Small Press Book Marketing Workshop: Boost Sales | July 2027 Online

Visibility and Book Sales Writing Workshop: Marketing Your Small Press Book with John Sibley Williams

Begins Wednesday, July 14, 2027
Class will meet once via Zoom on Wednesday, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET

🌍 Class Times by Time Zone:

• Los Angeles (PDT): 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
• Chicago (CDT): 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
• New York (EDT): 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Now Enrolling!

Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button to talk with us.

Instructor John Sibley Williams is the author of nine poetry collections, including Scale Model of a Country at Dawn (Cider Press Review Poetry Award), The Drowning House (Elixir Press Poetry Award), As One Fire Consumes Another (Orison Poetry Prize), Skin Memory (Backwaters Prize, University of Nebraska Press), skycrape (WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook Contest), and Summon (JuxtaProse Chapbook Prize). His book Sky Burial: New & Selected Poems is forthcoming in translation from the Portuguese press do lado esquerdo. A thirty-five-time Pushcart nominee, John serves as editor of The Inflectionist Review and Poetry Editor at Kelson Books. Previous publishing credits include Best American Poetry, Yale Review, Verse Daily, North American Review, Prairie Schooner, and TriQuarterly.

Who is this class for?

This online seminar is for authors and poets of all genres who want to learn traditional, non-social-media strategies for marketing and publicizing their small press book. Fiction writers, nonfiction writers, and poets at all levels are welcome.

What to expect:

With over 800 books published per day in the US alone, publicity for small press books has never been more necessary, or more difficult. This book marketing writing workshop gives writers of all genres the tools, money-saving techniques, and networking skills to market their books with maximum effectiveness.

Most book marketing classes focus exclusively on social media. This online writing class instead breaks down a wide range of other strategies for gaining reviews, interviews, events, and sales, along with cost-saving techniques and templates you can put to use right away. Topics include creating a cohesive business strategy, using traditional and digital media, giving readings and other methods of selling books, balancing your marketing budget, and thinking outside the box to find your fans.

The seminar is lesson-, strategy-, and discussion-based, and John Sibley Williams provides an extensive handout and workbook with samples, information, tips, and prompts, so you leave with a practical resource to return to as your book finds its readers.

What are the writing goals?

In this course, students will craft their own unique, personalized book marketing strategy, one that draws on their current strengths while expanding their skillset. This is a lesson- and discussion-based creative writing course rather than a manuscript workshop, so no writing is submitted for feedback.

Readings

All materials are provided in an extensive handout and workbook with samples, information, tips, and prompts. No books are needed.

COURSE OUTLINE

Session (Wednesday, July 14): What to know in advance of formulating a marketing strategy; costs and expenditures and how to track them; the pros and cons of contests; selling directly to venues; non-social-media networking; booking and hosting events; acquiring book reviews, interviews, and more; advertising and collateral; money-saving techniques.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Build a cohesive business strategy for marketing your small press book
• Track marketing costs and expenditures, balance your budget, and apply money-saving techniques
• Weigh the pros and cons of contests and learn to sell directly to venues
• Book and host events and readings, and acquire reviews, interviews, and more
• Network and find your fans beyond social media through traditional and digital media, advertising, and collateral
• Leave with a personalized marketing strategy and an extensive workbook of samples, tips, and templates

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $99 USD. You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructor: John Sibley Williams
• Begins Wednesday, July 14, 2027
• Class will meet once via Zoom on Wednesday, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET
• Tuition is $99 USD.