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Book marketing services
Your book needs more than an Amazon page. It needs a website, more stores, social pages, trailers and press, and someone who owns all of it. That is the job we take. You get a written plan, a monthly report, and the final say on every piece.
Send the title and your launch date. Within one business day a marketing strategist writes back with the plan that fits your time and a fixed price. You pay nothing until you say yes.
The short answer
Columbia Publication runs book marketing three ways. Author plans cost $4,500 for 3 months, $8,399 for 6 months with a 3-Day Bestseller campaign included, or $14,999 for 12 months, covering website, stores, profiles, social media, trailers and press. Amazon-only campaigns run $1,500 to $4,800. School and library outreach runs $1,750 to $6,875. Ad budget is separate, set and paid by you.
Prices checked October 26, 2026 · Reviewed by Gia Kahn, Lead Editor · Next review November 2026 · How we check
Is this you?
Most marketing fails in the handoffs, not the ideas.
Here is the usual story. One freelancer runs ads to a listing nobody fixed. Another writes a press release that goes out before the website exists. A third builds the site, then disappears. Each did their part. Nobody owned the result, so the book stayed hard to find and the invoices kept coming.
We run all of it as one plan with one strategist. The foundations go live in the first 14 days. After that you get a set number of trailers, posts, articles and press releases each month, written into your agreement, and a report that lets you tick off every one.
Start here
There are three, because a debut novel, a backlist title and a classroom book need different things. Read the right-hand column and pick the line that sounds like your book.
| Kind of marketing | Price | Choose it if you want |
|---|---|---|
| Author marketing plans | 3 months $4,500, 6 months $8,399, 12 months $14,999 | Readers to know you as the author, with a website, social media, trailers, press and a bestseller push, before and after launch |
| Amazon sales campaigns | 90 days $1,500, 6 months $2,700, 12 months $4,800 | More copies sold on Amazon for a book that is already out |
| School and library outreach | From $1,750 | Your book in classrooms, libraries or in front of a professional audience |
Stuck between two? Book the free call or ask in the chat. A strategist will match one to your date and budget and explain the reason in plain words.
Your ad money never passes through us. Before any ad runs we suggest a figure for your goal. You pick the amount and pay Facebook, Instagram or Amazon from your own account, with no markup, and you can raise, cut or pause it on any day.
Author marketing plans
The first two weeks are the same on every plan, because the monthly work needs somewhere to send readers.
Who you are, why this book exists, sample pages, buy links for each store and a newsletter signup. It is the address every trailer and press release points to.
Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Target, Kobo, Apple Books, Indigo and Waterstones, as well as Amazon. If that is done already, we skip it and you lose nothing.
Amazon Author Central, Goodreads, BookBub and the retailer profiles, so a reader who finds you in one place can find you in all of them.
Social accounts open, the first trailer in production and the launch press release drafted and waiting for your approval.
Best time to start: about eight weeks before launch. Those two months are pre-publication work: the site, the profiles, the trailers and the build-up, so launch day meets readers who already know the book is coming. If the book is already out, you get the same two-week setup and we move straight to post-publication work.
Side by side
| Deliverable | 3 months | 6 months | 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author website, built and optimized | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Wider distribution beyond Amazon | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Author profiles on book platforms | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Social media, set up and run for you | Facebook, Instagram: 5 posts a month each | Facebook, Instagram: 10 posts a month each | Facebook, Instagram, X: 15 posts a month each |
| Paid social campaigns | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Book trailers and promo videos | 1 | 1 a month | 2 a month |
| Press releases, written and distributed | 1 at launch | 1 a month | 2 a month |
| Blog posts | 1 a month | 2 a month | 2 a month |
| Articles | 1 a month | 1 a month | 2 a month |
| Guest posts on other sites | – | 1 a month | 2 a month |
| Influencer and blogger outreach | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reader review campaign | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| SEO for book-related searches | – | 7 keywords | 15 keywords |
| Email campaigns to readers | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| 3-Day Bestseller campaign | – | 1, included | 2, included |
| Amazon Ads, in your account | – | Optional | ✓ |
| Amazon A+ Content | – | – | ✓ |
| Goodreads and book club engagement | – | – | ✓ |
| Retargeting campaigns | – | – | ✓ |
| Featured article on a major online publication | – | – | ✓ |
| Reporting | Monthly | Monthly | Monthly, plus quarterly strategy call |
| Price | $4,500 | $8,399 | $14,999 |
Paid social and Amazon Ads run on a budget you choose up front and pay to the platform yourself. It is never part of the plan price. Each number in this table goes into your agreement word for word, and your monthly report lists what was delivered against it, so you can audit us line by line.
Give us your launch date and we will tell you which plan the time allows.
