Marketing and publicity

Our retail setup and distribution service are essential if you want to see your book available for sale with UK-based retailers. We write the key marketing text for your book's retail setup such as the blurb, author biography, key selling points and keywords, then assign subject classification codes to your book which retailers use to find books. Finally, we'' and assign a Troubador ISBN to the title, unless you choose to use your own.

Good quality metadata is essential for a title to be discovered and purchased by retailers. For authors using a Troubador ISBN, we handle metadata management for the lifetime of the book. Our metadata is sent electronically via enhanced Onix-3 feeds daily to ensure retailers are kept completely up-to-date with the titles we have available.

We'll also notify wholesalers and retailers about your book via digital data grids, and daily through live price and availability feeds. We list your book for sale in our online bookshop as well as create a dedicated author profile. You will also receive access to your book's sales information and historic royalty statements through the Author Centre. For authors storing their books in our on-site warehouse, we ensure we have a stock of your book to fulfil direct, online and trade sales – and we take care of invoicing, returns and the despatch of orders. Once printed, we add your book to our Amazon account and to our Bookshop.org website.

We also host a monthly webinar for all authors opting for our trade marketing services, where our marketing team will discuss the work that has been done for your book ahead of publication, what to consider post-publication and give authors a chance to ask any questions.

This service includes all in our retail set-up and distribution service, plus more, and is perfect for authors seeking a more in-depth bookshop option. For authors wishing to give their book the best possible chance of selling through high street retailers, we offer full trade sales representation through Star Book Sales. Star have a team of 11 regional sales representatives who actively sell new titles into retailers' head offices, local stores and other book retail outlets in the run-up to a book's publication date.

In addition to the digital metadata work that we do, managing the key data about your book and sending that to bookshops and wholesalers, we also create a Troubador branded Local AI (Advance Information) sheet, listing all the key information about your book – blurb, biography, publication and ordering information – sent digitally to local bookshops (UK only), with a PDF copy provided for your own use.

An experienced in-house publicist will create and manage your bespoke publicity campaign, in the run-up to your book’s publication date and extending for four weeks after, helping you gain traction when you need it most. This begins with a webinar all about your publicity campaign, where authors are invited to meet our publicists and listen as they run you through how we conduct the campaign and answer any questions you may have. Alongside this, you will have access to your publicist throughout the campaign, who will be able to answer questions and support and guide you throughout.

During the month of publication, your publicist will create a press release about your book and you as its author. You get the final sign-off on the content of the press release, and a copy in PDF format for your use. We also create a bespoke media contact list using our extensive industry-leading media database, identifying UK national and local journalists and media outlets (including print, audio, visual and digital media) who may be interested in your book. We collaborate with an author to identify key angles on the book to pitch and will use our experience to target the appropriate journalists to maximise the chances of getting you coverage. We will also send out a digital review copy to every recipient on the media list, aiming to start a dialogue with them about the book. As with the press release, you approve the media list before the campaign begins. 

Your publicist will also conduct a follow-up on the media list, to encourage as much interest as possible. We will liaise with you over coverage and send you any features as we receive them. 

Using NetGalley, one of the world’s largest book review platforms, we encourage advanced readers to read and review your book, giving it a boost in online visibility during its first weeks of publication. We will run either a four or eight-week managed listing on the NetGalley for exposure to influencers, media, librarians, and book professionals. NetGalley members will be invited to request a digital copy and leave a review. We will monitor and respond to all requests that come in. You will receive a report at the end of the four or eight-week listing with a review summary and key statistics, including a round-up of reviews currently received feedback on the cover, and a breakdown of what readers found appealing about your book. 

The Troubador team will follow up with readers personally to encourage them to leave reviews on review platforms. We will send reviewers links to major retailers to make it easier for them to find your book online to leave their reviews on those platforms.

In addition to the NetGalley campaign, we will produce two social media graphics for you to use on social media or in your email signature to promote your book. The graphics are created taking inspiration from your book’s cover and will usually feature a good review of your book or an attention-grabbing tagline. 

Finally, you will be supplied with a digital booklet with self-promotion tips and ideas for you to continue to self-market your book to your target audience.

By leveraging advanced digital paid advertising strategies, we craft visually compelling ads that capture attention and generate interest. These ads are specifically tailored to stand out in the crowded online space, encouraging readers to click and learn more about your book.

Once engaged, the ads drive traffic to key retailer sites, such as Amazon and the Troubador Bookshop, ensuring your book gets maximum exposure and leads potential readers directly to the purchase pages. This strategy enhances both the visibility and accessibility of your book, increasing the likelihood of driving sales and contributing to long-term success.

Throughout the campaign, the ads are continuously monitored and refined to optimise performance. You'll receive a progress report halfway through the campaign at the two-month mark, and another final report before the campaign concludes at four months. At that time, you'll have the option to renew the advertising campaign for additional months, extending its reach and potential for even greater results. This approach ensures your book gets the attention it deserves in the competitive digital landscape.

Think of this service as the digital version of a reader browsing in a bookshop, where they can dip into the text and get a feel for a book. Our Enhanced Discoverability service places your book on both Amazon's 'Search Inside' and Google's 'Search in a Book' platforms, so that potential readers can 'browse' your book. Both platforms make a percentage of a book available to view, although never all of it.

When your book is ready to go to print, we place your book into Amazon's 'Search Inside' programme, allowing customers to browse some of your books before buying. We also place your book onto Google's 'Search in a Book' platform, enabling those searching on Google to sample your book.

Amazon customers have a 'Buy' button on the same page as the 'Search Inside' function, allowing easy purchases for their customers. Google's search platform includes links to your book on various retailers' websites to help easily purchase by Google browsers.