Make your novel impossible to ignore

I rarely focus solely on author publicity here, but a writer recently asked how to publicize fiction after writing nonfiction for years. I thought I’d share my thoughts in case you have a novel brewing.

Getting people to care about your creative work might challenge your imagination more than writing the book itself. Nonfiction often has built-in news and publicity angles, whereas novels are driven by plots and characters that take on lives you give them. When you publicize a novel, you have to build a connection between your book and your audience. A publicity strategy that stirs the senses can make your story impossible to ignore.

Tie your story to a real event or setting

A mystery could mirror a true crime. A legal thriller could borrow from a high-profile case. A romance novel might match your best friend’s story. (Really, it’s about my friend’s story, not mine …) Regardless of genre, make the connection clear, and readers will follow.

🖥 Research (still) required

Readers notice details. If your thriller hinges on forensics, get the science right. If your novel is set in a courtroom, know the procedures. Research makes fiction feel real—and it provides you with publicity angles. A book that features facts, even with an imagined plot, makes for stronger media pitches because of its real-life parallels.

🥘 A fave

One of my favorite book publicity projects was for an indie author whose main character was a lawyer-turned-chef in a beach town. The writer researched everything—the law, the local weather, even words to best describe sounds of the coast. Readers could hear the seagulls, feel the humidity and taste the food. So many readers told her they wanted to experience the food she described that her recipes became PR hooks, landing her on TV cooking segments. If you write anything remotely parallel (as in, it doesn’t have to be connected to cooking), remember that strategy and copy it. (Hit me up if you have questions.)

Another author made his characters feel real by giving them their own social media accounts and website bios. Readers followed their lives like real people long before they ever met them in the book. Yet another, my favorite sports novelist, who too few know about (talking about you, Jeff Schneider), had me having to remember I was reading about a fictional Final Four compared to the real one happening on my screen at the time.

Plan your publicity as you write

When you write, think like readers. Anticipate what they want to know about your story, how you can hook them before the book is finished and how you can build on publicity momentum with fresh angles after it’s published. Keep publicity angles in mind as you write your novel, and have plenty to roll out later.

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© 2025, Gail Sideman, gpublicity.com