It’s (finally) the end of 2025, and here we stand, with another year of marketing our books behind us … and an empty calendar ahead, waiting to be filled.
If you do your planning annually, December seems to be the logical time to plot your marketing course for the next year. While I’ve toyed with the notion of running my promo year from February to February, giving myself the month of January for leisurely planning, the orderly part of me likes a nice, neat 12-month plan that runs through the traditional calendar year.
Consequently, I’ve cordoned off the week between Christmas and the new year to determine my marketing map for 2026. Between now and then, I’m doing some pre-work, which involves a great deal of pondering and looking at data. This helps to form the foundation for what I do going forward by narrowing my focus on what I call my large goals: the achievements I hope to accomplish by this time next year.
With those goals in mind, I dive into the big defining question, one we also use to kick off UnCon each year: what worked for me this year, and what didn’t work?
This is a very broad topic that requires some breaking down.
- For me, the concept of success includes several components. I’d love to say I have a formula, but it’s really more intuitive than calculated. For each marketing tool or strategy, I look at how much time and attention were required, how much money it cost me, and whether or not it could be definitively connected to an increase in sales or visibility.
- Once I have that yes or no (a positive result that was worth the time and financial investment), I consider the angst vs. pleasure principle. Did this strategy require me to work with people whom I don’t enjoy? Did I have to attend a ton of Zoom meetings? At this point in both my life and career, the angst principle is important. I don’t want to devote my time or energy to something that I dread, even if it does bring me money.
- I mentioned money and visibility in the first bullet point, but it bears deeper examination. It goes without saying that the ultimate goal of marketing is to sell more books. However, we all know that it’s not a simple matter of convincing people to plunk down money in exchange for a compelling read. Cultivating a reader is more of a wooing process, something that might begin with an introduction via another author’s newsletter, continue through a free read, a call to join your subscriber list and/or follow you on social media, finally culminating with a devoted fan who sees your new releases as automatic clicks (at full price!). Consequently, anything that moves a cold lead into that next phase might be worth doing.
- Some marketing ideas fall into a vague category of not yet successful, strategies that require more time to see if they’re worth your while. Or perhaps they might work, given a greater investment of attention or money. I’m not ready to toss them into the failure bin yet; I might lean into them for another six months to see how they look in June.
Once I’ve culled the no items (things that either didn’t work, were too much bother, or required more money/time than I want to invest), I can focus on the yes items, prioritizing them according to my larger goals for the year.
If I plan on multiple new releases in the coming year, I tailor my promotion to support the series with upcoming additions. I’m also careful to make sure my schedule allows extra time for writing, which has to be a top priority in release-heavy seasons. As far as it’s possible, I incorporate backlist highlights both as the main push for non-release months and as an additional push for release months.
Then it’s time to consider shiny new marketing ideas. Maybe I want to incorporate more BookFunnel group promos into my schedule, whether it’s running my own or joining others. Sign-ups for newsletter swaps or other cross-promo opportunities usually begin to appear in author groups this time of year, and although my inclination is to take part in all of them, I try to be selective and commit only to those activities that will serve my goals.
With my course plotted, I turn to my trusty Google calendars. In the interest of making my life a little easier, I keep several calendars on one account, segmenting writing hours, marketing to-dos, and other related commitments. With Google’s handy-dandy color coding, it’s easy to see which activity falls where.
While I don’t include every activity in my calendar (just looking at that would be overwhelming!), I’ve found that adding things like monthly newsletter swaps is enormously helpful. Last year, for instance, I took part in an author round robin of book snippets; each month, I featured a different author and a brief snippet of one of her books in my newsletter. Because I set it up on my calendar at the start of the year, noting each month whom I was scheduled to highlight along with a link to the material and the schedule, keeping that commitment was smooth and easy.
I also schedule certain monthly to-dos that might seem obvious. In 2026, one of my large goals is to increase my readership on Kobo. Consequently, I’ll have a monthly to-do (which needs to be checked off as done before it goes away!), reminding me to apply for all available Kobo Writing Life promotions for the following month. While that might seem silly, it keeps me focused and assured that I won’t let a single opportunity slip through the cracks.
I’m excited to kick off 2026 with my goals in place and my plans organized, ready to make it a successful and happy new year! I wish you all the same.
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Tawdra Kandle has penned more than 150 swoony, unputdownable romances that turn everyday life up to extra-spicy. Her stories hook readers with characters who feel like friends—and heat that’ll fog up your e-reader. When she isn’t plotting her next just-one-more-chapter love story, Tawdra is soaking up the sunshine in Central Florida with her partner-in-crime husband, a cute pup, and a cat whose sarcasm deserves its own series. Her grown kids and two perfectly adorable granddaughters keep her calendar (and heart) delightfully full.