If you’ve been around bookish content on social media, you’ll sometimes see different creators receive free books. Or even other promotional materials related to a book. I’m sure that this is all part of the social media marketing strategy for publishers and a way to promote the book to a larger audience. As a reader and content creator, here’s how I’ve joined in and received my own book mail.
Publisher Influencer Programs
The best way I’ve found to know when your favorite publishers are looking for new influencers to join their teams is to follow their social media accounts. For limited time opportunities, this will let you know exactly when applications are open and when they are closed.
Last Summer, I put in my first application for the Avon Books Influencer Program and was delighted to have been selected. At that time, I was posting about the books I’d been reading a little bit, but not as extensively as I am now, so I was a little surprised to have been approved. I’m really glad they gave me the opportunity because my bookish content keeps growing all the time. (And I read a ton of their books anyway). As part of their program, they mail one to two physical copies of titles I select monthly and then some surprise advance reader copies occasionally.
There are other publishers who are looking for influencers all the time without a deadline. Google your favorite publisher plus “influencer program” and there may be an open application system without a deadline. This is an example from Forever where you can put your name in at anytime by joining their influencer newsletter. My experience with Forever is that they place a strong emphasis on a diverse group of reviewers and influencers to promote their diverse range of novels. They will prioritize reviewers that are similar to the characters or authors of their books. They’re open to all reviewers, but with a limited number of physical book copies, that’s how they determine who receives them. I will usually stick to historical romance book requests from them and I end up receiving about a book every couple of months in the mail.
Independently published authors will often run their own influencer teams and you can look at their author websites for any open opportunities.
It’s important here to apply to partner with publishers that you’re already reading and not just collecting free books with no intention of reading or promoting them.
Book Tours
Book tours are usually run by a public relations/marketing team that are providing a service to the publisher by looking for influencers to promote books. They may require a full review of the book or simply a feature of the book on your social media pages during a pre-specified timeframe. I have had the most experience with BiblioLifestyle, which opens up application for book tour hosts every few months. (If you’re interested in working with them in the future, sign up for the email newsletter there to get notified about future opportunities) I will usually get an email invitation to host a book tour and then I fill out a book-specific form if I’m interested in the book; after that, I’ll get an email with the date I’m scheduled to post and I will receive the book in the mail. I will generally only accept the books that I’m genuinely interested in reading or learning more about. For other book tour opportunities, I recommend searching in Google for your genre of choice (e.g. romance or thriller, etc) plus “book tour”.
Bookish Merch and Small Businesses
A lot of independent artists or book box subscription services will also have influencers that they work with. I’m not a part of any of these, so I don’t know specifics. However, if you follow your favorites on social media, you’ll be able to know when they’re looking for new influencers to join them.
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