Item: Diana Urban
Rating: 5.0
Author: Avery West

Overview

Want more book sales but feel overwhelmed? With 15+ years of digital marketing expertise—seven at BookBub—I’ll give you concrete action items to reach more readers in a way that feels fun and manageable.

—WHY PEOPLE HIRE ME—

✅ Worked in publishing: As BookBub's Marketing Manager, I wrote hundreds of articles teaching authors and publishers book marketing best practices.

✅ Marketing pro: Prior to BookBub, worked at an ad agency and HubSpot, the leading SaaS marketing platform that pioneered inbound marketing.

✅ Bestselling author: Debuted five days into lockdown 2020, yet traditionally published three more books and made my fourth a bestseller despite minimal marketing support. R.L. Stine said of my work, “Talk about frightening page-turners!”

—HOW I CAN HELP—

My goal is to help you reach more readers with less stress. Publishing's a fickle beast—I’ll always be transparent and set realistic expectations.

1: BOOK MARKETING PLAN

Focus on high-impact promo! I’ll build you a personalized marketing plan that provides a clear, step-by-step roadmap based on your goals, audience, budget, and preferences, with a Q&A round so you'll feel fully prepared. By the end, you’ll have a strategy you can confidently (and enjoyably!) implement to reach more readers without hijacking your writing time.

This plan will include:

✅ Detailed breakdown of recommended marketing activities

✅ Best practices and step-by-step guidance for each item

✅ Personalized strategies that align with your genre/audience

✅ Suggestions for free and paid tactics that fit your budget

✅ Templates where applicable to make execution easier

2: METADATA COACHING

Boost Amazon discoverability and conversions! I'll provide competitive analysis and keyword/category recommendations, then coach you through writing your book description (including two revisions) and designing Amazon A+ assets. By the end, your book will stand out to Amazon's algorithm AND readers, and you'll feel empowered to repeat this process for future books.

3: BOOK MARKETING CRITIQUE

Improve your results! I’ll review your existing promotional assets and provide a detailed writeup of recommendations. Can include:

✅ Packaging: covers, taglines, backmatter (optimize series read-through)

✅ Author brand: website, newsletter, Substack, bio, social media

✅ Specific campaigns: preorders, Amazon Ads, BookBub, street/ARC team management

4: Q&A WRITEUP

Get personalized guidance! Need tips on running a specific campaign? Have a list of questions (even about traditional publishing)? Reach out! My insights have saved authors time and frustration, and kept them from wasting money on ineffective tactics.

—WHAT ONE CLIENT SAID—

"A solid online presence is more important than ever. Diana gave me insight into how my brand was coming across to readers and where to fill in gaps—and her feedback was absolutely invaluable. If you’re an author, do this now!" —Melissa Wright, author of The Frey Saga

—NOTES—

✅ Pricing depends on project scope. Reach out for a quote!

✅ For marketing plans, I provide strategies/guidance/instructions, not implementation.

✅ I only consider projects with a sample. If your book has no Amazon sample yet, please upload your first chapter with your request.

Services

Marketing Strategy

Email Marketing

Metadata & Blurb Optimization

Fiction

Chick Lit Contemporary Romance Dark Romance Dystopian Horror Psychological Thriller Romantic Fantasy Romantic Suspense

Work experience

Industry Marketing Manager

BookBub

Feb, 2015 — Mar, 2022 (about 7 years)

I led B2B content marketing strategy at BookBub, managing cross-team collaborations to hit ambitious traffic, lead, and revenue goals while upholding top-tier quality standards. As manager of the BookBub Partners Blog, I developed and executed the content strategy—writing articles, ebooks, and web copy, editing contributions from bestselling authors, and optimizing SEO, email, and social media—and drove a 70x increase in subscribers and 150% year-over-year traffic growth. I also created sales and product marketing materials, led a full B2B website redesign, and designed conference pitch decks that helped the team exceed quarterly revenue targets.

Freelance Narrative Writer

StoryLoom at Pixelberry Studios

Nov, 2021 — Jan, 2024 (about 2 years)

Authored stories for the video game mobile app StoryLoom, including the platform’s fourth most popular game (as of 10/23), driving significant player engagement and retention.

Bestselling Author

Penguin Random House, Macmillan, HarperCollins

Mar, 2020 — Present

Wrote, traditionally published, and promoted four critically acclaimed, award-winning novels.

Senior Marketing Manager

Localytics

Sep, 2014 — Feb, 2015 (5 months)

I drove lead generation and conversion growth at Localytics through a mix of content marketing, paid search, email campaigns, and sales enablement. To improve activation rates, I optimized the free trial onboarding process with a targeted nurturing campaign and by creating the Localytics Quick Start Guide. I also developed and managed monthly email sponsorship campaigns that delivered thousands of low-cost, high-quality leads, and audited PPC performance to cut inefficient spending and improve cost-per-lead.

Head of Conversion Marketing

HubSpot

Mar, 2013 — Aug, 2014 (over 1 year)

I led the team responsible for landing pages, email marketing, and website conversion optimization, boosting average landing page conversion rates from 25% to 40% through content refinement and A/B testing, which helped the company hit its 54K monthly lead goal. I also doubled email CTRs by improving segmentation and testing new email designs, improved the sales team’s efficiency by delivering higher-quality marketing-qualified leads, and tripled the customer yield from free trial users by creating a series of targeted onboarding emails that showcased HubSpot’s most engaging features.

