The Writers Bridge | Build an Author Marketing Plan that Works for You with Rachel Thompson
August 25 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EDT
Do you need to be everything, everywhere, all at once, to market your book?
No. You need a plan that fits your book, your readers, your budget, your time, and your tolerance for social media nonsense.
Most authors don’t fail at marketing because they didn’t try hard enough—they fail because they tried to do everything at once, on every platform, without knowing how to assess what’s working. Rachel Thompson of BadRedhead Media has spent more than 17 years helping authors build marketing plans that don’t rely on gimmicks, magic formulas, or dancing on TikTok.
Learn what to figure out before you start marketing at all: who your readers actually are, what realistic goals look like, and how to choose activities that match your time and budget. We’ll dig into DIY-versus-hire-a-pro—what’s worth learning yourself and what’s worth paying someone else to handle?—and how to tell whether your marketing is moving the needle. Rachel’s also an expert on why and how to build Substack into your author platform.
Bring your questions and your book marketing frustrations. Rachel’s heard them all—and probably lived most of them.
Join us TUESDAY AUGUST 25 at 1PM EASTERN / 10AM PACIFIC – live and FREE on Zoom, all welcome!
Our special guest
Rachel Thompson is the founder of BadRedhead Media, LLC (est. 2011), where she creates customized social media, book marketing, branding, Substack, and visibility campaigns for authors. Drawing on more than 17 years of sales, marketing, and training experience, Rachel helps writers build their platforms, connect with readers, and promote their work without gimmicks.
Rachel’s books include Broken Pieces, Broken Places, Broken People, The BadRedhead Media 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge, BadRedhead Media’s How to Best Optimize Blog Posts for SEO, a branding guide, and two humor books. Her books have earned multiple awards and reached No. 1 on several Amazon lists—which she readily admits is much more exciting than cleaning the litter box.
Rachel shares practical marketing guidance with more than 14,000 followers on Substack, where she writes weekly about book marketing, social media, building your Substack/newsletter, publishing, and the realities of building an author platform.
Join your hosts Allison K Williams (SEVEN DRAFTS), Sharla Yates (CRAFT TALKS) and our special guest for a practical, no-nonsense hour on marketing your book without losing your mind.
FREE, all welcome! Sign up to receive the Zoom link the day before.
Enjoy past recorded sessions here
Closed captioning is available. ✔
All registrants receive the recording. ✔
ABOUT YOUR PRESENTERS
Allison K Williams has edited and coached authors to publishing deals with Penguin Random House, Knopf, Mantle, St. Martin’s Press, and numerous small presses. An expert in author marketing and community building, her platform includes the Brevity Blog (80k+ followers), Instagram (10k+), a mailing list (12k+), and Facebook (5k+), with publications in the New York Times and appearances on NPR and CBC. Her book, Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book, sold on proposal. She leads the Rebirth Your Book writing retreats and co-hosts The Writers Bridge.
Sharla Yates is the author of the poetry chapbook What I Would Say if We Were to Drown Tonight, published by Stranded Oak Press (2017). She hosts a webinar series, CRAFT TALKS for writers on writing, and co-hosts The Writers Bridge with Allison K Williams. Her nonfiction essay, “Address” was a finalist for the 2015 Columbia Journal writing contest and the 2016 Penelope Niven Creative Nonfiction Award. She is the former Director of Education at the Creative Nonfiction Foundation and teaches creative writing at the University of Pittsburgh.
Questions? Please email Info@writingcraft.com
