Fiction Writing Made Easy | Top Creative Writing Podcast for Fiction Writers & Writing Tips

#238. How to Market Your Book in a Way That Actually Feels Good (With Beth Barany)

36 snips

Mar 10, 2026

Beth Barany, award-winning sci-fi and fantasy novelist and creativity coach, explains heart-centered book marketing that aligns with your values. She talks about choosing tactics that match your emotional strengths. Learn how to uncover core writing values, use tropes to invite the right readers, experiment with playful platforms like Reddit, and build authentic, collaborative connections.

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INSIGHT

Question Marketing 'Shoulds' That Cause Burnout

Question the prevailing 'shoulds' of book marketing because platforms and tactics change over time.
Beth warns that chasing what everyone says (like arbitrary review counts) often causes burnout and distracts from personal definitions of success.

ADVICE

Find Your Core Values By Listing What Lights You Up

Do identify your core values by listing words and synonyms and checking how you already spend your time.
Beth recommends narrowing to top values (e.g., play, cozy, adventure) and tracing them to childhood preferences for confirmation.

ADVICE

Back Into Values By Listing What You Won't Do

Try backing into values by listing what you don't want to do to refine limits (e.g., I will not run Facebook ads).
Use that negative list to protect time, family priorities, and choose aligned tactics.

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Learn how to market your book in a way that aligns with your values, builds genuine reader connections, and feels sustainable instead of draining.

Book Marketing. These two words make most writers want to close their laptops and hide forever. But what if it didn't have to feel that way?

In this episode, I'm joined by award-winning science fiction and fantasy novelist and certified creativity coach Beth Barany to talk about what she calls heart-centered book marketing: A values-driven approach to promoting your story that actually feels aligned with who you are.

We break down how to market your book without feeling salesy, how to identify the core values behind your writing, and how to build meaningful reader relationships that energize you rather than drain you.

Here’s what we cover:

[04:35] What heart-centered book marketing actually means and how it differs from the traditional advice you'll find everywhere online.

[07:57] Why chasing other people's book marketing strategies leads to burnout, and a key question to ask yourself before adopting any tactic.

[11:01] How to uncover your core values as a writer and why your novel characters can actually help you do it.

[15:47] A real example of how Beth uses her values to choose her book marketing platforms, including a creative Reddit strategy she's currently exploring.

[22:18] Why you should ditch the "buy my book" approach and use your story's tropes to invite the right readers in instead.

[24:36] Why fangirling authors you love is the easiest free marketing strategy and how it can lead to real collaborations and unexpected opportunities.

Whether you're pre-launch, mid-series, or just exhausted by marketing advice that doesn't feel like you, this episode will give you a refreshing, permission-giving framework to promote your book in a way that's sustainable, authentic, and actually kind of fun.

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

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