Skip to content
← Back to Blog 30 Social Media Post Ideas for Authors (Before, During and After Launch)
PostClaw Team · · 3 min read
authors self-publishing post-ideas instagram bluesky

30 Social Media Post Ideas for Authors (Before, During and After Launch)

Readers follow writers, not books. The authors who sell steadily on social media rarely post "buy my book" every day; they let readers into the work, so that launch day feels like news from someone they know. The ideas below cover the months before a launch, the launch itself, and the long stretch after it.

How to use this list: two or three posts a week is plenty, and a month planned at once leaves the rest of the week for writing. Our free content calendar template helps.

While you are writing

  1. A line you rewrote many times. "This sentence took eleven drafts. Here is draft one."
  2. Your writing space. Desk, café, kitchen table.
  3. The research rabbit hole. "Things I learned about lighthouses for chapter 9."
  4. Word count update. Honest, including the bad weeks.
  5. The real place behind the setting. A photo and a short story.
  6. A cut scene. Something that did not make the book.
  7. What you are reading. Books that shaped this one.
  8. Ask readers. "Which name fits a stubborn ship captain?"

Before launch

  1. Cover reveal. "The colour was almost green. Here is why it isn't."
  2. Title story. How the book got its name.
  3. First line reveal.
  4. Countdown posts. Thirty days, two weeks, one week.
  5. Preorder announcement with where to buy and what preorders get.
  6. Advance reader copies. How readers can request one.
  7. Character introductions, one per post.
  8. Mood board for the book.

Launch week

  1. It's out. One clear post with the cover and the link.
  2. Thank-you to early readers.
  3. Reader photos of the book (with their permission and a tag).
  4. Launch event or online reading details.
  5. A short reading video of the first page.
  6. Behind the scenes of launch day.

After launch

  1. Reader question of the week, answered.
  2. A quote card from a review (credit the reviewer).
  3. Book club guide or discussion questions.
  4. Anniversary post. "One year ago this book came out."
  5. Translation or audiobook news.
  6. What you are writing next.
  7. Recommend another author's book. Readers love good recommendations, and authors share them.
  8. A sale or promotion, stated with the dates and the price.

A sample week

Day Platform Post
Mon Instagram Cover reveal: why it is not green
Tue Bluesky A line from chapter 3 I rewrote eleven times
Wed Threads Preorders are open — signed copies for the first 100
Thu Blog The real town behind the setting
Fri Facebook Reader question of the week

A note on reviews

Retailers such as Amazon do not allow paying or rewarding readers for reviews, or asking only for positive ones. Ask readers to leave an honest review, and share reviews readers have already written.

Free tools

Would rather be writing? Start free with PostClaw: plan a month of posts in one sitting and publish them to Instagram, Bluesky, Threads and more.