The Tarryn Reeves Show

The Only Book Marketing Strategy I'd Use if I Could Only Pick One

• Tarryn Reeves • Episode 55

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Struggling to market your book and attract consistent readers, leads, or sales? In this episode of The Tarryn Reeves Show, bestselling author and book marketing strategist Tarryn Reeves reveals the #1 book marketing strategy that actually works—long after your launch day is over.

Discover how to turn your non-fiction book into a lead-generating machine using the book funnel method. You’ll learn how to attract the right audience, build trust with your readers, and convert book buyers into loyal clients—all without relying on social media 24/7.

Whether you're a coach, consultant, expert, or entrepreneur, this episode breaks down exactly how to use your book as a powerful business-building tool.

Tune in to learn:

  • Why most book marketing tactics don’t work for entrepreneurs

  • How the book funnel strategy drives long-term book sales and leads

  • The 5 key elements every high-converting book funnel needs

  • Real client results using this method

  • How to start building your own book marketing funnel today

This is your behind-the-scenes guide to sustainable, scalable book marketing for non-fiction authors.

Connect with Tarryn:


Welcome to the Tarryn Reeve Show, the podcast for elite entrepreneurs, visionary leaders, and high impact CEOs who are ready to grow their brand, amplify their message, and build a legacy. I'm your host, Tarryn Reeves, multiple international bestselling author, publishing strategist and founder of Automatic Authority Publishing and Press House. Each week we dive into powerful conversations with trailblazing entrepreneurs and change makers who are using storytelling. To scale their business and impact. So grab your favorite drink, settle in, and get ready for a dose of inspiration, strategy, and the truth behind what it really takes to turn your wisdom into wealth. You guys, I just recorded this whole episode with my mic off, so we are starting again. Welcome back to the Tarryn Reeves Show. I am your tired host today, Tarryn Reeves, and today we're going to be diving into a biggie. One of the hottest and most misunderstood, of course, topics in the publishing world, and that is Book Marketing. Now, book marketing is not just any kind of marketing. I'm giving you the one book marketing strategy that actually works. And if I had to choose one out of all marketing strategies that you could use to market your book, it would be this one. And I'm not just talking for launch day, not just for a few Instagram likes, but for years after your book is out in the world. So grab your beverages, your notebook, or whatever keeps you grounded and happy because by the end of this episode, you are going to have a rock solid understanding of how to market your book, like a business asset and not a hobby. So let's start with the elephant in the room, shall we? So. Most authors, especially brilliant entrepreneurs, like you write a book thinking that if they just hit publish, then the readers will come. I'm sorry to break it to you. It doesn't happen like that. Just like with everything in business, it will not happen unless you have a strategy and unless you market your book in a way that's designed to build awareness, trust, and conversion. I have seen way too many amazing authors pour their hearts into writing and publishing and then totally freeze when it comes to what happens next. And these people, they do what they're told. They post on social every day. They create a launch team, they run a giveaway. They go viral on TikTok, or they try to, and they beg for reviews. And look, none of this is bad. I do recommend doing these things, but in the grand scheme of your book marketing strategy. Things like this are piecemeal, it's reactionary and it burns people out so fast with minimal results. The truth is that what got your book written is not what will get it's sold. You need a marketing engine behind it that doesn't rely on you being on all of the time. So what is the one strategy that I swear by? I'm sorry, but it's not sexy. It's not a hack, but it is a book funnel strategy, and it's the most effective book marketing method that I have ever seen, especially for entrepreneurs. Let me explain what this looks like. A book funnel is a structured intentional pathway that takes your readers on a journey. Think book, lead magnet, email, nurture series, and an offer. Your book isn't just a beautiful finished product, it's the beginning of the relationship with your next level clients. When somebody reads your book, they're opening their heart and their mind to your voice, your method, your message, your transformation, and that right there that is sacred trust. And when you don't give them a clear next step, that relationship just kind of fizzles out. And we definitely don't want that. A book funnel ensures that it doesn't. So let's think of a visual. Imagine your book as the keynote speech at a TEDx event. Now imagine that you, in that speech, you mic drop and you just walk off the stage. No links, no invites, no follow up, just poof, gone into the ether driving home. You never see or hear from those people again. That's what happens when you launch a book with no funnel. So what does it look like in reality? Well, let me take you behind the scenes of a recent client project. We worked with a leadership coach, let's call her Danielle. And Danielle had already launched her book and she was super proud, and so she should be until about three weeks post-launch when the hype kind of. Dropped off, okay. She had less than 10 reviews, a couple hundred of ebook sales, but she had no real leads in her business from the book. What did we do about that? We took a look at her book and we said, Hey, Danielle, let's add a free downloadable resource inside the book, and we tied that resource directly to her framework that she was teaching inside. We then hook that up to a landing page with a lead capture form. Which once that person signed up and they got their downloadable resource, they received a simple five part email nurture series, which further served to build trust and invite those people to book a strategy session with her. What we also did was we added a few automated dms for people who mentioned the book on social media. And the result of something so small, such a simple little tweak was that within 60 days, Danielle booked 13 discovery calls. She closed four new clients and she landed an invite to speak at a virtual summit, all from the book funnel. And the best part about it is that she didn't have to post anymore than she already was every day on social media. She didn't hire a PR agency for this specific thing. She didn't hustle harder. What she did was she just had a system that worked while she wasn't working on it. And that right there is a beautiful thing. And what I want you to hear next is something that I say a lot. Social media is not a marketing strategy. Social media is a