A marketing plan for every book
Over 80% of independent authors say marketing is the hardest part of the job, and most of them say the same thing about it: I'm not sure what works, or when. Playbook answers both. Pick a book, say what you're going for, and Quill lays out the whole run on your calendar — written, dated, and honest about the parts only you can do.
14-day free trial · Every core feature on every plan
Shadowfall launch
Launch it · 22 steps · 5 emails · 11 posts · 6 things to do
6 weeks out
- Thu 29 JanThe cover. You first.EmailDrafted
- Fri 30 JanCover revealPostScheduled
- Mon 2 FebApply for a BookBub Featured Deal on book oneTo doTo do
Launch week
- Fri 12 MarIt’s outEmailDrafted
- Fri 12 MarLaunch dayPostDrafted
- Fri 12 MarFlip your website to "Out now"WebsiteReady
Scorecard
Launch-week book clicks
312
Which book. What for. Here's what I know.
The wizard is three steps. Quill reads your account back to you — how many readers, what they open, which platforms you post to, whether the book has a cover, a store link, an ARC team — and asks only what it can't already see. Then it lays the playbook out, usually in under twenty seconds.
- Six goals: launch it, fill preorders, get reviews, grow my list, sell the backlist, keep in touch
- Every fact comes from your account; Quill never invents a review, a price or a reader count
- Tick what you want built as part of the run: the ARC team, the free chapters, the landing page, the automation
Good morning, Elena
Here's how your list is doing
Readers
12,482
+318Open rate
48.2%
+2.1%Click rate
7.9%
+0.8%Reader growth
Last 90 days
The Midnight Crown — launch announcement
Sent to 11,940 readers · 2 days ago
Emails, posts, the team, the page, and the things only you can do
A launch is five emails across sixteen weeks, a dozen posts, an ARC team ten weeks out, free chapters, a landing page, your website flipping from coming soon to out now, and a readthrough automation after. It is also a BookBub application six weeks out, a Goodreads listing, and a price change on the store. Playbook holds all of it, each on its day, and never pretends the second half isn't there.
- Each email and post is a real draft in the editor it belongs to, written in your voice, with one line on why it sits where it does
- To-dos carry a due date, a two-line how-to and the link; they sit on your calendar like everything else
- At most two emails in any four weeks, a week apart. That rule is code, not a suggestion to the AI
Blocks
The new guide has a release date 🎉
Button
Label
Link
Color
Everything between the plan and the result
This week, on your home screen
The two or three things on the playbook this week, anything behind at the top, each one a button into the draft it belongs to.
Your week, from Quill
One short email every Monday at eight, only while a playbook is active. One click to stop it.
Move the date, the plan follows
Push release day back a week and every step that has not gone out moves with it. The ARC team’s reminders too. Anything already sent stays where history put it.
Done means done
A step is finished when its email actually sent, its post actually published, its team is actually active. Nothing is a tick box except the to-dos.
Your words, your voice
Quill writes every piece in the brand voice you set, from the facts in your account. Edit any line, or tell Quill what to change and it rewrites.
An honest scorecard
Clicks on the book’s links, reviews your team reported, readers who joined, downloads, sends on time. Retailers don’t report sales to anyone, so we don’t pretend to count them.
Between launches too
Keep in touch is a quarter of showing up: a newsletter on the rhythm you choose, a backlist spotlight, a question for readers, a survey. The metric is the streak.
Nothing sends without you
Laying the playbook on your calendar creates drafts, teams and pages. Every one waits for you to press send, publish or activate.
Stop wondering what to do this week
Start a 14-day free trial, pick a book, and have the whole run laid out before your coffee is cold.
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