Best Communities for Marketing Your Writing

By Eleanor Hecks

Whether you publish traditionally or independently, getting the word out about your books requires a lot of work and monetary investment. Social media is an obvious choice for promoting your writing because you can zone in and target your reader base.

You also don’t have to spend a fortune for a chance to succeed. However, knowing which social media platforms work best for your particular genre can be a bit trickier.

Making the situation even more complex is the fact that many authors cross genres with their work. For example, a writer might create a science fiction novel with some elements of romance. Effectively branching out into other genres’ communication channels can expand your reader base and bring you more sales, catapulting you onto bestseller lists.

Fantasy/Paranormal/Science Fiction

Out of the thousands of writers in America, fantasy and paranormal writers have a very narrow niche in which to attract readers. Promoting your books where your target audience spends the most time is crucial to success in a saturated marketplace. For this genre, the best places to promote include:

• Reddit: The amount of fantasy and sci-fi conventions available for readers of these genres proves that people who love fantasy often enjoy engaging with other fans. These readers want to discuss the complex worlds authors have built in-depth. Finding a communicative audience is easy if you join the right subreddit — for example, r/Fantasy, r/horrorlit and r/scifiwriting all boast large communities on the platform. Be careful about how and where you post as some subreddits frown on any type of self-promotion.
• Discord: Discord is a platform with a chatroom format that makes it perfect for encouraging readers to chat about your fantasy worlds or roleplay as your characters. You can even create your own section to directly interact with your readers.

Mystery/Suspense

Mystery has several subcategories, such as cozy, suspense, true crime and hard-boiled. Figuring out where you fit can help you narrow down the best places to market your writing.

• Facebook: The largest demographic of mystery readers are those over the age of 65, so it’s important to build your community around platforms that older readers navigate towards. Since Facebook is the most popular social platform among this age group, it’s beneficial to join Facebook groups aimed at mystery readers. Be sure to read the group rules to make sure you are allowed to self-promote. Once you get a feel for the group and participate in some other posts, it’s okay to share your own special offers and new releases.
• YouTube: YouTube is the second most popular social media platform frequented by older adults, so you might consider marketing your writing towards YouTube’s vast reader community. As of 2024, YouTube attracts around 2.49 billion active users each month. Consider creating a thrilling video trailer for your book or film a series of live or uploaded book readings for your audience.

Romance

Romance is one of the most varied genres with subgenres such as historical romance, sweet, steamy, suspenseful and inspirational. Finding the right place to promote your books may boil down to tapping into reader emotions.

Romance is a genre marked by emotion, so your social media efforts should likewise pull at readers’ heartstrings and create emotional bonds with your audience. Since emotion often has the most significant impact on customer loyalty, doing so could help you develop lifelong readers who anticipate every future romance novel you release.

• Instagram: The age range of romance readers is especially broad — while the average age range is between 35 and 39 years old, half of frequent romance readers are ages 34 and below. Thus, it’s important to find a social platform that appeals to a wide audience. Instagram is one such app in the top social platforms among both millennials and Gen Z readers. Posts could be aesthetic images that encapsulate the vibe of your novel or a video sharing your book’s synopsis.
• TikTok: In recent years, many romance authors have turned to TikTok’s #BookTok community to spread the word about their books. A short video clip that plays like a movie trailer can attract readers. Look at the types of posts going viral, which hashtags the users included and try different tactics to attract new readers.

Horror

If you think of Stephen King when you hear the horror genre mentioned, you aren’t alone. However, there is a huge range of possibilities you might have as a horror writer. Some books focus on realistic crimes while others add paranormal or supernatural elements.

• X (formerly known as Twitter): The Horror Writers Association has a strong presence on X, so it makes sense you’ll find a lot of posts and engagement from horror writers. Keep posts short and to the point. Also, because of horror’s particularly political nature, X is a great place to keep up with current events and trends related to your work.
• Goodreads: Goodreads is an Amazon-owned platform that allows readers to review books and interact with authors in the form of polls and discussion threads. You’ll find numerous groups dedicated to the horror genre in particular, such as Horror Aficionados and Paranormal and Horror Lovers, which makes the platform a particularly good place to market your writing and communicate with fans.

Children’s/Young Adult

Knowing where to reach younger audiences for your books can be a bit tricky. If you write picture books, you’re promoting more to the parents than the kids. However, young adult novels can be taken directly to Gen Z.

• TikTok: A vast audience of millennial parents and young adult Zoomers frequent the video-based app. This audience is also the most likely to buy a product directly from a social media app, so a sponsored post or TikTok Shop ad could go a long way with this target market.
• Snapchat: Millennials, in particular, seem to enjoy Snapchat’s immediacy. While you will have to promote a bit differently on Snapchat’s platform than on others, if you can gain a following with engaging content, you’ll make regular sales by adding details on there.

Pssst…Mindy popping in to say that there’s an amazing, rapidly growing kidlit community on BlueSky–plus gatekeepers such as teachers and media specialists! If you’re new to BlueSky, check out these helpful tips.

Finding Your Niche

Creating a personal brand as an author takes time and trial and error. Try different platforms and ideas until you hit the ways that drive the most traffic to your books. Over time, you’ll grow your reader base and wind up selling more books each time you release something new.

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Eleanor Hecks is Editor in Chief at Designerly Magazine, as well as a freelance writer who’s passionate about helping other writers of all genres grow their following and community. You can find her work featured on publications such as IndependentPublishing.com and Self-Publishing Review, or connect with her on LinkedIn to keep up with her latest work.

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