Tiny Marketing: The Bestseller Experiment

🔎 Ever wonder which book marketing strategies actually work? Well, we’re about to find out! In this episode of The Bestseller Experiment, host Sarah Noel Block tests two real-time book marketing strategies:

📚 1. Building a Preliminary Reading Community with Serial Fiction
📱 2. Using TikTok for Discovery

🚀 Plus, a writing update on Strings Attached and why marketing starts before your book is even finished!

📌 Episode Breakdown

📝 Writing Update: Pushing Through Act 3

• Strings Attached is at 53,000 words and deep into the third act.
• The emotional payoff is happening—characters are hurting Sarah’s feelings! 😭
• Goal: Finish the messy first draft within 30 days—no overthinking, just writing.
• Pre-order strategy: Sarah put the book up for pre-order before finishing it, following her marketing-first approach.

📚 Experiment #1: Serial Fiction as a Beta Reader Community

👉 Using Ream to test audience engagement before publishing.

💡 Why Serial Fiction?

• Sarah’s past experience with Kindle Vella + Facebook Groups built an engaged reader base.
• Readers love being part of the early writing process—feedback + community = win!
• Marketing theory: Building demand before launching is key to a bestseller.

📊 Success Metrics Sarah is Tracking:

✅ Engagement: Are people commenting, asking questions, and excited for new chapters?
✅ Retention: Are they coming back for more?
✅ Conversions: Will they become buyers, superfans, and reviewers?

🔹 Platform choice this time: Ream instead of Facebook groups.
🔹 Approach: Keeping it free, simple, and focused on community building.

📱 Experiment #2: TikTok for Book Discovery

👉 Testing engagement strategies to grow an audience before the book launch.

🎯 The Bottom-Up Engagement Technique

• Instead of just posting and hoping for the best, Sarah is engaging strategically:
  1️⃣ Reshare niche content
  2️⃣ Comment on similar posts
  3️⃣ Like posts in her niche
  4️⃣ Follow relevant creators
• Why? TikTok rewards interaction and community-building—this increases post reach.

📸 The Emotional Hit Slide Format

• Testing 20–30 slide carousel TikToks with emotionally gripping book lines.
• Goal: Hook readers, keep them engaged, and leave them wanting more.

📈 Early Results (2 Weeks In)

• +30 followers (slow and steady growth)
• Key lesson: Virality is unpredictable, but engagement consistency matters!

🎯 Core Marketing Strategy: Audience First, Book Second

Most authors write a book then market it. Sarah flips the script:

✅ Build the audience first
✅ Test engagement + content strategies
✅ Launch with readers already invested

💡 Success = A primed audience, early reviews, and a launch-ready readership!

👀 What’s Next?

📢 In the next episode:

• Writing progress update
• What’s working (and what’s flopping) with these experiments
• New launch strategies to test!

🎧 Want to follow along in real time?
🔗 Check out the Bestseller Experiment podcast!
📱 Follow Sarah on TikTok (@booksheartmusic) for live updates.

👉 Have you tried these book marketing strategies? Drop a comment and share what worked (or didn’t) for you!

🎙️ Thanks for tuning in—see you next time! 🚀