Digital Marketing for Creatives

(The sound of a mic being adjusted, a heavy sigh, maybe a sip of something. A pause.)

Okay. Look.

So you finally did it. You climbed the mountain. You fought the demons. You finished the damn thing. The novel. The painting series. The album. It’s there. It’s real. It’s a miracle. You should be lying in a field somewhere, staring at the sky, feeling the sun on your face and the profound relief of creation.

But no. Because now… you have to sell it.

And the word they use is “launch.” Which sounds like a rocket, right? Explosive, fiery, a violent shove into the void. And everyone’s telling you you gotta be hustling. Daily posts. Countdowns. TikToks where you dance, for some reason. Teasers, trailers, a relentless, performative drumbeat that makes you want to take your beautiful creation and hide it in a drawer forever. Because this part? This feels like the opposite of why you started. It feels like you have to become a carnival barker for your own soul.

I get it. I’ve been there. The dread is real.

So let’s talk about the pre-order. The specific, modern torture of asking people to buy something that doesn’t exist yet. It’s weird! It’s a leap of faith! And the prevailing wisdom is that you have to be screaming about that leap of faith from the rooftops every single day for six weeks until your voice is gone and everyone hates you.

What if we just… didn’t do that?

What if we built a little machine, a kind, gentle, efficient machine, to do most of the talking for us? So we could focus on, I don’t know, making the next thing, or sleeping, or remembering what our family looks like?

Here’s my not-so-humble opinion: The goal of a pre-order campaign isn’t to be omnipresent. It’s to be strategically, meaningfully present at a few key moments. The rest is just noise you automate. Let’s break it down.

Step 1: Build The Trap Door (Before You Announce Anything)

This is the automation foundation. Do this in the quiet, before you tell a soul.

• Your Email Service Provider (ESP) is Your Quarterback. Mailchimp, ConvertKit, whatever. You’re gonna set up a sequence. The moment someone pre-orders, they get an immediate, automated “Thank You” email. Not just a receipt. A personal-feeling note from you. “You’re in. You’re amazing. Here’s a secret thing because you’re early.” Maybe it’s the first chapter PDF, a high-res desktop wallpaper of the cover art, a 1-minute voice memo about the inspiration.
• Schedule Your Social Teases. Use a scheduler. Later, Buffer, the built-in Meta one. Take an afternoon, ONE AFTERNOON, and write 10-15 posts. A close-up of a texture from your painting. A single, banger of a sentence from page 47. A photo of your chaotic desk. Schedule them to drip out over the campaign. Boom. Social media is now on autopilot for two weeks. You don’t have to think about it.
• Create Your “Hub.” One link. One beautiful page. That’s it. Use Carrd, Linktree, or a page on your own site. This link has: The pre-order button (for all retailers), a killer description, maybe a short video of you talking quietly about the work, and all the goodies they get for ordering early. This is the only link you ever share. No “get it here on Amazon, but also here on B&N, and don’t forget the signed copy on my site…” One link to rule them all. You’re not a traffic cop.

Step 2: The Three Big Bangs (Where You Actually Show Up)

You’ve built the machine. Now, you only turn on the human engine three times.

1. The Soft Opening (Day 1): This is for your inner circle. Your email list. Your Patreon supporters. The 20 people who always comment. You send one heartfelt email. “It’s here. You guys get first dibs. This link is live for you 48 hours before I tell anyone else.” This does two things: It rewards your true fans, and it creates an initial sales bump that makes the algorithm gods (and your own confidence) perk up.
2. The Public Announcement (Day 3): Now you tell the world. One big, authentic post. On your blog, on Instagram, wherever you like to be. Don’t just say “PRE-ORDER NOW!” Tell the story. “Two years ago, I had this stupid idea in the shower. I almost quit in March. But here it is, and it’s about the quiet terror of hope, and you can get it here.” Then, you share that ONE LINK. You pin this post. This is your main square on the board.
3. The Mid-Point or Final Push (Week 3 or 2 Days Out): One more moment of human contact. An email with subject line: “A surprise inside the book…” or “Last chance for the bonus print.” Share something genuine you’ve noticed. “Some of you have asked about the dog on page 102, here’s the story.” Or “I just packed the first batch of signed bookplates, it got real.” It’s not a frantic “BUY NOW”; it’s a reminder of the community forming around this thing.

Step 3: Go Dark (And Trust The Machine)

Here’s the radical part. In between those three big moments? You disappear from promotion. You let the scheduled posts roll out. You let the automated emails fire. You let that one beautiful link do its work.
You answer questions if they come in, with kindness. But you do not create new promotional content. You go back to the field. You stare at the sky. You sketch the next thing. You live the life that gives you something to actually write or paint about. You go back to being creative. You go back to doing the work.

The truth nobody selling you a “launch course” wants to admit is this: The people who are gonna buy it? They’re probably already listening to you. The desperate, daily hustle is mostly just screaming into a void to soothe your own anxiety. It burns you out and makes you resentful of the very art you just birthed.

So build the gentle machine. Show up with heart at the key moments. Then walk away and let it breathe.

Otherwise, what are we even doing this for?

(Another sip. A softer sigh.)

Alright. That’s my time. Go make your thing. And for the love of god, stop trying to dance on TikTok. It’s not you. We can all see it.

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I rock up here twice a week at least, with dynamite for the creatives who hate to market. It’s ideas, tools, strategies to make you market effectively so you can spend time being creative. That’s what we need right now: less marketers and more creatives. You can subscribe to the blog and get notifications (that magic box below – no spam), and/or you can do me a solid and buy me a coffee for being here for over two years giving away my pearls of wisdom. Yeah, I’m selling at you, right now.