12 Book Marketing Questions Publishers Should Be Asking in 2026

The publishing industry stands at an inflection point. Traditional marketing strategies that reliably moved books for decades are losing effectiveness, while new platforms, technologies, and reader behaviors emerge with dizzying speed. As we look toward 2026, publishers face a landscape transformed by artificial intelligence, shifting social media dynamics, evolving retail ecosystems, and reader expectations fundamentally different from those of even five years ago.

The publishers who will thrive in this new environment aren’t necessarily those with the biggest budgets or the most prestigious backlists. Rather, success will belong to those asking the right questions—challenging assumptions, interrogating old models, and developing strategies aligned with how readers actually discover, evaluate, and purchase books in 2026.

This article presents twelve critical questions every publisher should be wrestling with as they develop marketing strategies for the year ahead. These aren’t questions with easy answers, but rather provocations designed to spark strategic thinking, encourage experimentation, and help publishers navigate an industry in profound transition.

1. How Are We Adapting to the TikTok-to-Amazon Pipeline?

The BookTok phenomenon has fundamentally altered book discovery, particularly for younger readers. In 2026, TikTok remains a primary discovery platform where viral moments can catapult unknown titles to bestseller status within days. Yet many publishers still treat TikTok as an afterthought or novelty rather than a core marketing channel.

The Question’s Implications

Publishers must ask whether they’re truly understanding and leveraging this pipeline. Are you identifying which titles have TikTok potential before publication? Are you creating advance reader programs specifically targeting BookTok creators? Have you developed relationships with influential BookTok voices, providing them early access and creative freedom?

More fundamentally, are you producing content—both books and marketing materials—designed for TikTok’s format and culture? TikTok success often hinges on emotional resonance, aesthetic appeal, and authentic enthusiasm rather than traditional marketing polish. Publishers accustomed to controlled messaging must learn to embrace creator-driven narratives they don’t entirely control.

The TikTok-to-Amazon pipeline also raises questions about timing and inventory management. Books can go viral months or years after publication, creating sudden demand spikes. Are your systems flexible enough to capitalize on unexpected viral moments with rapid reprints and coordinated promotional support?

2. What Role Does AI Play in Our Personalization Strategy?

Artificial intelligence has moved from experimental technology to practical tool, and by 2026, AI-powered personalization is table stakes in most consumer industries. Yet book marketing often remains remarkably one-size-fits-all.

The Personalization Opportunity

Publishers should ask how they’re using AI to personalize reader experiences across the entire marketing funnel. Can you serve different book descriptions to different reader segments based on their preferences? Can you dynamically adjust email content based on individual reading history and engagement patterns? Can AI help you identify which readers are most likely to respond to which titles, optimizing your outreach?

Beyond marketing, AI raises questions about discoverability. Are you working with retailers to ensure their AI recommendation engines understand your titles’ nuances? As AI assistants increasingly mediate book discovery—readers asking ChatGPT or similar tools for recommendations—how do you ensure your titles surface appropriately?

The ethical dimensions matter too. How do you balance personalization with privacy concerns? Where does helpful customization cross into manipulative targeting? These questions have no universal answers, but publishers must develop principled positions as AI capabilities expand.

3. Are We Overinvesting in Ineffective Social Media Platforms?

Social media dynamics shift constantly, and 2026’s platform landscape differs significantly from previous years. Yet publishers often maintain presence across numerous platforms out of habit or fear of missing out, spreading resources thin without strategic justification.

Strategic Platform Selection

Publishers must ruthlessly evaluate which platforms actually drive book sales versus which merely consume resources. Does your Facebook presence generate meaningful book discovery, or is it a legacy investment maintained because “we’ve always been on Facebook”? Are your Twitter/X efforts reaching readers or just industry insiders talking to each other?

