7 Fantasy Publishing Tips to Stand Out & Sell More

Bella Rose Emmorey

book editor, rogue behaviorist, digital marketer, writer, brand builder, plant aunt, and cheese enthusiast.

First and foremost, these fantasy publishing tips will do you no good if your book sucks. There, I said it. Everyone else wants to say it, but they’re not. With that out of the way, we can get to the good stuff.
Which is how you can set your book up for success when you actually do publish it. Provided you’ve done the work to write a good fantasy novel, now it’s time to work on a few non-prose details to help it stand out and sell well.
They’re different skills, you see.
Which is why there are plenty of subpar fantasy novels selling like hotcakes on Amazon while perfectly quality ones will be left to whither away on digital "shelves".
1. Create a bangin’ hookYour boring ass page-long novel summary isn’t going to cut it, even if you worked really hard on the blurb and think it’s great. People are lazy. They don’t want to read a bunch of stuff. They want a single sentence that will make them cough up the attention span to read more about the book.
This is what you’ll position not only at the very beginning of your book description on Amazon (like the example below), but what you’ll use on ads, reels and TikToks, and other promotional material.
So to compete with the ever shrinking attention spans of folks online today, you can:
Craft a one-sentence hook that highlights what makes your book unique.
Focus on an emotional or imaginative element, such as an unexpected twist in the magical system or a protagonist facing a moral dilemma that is not like every other fantasy novel in its 
For example, instead of saying, "A wizard seeks revenge in an unexpected way," say, "A vengeful wizard discovers her nemesis is her long-lost twin, threatening the very fabric of her magic with an almost forgotten loophole."
You know which is more exciting. And if you want to keep it even more impactful, make it as short as possible while conveying the most intrigue. Here are a couple examples of books who do this well (and take note of the formatting versus the main blurb).
﻿
﻿
Why it works: because while there are a ton of shifter novels about the bonds of a pack, this subverts the common theme by declaring she can never bond, and tells you the stakes upfront.
﻿
﻿
Why it works: the suggestion of the fearsome creature makes us believe that the person riding it is even more fearsome. The combination creates intrigue because not only will they be dealing with such a creature, but a person connected to it too.
﻿
﻿
Why it works: we get a lot of information with very few sentences that tells us who we’ll be reading about (former slave, reclusive warrior) and the conflict we’ll find (justice vs someone who doesn’t believe it exists). Both of which intrigue readers.
Figure out a hook that works for you and your subgenre!
2. Make your blurb snappy and vividNow it’s time to flesh out the rest of what people will read about your book—both on back cover and on the digital sales page. You can study the ones above to get a good idea of how to craft it.
Remember that the blurb’s purpose is to sell the book. It’s not to explain the book. You want to introduce characters, conflict, and intrigue. Create questions in the reader’s minds that they want to answer.
Plus, if you touch on atmosphere and the general feel of the book, you’ll end up attracting the right kind of reader.
Think of the blurb as the very first impression. If the impression is bad and boring, a reader will think the book’s like that (even if it’s not!).
Here are a few more tips to write the book’s blurb:
Start with a hook to intrigue readers (covered above).
Introduce the protagonist, their goal, and the stakes because readers want to know the type of conflict they’ll be getting to read.
End with a cliffhanger that makes readers want more—and this is where you can add a little dramatic flare that might seem cheesy at first glance, but will serve readers well
Avoid overly complex summaries or diving into subplots. Think of your blurb as a lure, not a synopsis.
3. Work on your author brandThis isn’t just a one-stop-shop but rather a long-term play. If you want the best fantasy publishing tips, you’ll have to commit to seeing the results. Which means to start working on your brand as an author.
This would look like:
Sharing behind-the-scenes looks at your writing process.
Discussing your inspirations, such as mythology, folklore, or favorite fantasy tropes.
Using platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube to connect visually with fans of the genre.
Marketing is a necessary part of publishing. You can’t just publish an expect your books to magically start selling. That marketing comes in the form of an author brand.