Show Me My Marketing PlanThe math
A fair question, so here is the arithmetic, using only the single-item prices printed further down this page:
| Item | Bought separately | Working |
|---|---|---|
| 24 press releases | $10,800 | 2 a month for 12 months at $450 each |
| Two 3-Day Bestseller campaigns | $3,998 | $1,999 each |
| Author website | $500 | Counted at our lowest website price |
| Keyword and category setup | $350 | Amazon keywords, categories and description |
| Total for these four alone | $15,648 | Before 24 trailers, 540 social posts, 72 blogs, articles and guest posts, SEO, outreach, Amazon Ads and the featured article |
Four line items already pass the $14,999 the 12-month plan costs for everything. The 6-month plan works the same way: its six press releases and one bestseller campaign alone would cost $4,699 of its $8,399 if you bought them one at a time.
A real campaign
One book, one list of work, and you can check every item yourself: The City of the Gods by Jason Patterson.
A coordinated free Kindle promotion in December 2025 took the book to #2 in Mythology and #2 in Greco-Roman Myth & Legend Fantasy on the Kindle Store.
Story panels and enhanced visuals built for the product page, so the listing reads like a premium title.
Editorial features in NY Weekly and ArtDaily, both live and indexed.
An author site at launch, later redesigned with six book trailers, retailer links and a working contact form.
A Facebook author page and Instagram set up and managed, on a monthly calendar of 15 posts.
Reader-facing articles for the book’s site and guest posts on other platforms, written and published for him.
Reviews and rankings
Because the only way to keep that promise is to cheat, and the cheating can sink your book. Since 2024 the FTC has banned paying for reviews that must be positive. Amazon pulls reviews it thinks were bought and can act against the book itself. A guaranteed review count is a risk we will not put on your title.
Here is what we do instead. We put the book in front of real readers: advance copies, review outreach to readers and bloggers who cover your genre, and a bestseller campaign aimed at the categories where Amazon ranks it. What we guarantee in writing is our work. Every trailer, post, article and press release is counted in your agreement and listed in your report.
Amazon sales campaigns
Then skip the author plan and take an Amazon-only campaign. We fix the listing before a single ad runs, because ads sent to a weak page just buy bounces. The ads then run inside your own account.
| Campaign | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| 90-Day Launch | $1,500 | Sales audit of your Amazon page and data, keyword, category and description optimization, Amazon Ads built and managed in your account, early reader review campaign, Goodreads and BookBub profiles, monthly report |
| 6-Month Growth | $2,700 ($450 a month) | Everything in 90 days, plus newsletter setup and monthly reader email, two price promotions with reader-deal services, a listing refresh at month three, monthly call |
| 12-Month Program | $4,800 ($400 a month) | Everything in six months, plus an author website, a press release, a promotion every quarter and ads across your series or backlist, quarterly strategy call |
Ninety days is the shortest campaign we sell, because Amazon ads need that long to show which keywords pay. Your Amazon ad budget is decided by you before launch and paid directly to Amazon, separate from the campaign price. Fees for reader-deal services such as BookBub are paid to those services.
School and library outreach
Yes, and for some books it beats any ad. A teacher who adopts a children’s book, or a librarian who orders a faith or wellbeing title, recommends it to a room. So we build something useful for that audience first, such as a discussion guide or classroom resource, then take it to the people whose word carries weight.
| Campaign | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| 30 to 45 day outreach test | $1,750 | Positioning for professional audiences, one educational resource built around the book’s theme, a dedicated resource page, 10 to 15 hand-researched influence targets, personal outreach and follow-up, engagement report. No ad spend needed |
| 60-day outreach campaign | $4,985 | Discussion guide, resource page, 25 to 30 hand-researched contacts with outreach and one follow-up, Facebook and Instagram ads built and managed for 60 days, end-of-campaign report |
| 120-day outreach campaign | $6,875 | Everything in 60 days, plus a second classroom or reader resource, 50 contacts with two follow-ups each, retargeting, and a mid-campaign review |
Every contact is researched by hand. We never buy lists. Success is measured by resource downloads, replies, review interest and recommendations, not impressions alone.
Single deliverables
Yes. If you only need one piece, buy one piece. Each of these has a fixed price, and the $497 audit is credited in full if you book a campaign within 30 days.
| Deliverable | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Sales audit and action plan | $497 | Your Amazon page, cover, description, categories, reviews and KDP data reviewed, with a written fix list. Credited in full toward any campaign booked within 30 days |
| Keyword and category setup | $350 | Keyword research, category selection and a rewritten description |
| Single-page book website | $500 | One page for one book: cover, description, buy buttons, short bio and email signup. Full author websites from $1,500 |
| Press release | $450 | Written, approved by you and distributed |
| 3-Day Bestseller Launch Campaign | $1,999 | Ebook at $0 for three days with promotion concentrated to lift Amazon category ranking; categories agreed with you first |
| Media outreach, 60 days | $2,750 | Media kit and pitching to podcasts, radio, local press and blogs, with a report of every placement |
| Google and AI author profile | $2,500, then $300 a month | A profile built so Google and AI assistants recognize you and your books |
Amazon optimization, the author website and the press release are also included in Authority System (from $4,999), and the bestseller campaign in Authority Plus (from $7,500).