This question demands platform-specific ROI analysis. Measure not just engagement metrics (likes, shares, comments) but actual conversions—email signups, website visits, purchases. You may discover that a single platform where you invest 60% of your social media effort generates 90% of your results, while four other platforms combined barely move the needle.

The question also asks whether you’re early or late to emerging platforms. By 2026, new social platforms will have emerged, some gaining traction with specific demographics. Are you experimenting with these platforms before they reach saturation, or are you perpetually playing catch-up?

Consider whether your social media strategy prioritizes author platform building over publisher brand building. In 2026, readers care more about individual authors than about publishers, so resources might better support author social presence than corporate publisher accounts.

4. How Are We Measuring Marketing Effectiveness Beyond Bestseller Lists?

Traditional publishing success metrics—bestseller list placements, first-week sales, advance orders—remain important but increasingly incomplete measures of marketing effectiveness.

Expanding Success Metrics

Publishers should ask what additional metrics capture marketing success in 2026’s environment. Are you tracking reader lifetime value—how a single acquisition through marketing efforts leads to multiple purchases over time? Are you measuring community building and reader engagement rather than just one-time transactions?

Consider qualitative metrics alongside quantitative ones. Are you monitoring social listening to understand how readers discuss your books? Are you tracking review sentiment and themes rather than just star ratings and counts? Are you measuring earned media value and share of conversation within genre communities?

For books with long-tail potential, short-term metrics prove particularly inadequate. A title that sells modestly at launch but steadily for years through word-of-mouth can outperform a flash-in-the-pan bestseller. Are your marketing success measurements sophisticated enough to recognize and reward these different success patterns?

Marketing attribution also demands attention. When a reader buys a book, can you identify which marketing touchpoint(s) influenced that decision? Multi-touch attribution—understanding how email, social media, reviews, and other factors work together—provides far more actionable insights than last-click attribution alone.

5. What’s Our Strategy for Audio-First Content and Podcasting?

Audiobooks continue growing rapidly, and podcasting has become a major media consumption category. Yet many publishers treat audio as an afterthought—a secondary format released simultaneously with print/ebook without tailored marketing.

Audio’s Marketing Potential

Publishers must ask whether they’re fully leveraging audio for marketing and discoverability. Are you creating podcast series that extend your books’ worlds, building engaged communities? Are you partnering with popular podcasts for creative integrations beyond traditional author interviews?

Consider audio-exclusive content as marketing tools—bonus chapters, author commentaries, or companion stories available only in audio format. These can drive audiobook platform engagement while building reader loyalty. Are you thinking strategically about narrator selection as a marketing decision, understanding that narrators have their own fan followings who might discover your titles?

The question extends to audio-first acquisitions and marketing. Are you identifying potential titles that might perform better in audio than print, and marketing them accordingly? Some genres and formats—particularly narrative nonfiction—often find larger audiences in audio format, suggesting marketing strategies should prioritize audio channels.

6. How Are We Building Direct Reader Relationships?

For decades, publishers operated at one remove from readers—retailers and libraries mediated the relationship. In 2026, direct-to-consumer relationships offer competitive advantages that forward-thinking publishers can’t ignore.

The Direct Relationship Opportunity

Publishers should ask what direct reader relationships they’re building and how they’re leveraging them. Do you have robust email lists segmented by reader interest? Are you operating subscription services, membership programs, or direct sales channels? Have you created reader communities—online forums, Discord servers, or in-person events—where engaged readers gather?

Direct relationships enable better data collection about reader preferences, more effective personalization, and reduced dependence on retailer algorithms and policies. They also provide marketing channels you fully control, without platform algorithm changes suddenly reducing your reach.

The question also addresses author platform integration. How are you coordinating publisher direct relationships with authors’ own platforms? Can readers who love one of your authors be introduced to similar authors on your list, creating cross-pollination opportunities?

Direct relationships require different skills than traditional publishing—community management, subscription operations, customer service. Are you building these capabilities or partnering with specialists who have them?

