Fall Into Success: 11 Tips to Prep Your Author Business for Autumn

Ah, the air is becoming more crisp. Nights are arriving sooner. Autumn is indeed here 🍂 It’s time to start thinking about your autumn book marketing.

School being back in session invigorates many of us and creates an eagerness to get back to work after summer—even if we haven’t been in class for decades. But it’s also a time when we pull inward a bit, reviewing and contemplating on how the year has gone so far. This slightly introverted energy is good for focusing on the last quarter and what we want out of it..

So here’s some tips on prepping your business for the season.

Organize Your Time

School. Holidays. Despite this being the descent into the dark half of the year, we seem busier than ever. This means we really need to sharpen our focus to get things done. Sarra Cannon of Heart Breathings has a great video on time management over on YouTube covering task blocking, time tracking, low energy vs high energy tasks, and more. Start here, figure out how much time you’ll have to devote to your business this season, then read the rest of this article and make a plan.

Refresh Your Space

With the Autumn Equinox comes Libra season (September 23 to October 22). Libra is all about relationships, beauty, and aesthetics. This doesn’t have to equal getting a new logo etc. It can just mean optimizing your social media profile bios, making sure your website is up to date, and putting more consistency into your branding. Streamlining is nice. But also let’s tidy up those offices, writers. Clean up your desk and bring in things that help you feel good. If you enjoy being in your space, you’re more likely to get things done. (Also, open the windows and let your space breathe in the cooler weather! Clear out that stale summer energy.)

Plan Your Seasonal Content

Start planning your autumn-themed content well in advance. This can include blog posts, social media posts, and newsletter campaigns. You could create a series of autumn-themed email campaigns to keep your audience engaged. Create lists of autumnal books to share, or your autumn faves (music, movies, etc). Blog posts are also good for this type of content marketing and help bring the readers to you versus feeling like you’re chasing them. Whatever you plan to do, try to batch it out over one weekend so you can schedule it and be done.

Monitor Search Trends

This piggybacks on content planning. If you want to create content that readers are eager for, you need to know what’s hot. Hop over to YouTube again and check out Modern Millie’s video on planning out the rest of your year. She walks you through picking out topics and how to search for content ideas using social media and Answer the Public to see what folks are searching for.

Have a Team Meeting

If you don’t speak (verbally) to your virtual/personal assistant or manager on a regular basis, schedule a phone or video call. Scorpio season (October 23 to November 21) is a great time to discuss boundaries, expectations, and is just generally good for conscious communication. Discuss the upcoming holidays, events, and schedules. Let each other know when you’ll be unavailable and such.

Release a New Reader Magnet

Refresh your onboarding process by releasing a new short story (or novella if you’re feeling ambitious), perhaps even one that’s set in autumn. Give it free to your current subscribers and then place it as the incentive to sign up to your mailing list for everyone else. One author who I think does reader magnets really well is Sierra Simone.

Autumn Book Promotions

Offer special promotions or discounts on your books around autumn holidays, such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Black Friday. Use this as a time to make readers more aware of your own direct store. Offer discounts and specials that you can’t on retailer websites. Make a plan of what you’d like to do for each holiday, including Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. (If you need any help with your autumn book marketing graphics, check out my premade Autumn Canva Templates here.)

Collaborate with Other Authors

Partner with fellow authors for cross-promotions or joint autumn book marketing efforts to reach a wider audience. Bundle your books together with them to create themed book lists for sale. Bookfunnel, Prolific Works, and StoryOrigin all have seasonal group promos you could participate in. Everyone who takes part in these shares the promotion in their newsletter and on social media, engaging new readers for all.

Engage with Seasonal Hashtags

Use autumn-related hashtags on social media platforms to increase your content’s visibility. Just sneak some autumn aesthetics (Halloween mugs or décor and etc) into your photos so you’re not spamming hashtags with nonrelevant content. Instagram has a lot, so do your research now to collect a list. For example: #CozyVibes #HalloweenAesthetic #AutumnVibes #PumpkinSeason

Create An Event

Use the adventurous energy of Sagittarius season (November 22 to December 21) to run an autumn-themed giveaway or contest to boost engagement, strengthen your community, and reward your readers and superfans. Would also be a great time to host livestreams or fan hangouts. Have a Discord? Host a cozy autumn (or scary Halloween!) movie night with your readers.

Track and Analyze Results

Check your analytics about twice per month to see how things are going with your autumn book marketing. Also, use link tracking to see which links are getting the most clicks and such. It’s always good to see where you get more bang for buck (your time) so you can invest it even better in future.

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Whether you’re releasing a new book, running special promotions, or simply engaging with your readers in a more seasonal way, autumn offers a plethora of opportunities. Stay creative, stay connected, and stay consistent. With the right strategies and a touch of autumn magic, you can turn this season into a bountiful harvest of readers and success.

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