Compare
| Service on the open market | Typical price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing strategy | $910 average project | Reedsy, 2026 |
| Advertising management | $780 average project, plus ad spend | Reedsy, 2026 |
| One-month publicity campaign | About $1,370 median | Reedsy |
| BookBub Featured Deal (US) | $122 to over $4,000, paid to BookBub | BookBub, October 2026 |
Freelancers can be cheaper per task, and if you enjoy managing people, that route can work. The cost shows up in coordination. And the shelf is crowded: Bowker counted more than 4 million new US titles with ISBNs in 2025, 3.5 million of them self-published (Publishers Weekly). Getting published is the easy part now. Getting found is the work.
Whoever you hire, us included, get these five things in writing: ad spend shown separately from the fee, ads in your own accounts, categories agreed in advance, written deliverables and dates, and reporting you can check yourself.
When it is done
A listener hears your name on a podcast and searches for you. They land on your website, watch a trailer, read an article you never had to write, and buy the book from the store they already use. You did not post that morning. You were writing. At the end of the month your report shows what went out and what it did.
“It turned out better than I could have imagined when I first started.”
Jason Patterson, whose City of the Gods we published and marketed, with editorial features in NY Weekly and ArtDaily and 4.7 stars from 21 Amazon reviews. Read the case study
Plans
Pick the runway your book needs. One payment buys a counted list of work, and you get a report on it every month. Ad spend is never inside the price: you set it before any ad runs and pay the platform direct.
Launch
$4,500
Ninety days to lay the groundwork: author website, wider store distribution, author profiles, social pages, one book trailer and a launch press release.
Right for a first launch on a tight clock: $4,500 builds the site, profiles, trailer and press release, and they stay yours after the 90 days.
$1,500 a month
Price This for My BookMost chosen
$8,399
Six months of steady output: a trailer and a press release every month, paid social, reader outreach and search work, and one 3-Day Bestseller campaign at launch.
Right if you want launch month and the five after it handled, with the $1,999 bestseller campaign already inside the $8,399.
$1,400 a month, bestseller campaign included
Price This for My BookBest value
$14,999
Twelve months at double the monthly output, adding Amazon Ads, retargeting, reader communities, a featured article and two 3-Day Bestseller campaigns.
Right for authors with more books coming: a full year and two bestseller pushes for $14,999, the lowest monthly rate of the three.
$1,250 a month
Price This for My BookWhat protects you before a single post goes out
Paid in full upfront once you approve the written quote. Only after Amazon sales? Amazon-only campaigns start at $1,500. Trying to reach teachers or librarians? Outreach starts at $1,750. Still unsure? The call costs nothing.
What you can count on
How it runs
We’ve started with Marketing & launch. Add anything else your manuscript needs, and a specialist sends an itemised quote within one business day. Free, confidential, no obligation.
Written quote within one business day. Nothing is charged until you approve it. 100% of your rights stay yours.
Questions
Author plans are $4,500 for 3 months (Launch & Elevate), $8,399 for 6 months (Visibility Accelerator) and $14,999 for 12 months (Scale & Thrive), each paid once. Amazon-only campaigns are $1,500 for 90 days, $2,700 for six months and $4,800 for twelve. Outreach to educators and librarians runs $1,750 to $6,875. Single items start at $350. Ad budget is always extra, chosen by you and paid straight to the platform.
Author plans make you known across the web: website, social media, trailers, press, articles and a bestseller push. Amazon campaigns do one thing, which is sell more copies on Amazon, through listing fixes, Amazon Ads and price promotions. Outreach puts the book in front of educators, librarians and counselors with a resource built around it. Plenty of authors start with one and add another later. Not sure? The free call will tell you.
Yes. A strategist looks at your book and your goal, tells you which plan fits and why, and answers your questions by phone or email. No charge, and no obligation to buy anything.
Launch close and nothing built yet? Launch & Elevate. Want launch month and the months after it run for you? Visibility Accelerator, the most chosen, with the bestseller campaign included. Building a name over several books? Scale & Thrive.
About eight weeks before launch, so two months go into the website, profiles, trailers and build-up. If launch is sooner, or the book is already out, the same two-week setup starts right away.
No. The plan price pays for our work. The ad budget is what the ads themselves spend on Facebook, Instagram or Amazon, and you decide it. We suggest a figure for your goal, you choose what feels right, and you pay the platform from your own account. No markup, and you can raise, cut or pause it whenever you like.
No. Paying for positive reviews is banned by the FTC and breaks Amazon’s rules, and it can cost you the listing. We do review outreach to real readers and bloggers who cover your genre.
Three days when the ebook is free and all the promotion is pointed at lifting its Amazon category ranking. We agree the categories with you first. On its own it costs $1,999. The 6-month plan includes one and the 12-month plan includes two.
Yes. The website, social pages, KDP and ad accounts are all in your name, during the plan and after it.
Yes, and many of the books we market are. You get the same two-week setup, then we go straight to post-publication work.
No. Nobody controls readers or algorithms, so any agency promising sales is guessing. What we put in writing is the work, the dates and the reports.
You pay the plan price in full once you approve the written quote, and it covers our work only. Ad spend goes from you to the platform, in amounts you choose.
Title, genre and date are all we need to start. A strategist replies within one business day with a counted plan and one fixed price.
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