7. Are We Prepared for the Next Wave of Retail Consolidation?

The retail book landscape continues evolving, with independent bookstores showing surprising resilience even as online retail expands. By 2026, new dynamics are reshaping where and how books are sold.

Retail Strategy Questions

Publishers must ask how they’re preparing for continued retail evolution. Are your marketing strategies overly dependent on Amazon, creating vulnerability if that relationship changes or competition emerges? Are you investing appropriately in supporting independent bookstores through co-op programs, events, and marketing materials that drive local traffic?

Consider emerging retail channels. Are you present in non-traditional book outlets—subscription boxes, lifestyle brands, direct-to-consumer platforms—where your target readers shop? Are you thinking creatively about retail partnerships that position books alongside complementary products?

The resurgence of physical retail, particularly among younger readers seeking screen-free activities and tangible products, creates opportunities. Are your physical book designs—covers, finishes, formats—optimized for shelf appeal in an Instagram-aesthetic culture where books double as decor?

Distribution flexibility matters too. Can you quickly shift inventory between channels as demand patterns change? Can you support both large retailer orders and small independent store quantities efficiently?

8. How Are We Addressing Discoverability in an Oversaturated Market?

More books are published each year than ever before, making discoverability increasingly challenging. In 2026, standing out from hundreds of thousands of annual releases requires strategic thinking beyond traditional publicity and advertising.

Cutting Through the Noise

Publishers should ask what makes their titles genuinely discoverable. Are you publishing fewer titles with stronger marketing support rather than spreading resources thin across enormous lists? Are you identifying and dominating specific niches where you can become the go-to publisher rather than competing across all categories?

Category selection matters tremendously for discoverability. Are you strategically positioning books in categories where they can rank prominently rather than in obvious-but-oversaturated categories where they’ll be buried? Are you leveraging cross-genre appeal to reach multiple reader communities?

Packaging and positioning questions arise here. In crowded categories, does your title immediately communicate what makes it unique and who it’s for? Does your cover design, title, and subtitle work effectively in thumbnail size where most discovery happens?

Consider pre-publication buzz-building. Are you creating anticipation through cover reveals, excerpt releases, and community engagement months before publication, or are you trying to build awareness only at launch when attention is hardest to capture?

9. What’s Our Approach to Inclusive Marketing and Diverse Audiences?

Publishing has made meaningful progress on diversity in recent years, but marketing often lags behind acquisitions. By 2026, inclusive marketing isn’t just an ethical imperative—it’s a business necessity as readership demographics continue diversifying.

Inclusive Marketing Strategy

Publishers must ask whether their marketing truly reaches diverse audiences. Are your marketing teams themselves diverse, bringing varied perspectives to strategy development? Are you partnering with influencers, bloggers, and media outlets that reach diverse communities rather than only mainstream/majority channels?

Consider whether your marketing materials represent the diversity within your books. Do cover designs, marketing copy, and promotional materials authentically reflect the characters and themes in your diverse titles? Are you avoiding tokenization or stereotype-reinforcing marketing even when well-intentioned?

The question extends to accessibility. Are your marketing materials accessible to people with disabilities—alt text for images, captions for videos, accessible website design? Are you marketing accessible formats (large print, audio, enhanced ebooks) as enthusiastically as standard formats?

Cultural competency matters increasingly. Are you ensuring marketing campaigns for books from specific cultural perspectives involve input from people from those communities? Are you avoiding cultural appropriation or insensitive marketing even when the books themselves are thoughtfully written?

10. How Are We Leveraging Data While Respecting Privacy?

Data-driven marketing offers powerful targeting and personalization capabilities, but privacy concerns and regulations increasingly constrain data collection and usage. By 2026, publishers must balance data leverage with privacy respect.

The Privacy-Personalization Balance

Publishers should ask how they’re collecting and using data ethically and legally. Are you compliant with evolving privacy regulations across all markets you operate in? Are you transparent with readers about data collection and usage? Are you providing meaningful control over personal information?

