Marketing measured in copies sold
A launch plan built around your actual readers, your actual category and your actual budget — with a monthly report that shows units, not impressions.
What actually sells books once they are published?
Fixing the Amazon listing moves more copies than advertising: category selection, seven keyword strings and a description written to sell. Paid ads come after that, targeted at readers of comparable titles. Arkedia manages launches from £1,250 and reports in units sold rather than impressions.
- From£1,250
- Ad budget guide£300–£800/month
- Launch window6–8 weeks
- Reported inUnits sold
The uncomfortable truth about book marketing is that most of the work happens before launch day, in places that do not look like marketing: the category you chose, the first line of your description, the cover thumbnail at 80 pixels wide.
We start there, because fixing a listing is free and moves more units than any advert. Then we build the launch — reviews, pre-orders, email, press — and only then do we spend money on ads, targeted at readers who already buy books like yours.
Fixed price, quoted in GBP before you commit. Milestone payments.
- Free 1,500-word sample first
- Mutual NDA signed before we start
- Two revision rounds included
- Full rights and royalties stay yours
Everything in the Book Marketing service
Amazon listing optimisation
Title, subtitle, categories, seven keyword strings, A+ content and a description written to sell rather than summarise.
Launch campaign
A 6–8 week plan covering pre-orders, advance reviews, email, launch-week price strategy and rank targeting.
Amazon Ads management
Sponsored Products and Brands campaigns targeted at comparable titles, managed to an ACOS target you agree.
Meta & Google Ads
Where the audience justifies it — memoir, business and niche non-fiction often perform far better here than on Amazon.
Review generation
Compliant advance-reader campaigns through legitimate ARC networks. No paid or fake reviews, ever.
Monthly reporting
Units sold, page reads, ad spend, cost per sale and what we are changing next month. One page, in plain English.
How book marketing works, step by step
You approve before we proceed. Every time. No stage begins until you have signed off the one before it.
Audit
We review the listing, cover, category, pricing and any existing platform, and score where the losses are.
Positioning
Category and keyword research, comparative title analysis, and a repositioned listing.
Launch plan
A dated, week-by-week plan with owners against each task — ours and yours.
Execution
Reviews, email, press outreach and pre-order push in the run-up; rank management during launch week.
Paid campaigns
Ads built, launched and optimised against a cost-per-sale target, not a vanity metric.
Report and iterate
A monthly one-page report and a call. What worked, what did not, what changes.
What authors say afterwards
I came with eleven years of workshop notes and no idea how to make a book out of them. The outline stage alone was worth the fee — it was the first time I could see the shape of what I actually knew. The finished book reads like me on a good day.
I had three self-published titles that were not selling. They showed me my covers side by side with the top forty in my category at thumbnail size and I understood the problem in about four seconds. New covers, re-optimised listings, and the back catalogue started moving.
Writing about my mother's illness was not something I could do alone. The interviews were handled with real care, and they were clear from the start about what would be in the book and what would not. My family have all read it. That matters more than sales.
Book Marketing — your questions answered
Can you guarantee bestseller status?
We can very often get a book to number one in a specific Amazon sub-category during launch week, and we will tell you honestly which categories are realistic for your title. Anyone guaranteeing a broad bestseller list without seeing your book is selling you something else.
How much should I budget for ads?
For most non-fiction titles, £300–£800 per month is enough to learn what converts. Below roughly £200 there is not enough data to optimise on, and you are better off putting that money into the listing and the cover.
Do you buy reviews?
No. Paid reviews violate Amazon's terms and get titles removed. We run advance-reader-copy campaigns through legitimate networks, where readers receive a free copy and are under no obligation to review favourably — or at all.
What if my book is already published and not selling?
That is a large share of our marketing work. The audit usually finds the same three culprits: wrong category, a description written like a blurb instead of a sales page, and a cover that fails at thumbnail size.
Services that pair with this one
Book Publishing
Print, eBook and global distribution set up properly — in your name, with your ISBN, and 100% of royalties paid to you.
Learn moreAuthor Websites
A fast, search-optimised author site that captures email addresses instead of just existing.
Learn moreBook Trailers
Short-form video built for the feeds that actually sell books — cut for TikTok, Reels, Shorts and your Amazon listing.
Learn moreTell us about your book
A 45-minute call, no charge and no pressure. You will leave with a realistic timeline, a fixed price and an honest view of whether the book is worth writing.