Now, that doesn’t mean you have to have a personal platform. You don’t even need to be on the videos you make. But it is important to get eyeballs on your work, and social media is a place with tons of eyeballs.
Plus, you don’t need crazy, viral tactics.
Consistency is key—choose a tone and style that reflects your book’s essence. A dark fantasy author might opt for moody, dramatic visuals, while an epic fantasy writer could use vibrant, heroic imagery.
Find an author who writes similar books as you and learn from what’s working for them. That’s made a lot easier by being able to see how many views certain reels and TikToks of theirs get.
Find the videos with stand-out view counts that go above their normal views, and start to reverse engineer why that one works.
﻿
Rinse and repeat, but make it your own! $ This video is a good one$  to help with this process.
4. Pay for the flashy coverI will die on this hill.
Your cover has to be worthy. Not just of the quality of the writing inside, but worthy of being shared on social, in reading groups, and on bookshelves.
Readers, especially the raving-fan type, want a beautiful book cover to look at and display. It’s part of the reading experience, so you can’t just skip over it.
Notice that all the examples from the first fantasy publishing tip have comprehensive covers that were clearly and professionally done. It’s worth it to hire a designer who knows about book cover design specifically, and not just someone who’s an okay-illustrator who wants the practice.
Here are a few tips for a quality cover:
Hire a professional designer experienced in fantasy covers.
Research trends in your subgenre to understand what appeals to readers while maintaining originality.
Ensure the typography and imagery match your book's theme—elegant serif fonts for epic fantasy, bold lettering for urban fantasy, etc.
5. Price strategically & use promotionsPricing and promotional strategies can significantly influence how your fantasy book performs, especially during its launch. If your book is on sale, for example, people are more likely to buy even if it’s not exactly what they’re looking for.
Here’s how to make the most of your pricing and promotions:
Offer pre-order discounts or limited-time pricing to encourage early sales.
Schedule promotions on platforms like Amazon Kindle or BookBub to boost visibility, and make sure to tell your audience about it on social media
Bundle your book with others in your series (if applicable) to increase perceived value.
You can also use holidays or certain current events to trigger sales! This is all controllable if you self-publish, not if you’re traditionally published. 
And Amazon will sometimes put your books on sale by itself, at no loss to your own royalties, so go ahead and share when this happens!
6. ARC reviewers are your friendsReviews in general will make your publishing experience much easier. They matter. Many readers will even filter book search lists by ratings, as you can see the option below, and almost nobody will choose the "3 stars and above" option.
﻿
Which means you want reviews, and you want good ones. ARC reviewers are a great way to go about getting those. They’re people who read copies of your book before it’s release (Advanced Reader Copies) and leave a review when it’s time to publish.
That way, when you do publish, there’s something to entice readers.
Fantasy fans are especially notorious for wanting to make sure a book has reviews before purchasing. If they’re going to invest their mind in a new world, they want to make sure it’s worth it.
7. Bonuses to grow your email listAnd also to give readers more of what they want. Sometimes this might seem like extra work you don’t necessarily want to do, but will serve you will in the long-term.
If readers really, really want the backstory of how two side character met or got together, but it doesn't make sense to write a whole book for them, just write a short story! Use it as a lead magnet in your books. And with fantasy in particular, with so many characters or world building details and $ magic system$  information, there’s a ton of opportunity for this.
You already have the material in all your worldbuilding notes.
This just means you’ll give them a free story in exchange for their email address so you can start growing your list.
Plus, if you place this at the beginning of your books, you can even capture their information if they don’t buy, only to offer your book to them later. The idea is to create an email list that you own and can market more books to in the future (or get ARC reviewers from for new releases).

These fantasy publishing tips can help you stand out compared to a lot of competition. Fantasy is one of the most popular genres out there, but you want to ensure you’re doing the right things for your book to be seen.