing.com 

https://www.authormedia.com/how-to-create-an-author-press-kit-with-susan-neal/     

A Guide for NZ Self-published/Indie Authors
How to Do Bookshop Sales…

How to approach a bookshop:
a guide for self-publishers/independent authors
we are pleased to offer this collaborative new resource to our members.
This guide was prepared by Booksellers NZ, the Kiwi Kids Bookshop and NZSA as a resource for members : November 2024

The Guide FINAL

Digital Marketing – Social Media

Self-publishing your first book? Digital marketing, especially through social media, can be an affordable and effective means of marketing your book and yourself.

Social media is an invaluable component of self-marketing. Among the countless social media networks, Twitter has become the most distinguished as a popular and effective promotional tool for writers.

Literary Agents

A literary agent acts as a mediator between writer and publisher by managing a writer’s business affairs.

Agents operate on commission only due on sales actually made. Be very careful about people acting as agents who charge a fee for selling your book. This is not the normal practice. To find out if an agent is good we recommend you talk to other writers.

NZ Agents

High Spot Literary – the Agency
Co-founded by literary agents Vicki Marsdon and Nadine Rubin Nathan, High Spot Literary is a full-service agency providing traditional literary agent services but with a broader marketing and social media eye. We are dedicated to guiding our authors to the greatest possible success through working with the best publishing partner/s and, in order to reach the widest possible audience, providing guidance and support to help manage their author profile. Working individually or as a team, we ensure that each author has every advantage at all stages of the publishing process and beyond.

TFS Literary Agency
The TFS Literary Agency operates mainly in New Zealand. We help our clients find publishers, negotiate contracts, and generally help with the business relationship between writer and publisher. We handle general fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books. We don’t handle poetry, individual short stories, or articles.

www.calidrislitagency.com
Sally Bird has worked as a bookseller and in various roles in publishing in New Zealand and Australia. She established Calidris Literary Agency in Sydney in 1997. In late 2019 she moved home to New Zealand. The agency handles all genres except children’s books, speculative fiction, fantasy and poetry. For more information and submission guidelines please check the website.

Frances Plumpton Literary Agency
Frances has had a long successful career as a children’s librarian, her positions including Service Development Librarian for Children and Youth and later Preschool Services Librarian, for Waitakere Libraries, Auckland. In 2006 she joined Richards Literary Agency, managing their children’s client list until May 2012, when Ray Richards downscaled the activities of his agency.

Further information on agents:

Association of Authors Representatives
This is a site where you can check out what literary agents ought to be doing for you. Also FAQs and their code of ethics.

Independent NZ Distributors

Independent NZ Book Publicists

NZ Book Reviewers

General

Children’s Books

Author Websites

No matter what kind of writer you are – fiction, non-fiction, freelance, poet – you can benefit from having a website. A website can be a means of building a relationship with your readers, letting your readers learn about you, and providing a place to sell and promote your work.

A website doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. You can keep it simple. WordPress is often recommended as a hosting platform because it’s author friendly, easy to use and easy for people to find (good search capabilities). Other popular hosting platforms include Drupal, and Joomla. We recommend that you research and compare thoroughly (including set up costs and ongoing costs) before deciding on the type of website you want.

Amazon Author Central

Author Central allows authors to create their own profile pages within the digital marketplace and facilitates interaction with potential customers. In addition to a brief personal bio, Author Central can display information about your work, blog posts, and acts as a platform for feedback and interaction with readers.