How to Promote Horror: 5 Horror Movie Marketing Tactics You Can Steal for your Book
When it comes to marketing a horror movie, the trailer is everything. A good trailer can be shared all over social media and attract just the right audience to go and see it. Promoting a horror novel is much the same. Here are 5 marketing tactics horror movies use that you can also use to promote your horror novel.
5 – Show Audience Testimonials and Ratings
A lot of movie trailers show quotes from critics praising the movie. This technique is commonly used to sell books as well.
One technique that has become a best practice is to start your book description on Amazon with a quote praising the book or your work. You can also put additional quotes on your book cover and at the bottom of your book description.
You can get quotes by pulling from favorable reviews or by reaching out to other authors. Many authors will be happy to blurb your book in exchange for a free copy.
4 – Creativity Can Be More Effective than Money
There's a reason a lot of up and coming directors start with a horror movie: small budgets. With a little creativity, there are ways to make a good horror movie without spending a lot of money. Look at movies like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. Both had tiny budgets and both found humongous success.
There are a lot of great promotional sites for authors, including BooksGoSocial, but there's also something to be said for being creative. You may be able to find a fun and creative way to promote your book on social media without spending a lot of money.
I photoshopped this image to help promote my horror novel, Violent Hearts, and it drew a lot more traffic, likes and comments, then a regular book cover post.
“Bradbury on acid.” Greg Gifune, author of The Bleeding Season
3 – Show Your Characters
Horror movie trailers often revolve around their characters. If they can make you care about what happens to these characters, you are much more likely to go and see the movie.
Same is true for books. Be sure to include details about your characters in your book description and promotions that will make your audience sympathetic to your characters.
2 – Use Mystery to Entice Readers to Buy
Horror movie trailers often hit us with something unexpected and mysterious. Where did that come from? What is causing that? These questions draw us into the story and make us want to go and see the movie.
You can offer excerpts and short cliffhanger teasers on your social media feeds to build an audience and entice readers to buy your book.
Here's one I've used to promote my horror novel, Violent Hearts:
It started that cold night spent in the woods, all those years ago. Owen and Chloe wakened something, something inside them both. But, for a while at least, they thought they could live normal lives…
1 – Give Readers What They Want
Same is true for promoting your book. Give your readers characters they care about, with sympathetic backgrounds you can sum up in a few words you can use in your book description. This helps to put a “face” to your characters and give them life for your readers.
We've all seen movie trailers that give away too much of the plot. Don't be that person. Instead, tell them what the blood and guts are in your book.
When someone picks up your book, what's in it for them? Tell them! Be explicit. If your book is an exciting adventure, then tell them it's an exciting adventure. If your book has uncanny hauntings or violent gore, don't be afraid to share this fact. Not only will you keep away readers who don't like such things and might leave bad reviews, but you will get the right readers interested in your book.
Keith Deininger is the award-winning and #1 Amazon bestselling author of many horror and fantasy titles, including WITHIN, THE FEVER TRILOGY and THE GODGAME series. He has been called “one of the finest writers of imaginative fiction” and “Ray Bradbury on acid.” His latest novel, VIOLENT HEARTS, has been compared to Stephen King’s fantasy-based work. He lives in Albuquerque, NM with his wife and kids. Although he loves a good nightmare, in person he’s a really nice guy. Promise.
Keith’s personal site: www.KeithDeininger.com
Keith’s SEO content and editing company: www.MeridianPublications.com
When it come to promotion, social media is our largest asset and our biggest crutch. Thanks to internet communication, everyone has something to promote. Without it, there is no indie author. But with it, suddenly everyone's decided to write a book, whether they have what it takes or not.
