How to Cross-Promote Books and Boost Sales
Or Why Going At It Alone Isn’t Working Anymore
Indie publishing has never been more accessible—or more crowded. Especially for romance writers, especially for indie romance writers still trying to find their readers.
Every single day, thousands of new titles are added to digital shelves making visibility as key to our success and our words. In fact, visibility has quietly become the real battleground.
And that’s a truth most authors learn too late. I know I did. So how do you, a lesser-known author who is already overwhelmed trying to write, edit, market and manage her author business find and grow her audience? And how do you do it affordably?
Ah yes, affordably. Not with paid promotions and ads you absolutely cannot afford until you actually find an audience and sell books.
You borrow, share, and grow it together with others with cross-promotions. That’s right. It’s time to learn‚— or hopefully relearn—to play well with others.
Cross-promotion isn’t just a “nice to have” anymore—it’s one of the most effective, low-cost ways to:
- Increase preorders
- Build your email list
- Gain early reviews
- Extend your reach beyond your existing audience
- Connect with other authors
And the best part? Romance readers love discovering new authors through trusted recommendations. That’s you.
And that’s where collaboration becomes your unfair advantage.
What Cross-Promotion Looks Like (Beyond Swaps)
When most authors hear “cross-promo,” they think newsletter swaps and social media shares. But that’s just scratching the surface—and if you stop there, you’re leaving a lot of visibility (and sales) on the table.
A strong cross-promotion strategy goes far beyond trading mentions. It’s about creating shared reader experiences.
That might sound like a big, abstract idea, but in practice it looks like this:
- Coordinated Launch Support to build momentum
- For example, multiple authors could share cover reveals across each other’s blogs and socials , they could coordinate release dates or do a coordinated ‘release day wave’ which is like a blog-tour, where your book shows up in several newsletters at once, or within days of each other.
Or consider setting up your ARC teams to overlap, introducing your book to readers who are already primed to review a romance.
Each of these goes further than one small splash, creating that desired ripple effect instead.
- Shared Content Opportunities
This is one of the most underused—and most powerful—forms of collaboration.
- Guest blog posts (like the one you’re reading now but by another author)
• Author interviews that introduce you to a new audience or your audience to a new author
• Round-up posts featuring favorite tropes, must-read romances, or themed recommendations
Taking these actions allows your content to live longer than it would in a single email or blog post. Make your content work harder—and longer—for you.
- Reader-Facing Engagement
For me, this is where things get more creative and more fun. It’s also likely to be more effective in reaching readers.
- Consider joint giveaways that introduce readers to multiple authors at once
• Conduct trope-based quizzes that help readers discover new books
• Build multi-author promotions created around a shared theme
These take a little more work, but the payoff can be worth it.
- Long-Term Relationship Building
This is, for me, the best reason to work with another author on a cross promotion. It’s the long term benefit—a connection, maybe even a friendship.
- Build ongoing recommendation loops between trusted authors
• Offer series read-through promotions that keep readers engaged across books
• Increase shared audiences that grow with every collaboration
This is how you stop launching in isolation, or writing and publishing alone—and start building momentum that carries from one book to the next.
Why Collaboration Works So Well in Romance
Romance readers don’t just read one book. They binge. Hell, they are voracious.
If a reader love’s a trope like billionaire romance, they binge that, and maybe royalty romances too. If they find an author like love, they binge everything she writes, and other authors who are similar.
They are already searching for their next favorite read before they finish the current one.
That’s what makes this genre ripe for a powerful collaboration.
When you recommend another author, you’re not interrupting the reader experience—you’re enhancing it, giving the readers what they want in a genre where the overlap is natural.
Suddenly, you are not competing for the same reader, you are helping that reader find more of what you already know they love.
Think of it as shifting from marketing, to curating.
A Real Example: Cross-Promoting Crazy Lessons in Love
As I prepare to launch Crazy Lessons in Love (May 8), I’m leaning heavily into collaboration—not as an afterthought, but as a core launch strategy.
This book is built around:
- A heroine revisiting five exes on a dare
• A “lessons in love” podcast concept
• Strong friendships (the Crazy Eights)
• A slow-burn, emotionally grounded endgame romance
Which makes it a natural fit for readers who love emotionally layered, character-driven romance.
Instead of trying to reach all of those readers on my own, I’m partnering with authors whose books speak to similar emotional themes—even if the settings are different.
One example: I’m currently cross-promoting with romance author Kat Caldwell, whose historical romance Next, Love releases the same day.
On the surface, our books are different—contemporary vs. historical.
But at their core, they’re both about second chances, personal growth, and what it means to choose love again.
Here’s what that collaboration looks like in practice:
- Kat contributed a guest post to my blog, introducing her voice to my audience
• I’m including her book in a giveaway bundle for my readers, along with books by other authors I think they’ll enjoy, and who I choose to support.
• Kat and I are supporting each other’s launches with aligned messaging and timing
This wasn’t hard to do, because Kat and I have formed a connection as authors. And as friends. We want to help each other succeed. Simple. Strategic. Mutually beneficial.
And most importantly—instead of a hard-sell, it feels natural to the reader.
Because readers think in feelings, tropes, and themes.
Easy, High Impact Ways You Can Collaborate
If you’re an author interested in cross-promotion, the key is to start simple—and start now.
You don’t need a massive network. You need a few aligned partners and a willingness to show up for each other.
Here are some of the easiest, highest-impact ways to begin:
Newsletter Features and Swaps
• I feature your book → you feature mine
• Tie it to a shared trope or theme. The closer the alignment, the greater the success
Blog Features
• Guest posts or interviews
• Inclusion in curated recommendation lists
ARC + Review Support
• Share ARC opportunities with each other’s audiences
• Encourage early reviews that benefit both launches
Cover Reveal + Release Boost
• Coordinate posts and emails for visibility spikes
• Show up for each other on launch day
Giveaway Collaboration
• Create a bundle featuring multiple authors
• Grow your lists while delivering real value to readers
Remember, the goal isn’t to do everything. That’s just an invitation for overwhelm. Pick one or two strategies that resonate with you—and execute them well.