traffic source. It's a, it's visibility, but if it doesn't lead somewhere, you are wasting your time. You can have the best reel in the world paired with the most trending audio, the most perfect post. But if there is no next step for your audience to take after that moment of engagement, you end up with vanity metrics and you've lost your people. That is why a book funnel works. It gives structure to your visibility. It makes every effort that you are exerting compound rather than vanish into the scroll hole. Let's talk the anatomy of a book funnel because you might be going, well, yeah, I kind of get it, but break it down even further. Okay, cool. So here is what I recommend for a basic. Now, this is the most basic one that I recommend. You have. Mine is a lot more complex, but start with this. It is basic, but it is powerful. You've got four simple steps, your lead magnet, your landing page, your email nurture sequence, and your backend offer. So the lead magnet, this goes inside your book. So offer a free high value bonus think workbook, checklist, video training, private podcast, anything that is going to deepen the transformation that your book promises. You can have more than one of these high value bonuses in your book, how you could even have one after every single chapter if you like. Just make sure that it makes sense for that particular chapter. Or you can just offer one bonus at the end of the book. So you've got your lead magnet. You then need to create a simple, clean, focused landing page. Think. One headline, one paragraph in an opt-in form. It can be that simple that once the people go to the link that you've shared inside your book to get their lead magnet, they enter their details and then you send them the lead magnet in your email nurture sequence. Now, this can be super simple. Think five emails in total. The first one would be a, Hey, thanks for downloading your item, kind of email. The second one would be reinforcing your core message. The third one would be sharing real value or a relatable story. The fourth one would be introducing your offer, and the fifth one would be inviting them to take the next step. It can be that simple, and then you need to think of your backend offer. What could you be offering? It could be a discovery call, a course, a membership, a workshop, anything like that. The way that you need to think about this is that your book is doing the invitation. Your book invites your funnel convert. The best part is that when you do it, once you do it right, this can be evergreen for you and you can automate most of it. So whether it's launch week or year three of your book hitting the market, you are still building momentum and that right there is smart marketing. All of this kind of rant, I guess, comes from the common mistakes that I see people make because even the best strategies fall apart when the basics are skipped. So I don't want that to happen to you. The three biggies that I see all the time are that there is no call to action inside the book. You must give readers a reason to stay connected. If you don't, you will end up with them going, oh, that was an amazing read. I feel really good, and they might go and follow you on social, and that's the end of it, versus. I'm feeling really good about this. This is great. Oh look, there's something for me to download. Let me go and download it. Oh, now I'm feeling connected to this person. I'm feeling inspired by this person. I'm feeling the transformation that this person is giving me, and now I'm receiving the emails. So your open email rates are higher, further enhancing that relationship and you know, oh, so now I can book a call. I can really see that this person is the right person to solve my problem. I'm gonna book a call. Do you see the difference there? No, CTA means your book is like a woo-hoo. That's a nice to have. And then it's gathering dust on their shelf versus moving your reader to the next level, allowing them to stay connected, allowing them to take that next step and showing them exactly what to do. The other mistake I see is too many offers with too little clarity. You want to keep your funnel focused on one transformation. Now, when you first start writing your book, you may realize that you're trying to cram too many ideas into one book. That's great. That is great clarity. You might end up having three books in the future. Keep it simple, keep it focused. One book, one transformation, and a funnel to tie it all together. And the other issue I see is that most authors are forgetting the long game book. Marketing isn't just a launch moment. It's not just, I'm gonna market this for four weeks and then hope for the best book. Marketing is a movement that you build with intention and you continue to market long after your book has hit the market. So what's your action plan? What should you do next? Here's your homework. Yes, I know homework. Woohoo fun. Identify what your book leads into. Think about it. Is a coaching a course, a done for you service? I want you to then create a bonus that your readers can't resist. You need to make it relevant. Easy to consume and immediately useful. And of course, it ties into your book's theme. Okay? You then need to map out your five part email series. You don't need to be perfect, you just need to connect, be yourself. And the last thing you need to is connect the dots, the book to the bonus, to the email, to the offer. And just like that, you've built a book marketing strategy that works on repeat. So what I want you to walk away with today is to understand that your book deserves more than a launch week hype train. It deserves a strategy that respects the work that you've poured in, that honors the readers who trusted you with their time, and that builds your business like the asset. It was always meant to. If you wanna skip the guesswork and get the full funnels and blueprints and things, I've got you. You can download it from inside my book or come and join the Authority through Authorship Community on school. It's packed with templates, examples, frameworks, everything that I use with our publishing clients over here at Automatic Authority. Come and play with us, and if you want support building it step by step. Then you can come and play with us in one of our high touch one-on-one programs. So we are doing it together. Your story deserves to be heard, shared, and sold. But until next time, my friend, understand that you are the message, you have the potential to make impact, and I can't wait to see your books hit the market with exactly that. Thanks for tuning into the Taryn Reeve Show. If today's episode litter firing you, share it with someone who needs to hear it and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a story that could transform your business. If you're ready to write the book that positions you as the go-to authority in your industry, visit automatic authority.com to find out how we can help you make it happen. Until next time, keep owning your story, leading with impact and building a legacy.