Consider what data actually matters. Are you collecting data that genuinely improves reader experience and marketing effectiveness, or data that seems interesting but lacks actionable value? Quality and relevance of data matter far more than quantity.

First-party data—information readers provide directly through email signups, purchases, and engagement—becomes increasingly valuable as third-party cookies and cross-platform tracking decline. Are you investing in building first-party data assets rather than depending on increasingly restricted third-party data?

The question also addresses data security. Book reading history is sensitive personal information. Are your systems secure? Have you prepared for potential breaches with response plans and appropriate insurance?

11. Are We Marketing Books or Building Franchises?

Individual book marketing remains important, but by 2026, the most successful publishers increasingly think in terms of franchises, series, universes, and extended intellectual property rather than standalone titles.

Franchise Thinking

Publishers must ask whether they’re identifying and developing franchise potential. Are you acquiring books with series potential rather than only standalone titles? Are you supporting authors in developing extended universes, companion stories, and multimedia potential?

Marketing implications are significant. Franchise thinking means investing more heavily in first-book marketing because you’re not just selling one book but establishing a property that will generate revenue across multiple releases and potentially formats. Are you willing to accept lower ROI on book one if it establishes a franchise that becomes highly profitable across books two through five?

Consider cross-media potential from the start. Are you acquiring rights and developing strategies for adaptation, merchandise, interactive experiences, and other franchise extensions? Are you marketing books with their franchise potential in mind, building awareness that extends beyond individual releases?

The question also addresses author career development. Are you building authors as brands and franchises themselves, with marketing infrastructure that persists between book releases and creates eagerly-awaited tentpole moments when new books arrive?

12. What Are We Doing That Competitors Can’t Easily Replicate?

In an industry where many publishers use similar strategies, playbooks, and platforms, differentiation provides competitive advantage.

Differentiation Strategy

Publishers should ask what makes their marketing approach genuinely distinctive. What unique capabilities, relationships, or assets do you possess that competitors can’t easily copy? This might be proprietary technology, exclusive influencer relationships, distinctive brand positioning, or unique editorial expertise in specific categories.

Consider whether you’re competing on the same terms as everyone else or finding blue ocean opportunities. Are you all chasing the same BookTok influencers and promotional opportunities, or are you discovering untapped channels and communities where competition is less intense?

The question extends to organizational capabilities. Are you developing in-house expertise in areas where most publishers rely on vendors, creating sustainable advantages? Are you building tools, systems, or processes that give you speed or efficiency advantages?

Finally, consider brand differentiation. Do readers, agents, and authors see your house as distinctive, or are you interchangeable with competitors? Publisher branding may matter less than it once did, but within specific categories or audiences, strong publisher identity can drive discovery and preference.

Conclusion: Questions as Strategic Tools

These twelve questions don’t offer easy answers, and that’s intentional. The publishing landscape of 2026 is too complex and dynamic for universal prescriptions. What works for a children’s publisher won’t work for literary fiction specialists. What succeeds for a large conglomerate won’t apply to a small independent press.

The value lies in the questions themselves—as tools for examining assumptions, challenging conventional wisdom, and developing strategies aligned with your specific circumstances and goals. The publishers who thrive in 2026 won’t necessarily be those with perfect answers but rather those willing to continually question, experiment, and adapt.

Make these questions starting points for strategic conversations with your marketing teams. Revisit them quarterly as circumstances evolve. Add your own questions specific to your situation. The goal isn’t answering all twelve definitively but rather using them to drive strategic thinking that keeps your marketing relevant, effective, and responsive to the rapidly changing world of books.

2026 will challenge publishers in ways we can’t fully anticipate today. Those who approach these challenges with curiosity, flexibility, and willingness to question everything—including their own most cherished assumptions—will position themselves to not just survive but thrive in publishing’s next chapter.