Head of International Marketing

HubSpot

Jun, 2012 — Mar, 2013 (9 months)

I managed HubSpot’s international marketing and PR strategy during our EMEA expansion and Dublin HQ launch and represented the brand at marketing conferences across Dublin, London, and Paris. By creating region-specific content and targeted email campaigns, I consistently surpassed monthly marketing-qualified lead goals, and improved the EMEA sales team’s close rates and efficiency by developing impactful sales collateral and automating lead qualification.

User Experience Manager

HubSpot

May, 2011 — Aug, 2011 (3 months)

I created HubSpot’s first Knowledge Base, pioneering the company’s SaaS documentation and producing tutorials, FAQs, and guides that helped customers master both the software and inbound marketing best practices, significantly reducing support workload. I also improved onboarding by overseeing development of an in-app tutorial widget that guided users through setup and key features and contributing UI and microcopy improvements.

Inbound Marketing Consultant

HubSpot

Sep, 2010 — Jun, 2011 (9 months)

Consulted with 50+ business professionals to teach them inbound marketing best practices and how to use HubSpot's software to achieve their lead generation and revenue goals. Companies represented a wide range of industries—a hotel, TEFL certification provider, trucking company, fitness brand that appeared on Shark Tank, and more!

Projects

Reader Magnet: Generated 3.2K Newsletter Subscribers

Formatted this short story in Vellum, then purchased a relevant, eye-catching, and on-brand premade cover to launch Off the Trail as a reader magnet to grow email subscriptions. Promote it via a homepage module, dedicated landing page, and Substack subscription popup, ultimately generating 3.2K new subscribers.

YA Debut Success: All Your Twisted Secrets Preorder Campaign

1. Designed and produced swag for the preorder campaign, including key charm necklaces, bookmarks, and autographed bookplates.

2. Built a dedicated landing page for readers to upload their receipt to claim their preorder gift. Personally packaged and shipped all preorder gift items.

3. Promoted the campaign via newsletters and organic social media posts.

4. A/B tested preorder graphics using hyper-targeted, low-cost BookBub Ads to double engagement. (Example test attached.)

5. Designed graphics for the publisher to use on retailer sites (including Amazon A+ content) to boost visibility and drive both bookseller and consumer interest.

Results: Drove 1,250+ hardcover sales, 530+ ebook sales, and 170+ audiobook sales during launch week—a major success considering the book debuted March 17, 2020, during the first week of shelter-in-place orders when bookstores were closed. Went to a second printing within two weeks and earned out in less than three months.

800+ Week 1 YA Hardcover Sales: Lying in the Deep Preorder Campaign

1. Commissioned original character art and printed it on high-quality cardstock.

2. Designed and printed a deck plan on matching cardstock (later featured in the paperback edition).

3. Designed and produced swag for the preorder campaign, including dagger charm necklaces, bookmarks, and autographed bookplates.

4. Partnered with a local indie bookstore to offer readers the full preorder gift (including the necklace) along with a signed, personalized hardcover.

5. Built a dedicated landing page where readers who ordered from other retailers could upload their receipt and claim the preorder gift. Personally packaged and shipped all these preorder gifts.

6. Promoted the campaign via newsletters and organic social media posts.

Results: Drove 800+ hardcover sales during launch week—a strong result, especially given minimal marketing support from the publisher.

Indie Bestseller Success: Under the Surface Preorder Campaign

1. Designed and produced swag for the preorder campaign, including Eiffel Tower charm necklaces, silver-foil bookmarks, and autographed book plates.

2. Ran an outreach campaign to independent bookstores and secured participation from 80+ stores.

3. Printed and assembled bookstore mailings, which included swag, a handwritten thank-you note, and a flyer with a QR code to download the Under the Surface eARC— plus a reminder to nominate the title for the Indie Next List.

4. Designed and sent custom graphics to each bookstore to help promote the preorder campaign on their social media channels.

5. Partnered with a local indie bookstore to offer readers the full preorder gift (including the necklace) along with a personalized, signed hardcover.

6. Designed an animated graphic for Edelweiss (where indie booksellers order titles and access eARCs), as well as static retailer graphics—including Amazon A+ content—for the publisher to boost visibility and interest.

7. Promoted the campaign via newsletters and organic social media posts.
Results: More than 80 independent bookstores participated in the campaign, which helped Under the Surface land at spot on the September/October 2024 Kids’ Indie Next list and debut on the Indie Bestseller List (Mountains & Plains). The campaign contributed to 1,200+ hardcover sales during launch week.

140 Book Marketing Ideas

Helps authors brainstorm book marketing strategies by providing 140 ideas. Not only does this ebook demonstrate my book marketing knowledge, but it's also an example of a book I promoted as a subscriber magnet—available as a free download on the BookBub Partners Blog that's generated thousands of downloads and new subscribers.

The Ultimate Collection of Book Marketing Examples

Provides promotional ideas by showcasing authors' effective book marketing strategies. Not only does this ebook demonstrate my book marketing knowledge, but it's also an example of a book I promoted as a subscriber magnet—available as a free download on the BookBub Partners Blog that's generated *tens of thousands* of downloads and new subscribers.

The Ultimate Guide to Promoting a Book Launch

Walks authors through new release promotion strategies. Not only does this ebook demonstrate my knowledge of promoting a book launch, but it's also an example of a book I promoted as a subscriber magnet—available as a free download on the BookBub Partners Blog that's generated thousands of downloads and new subscribers.

Book Marketing Critique for Melissa Wright, Author of The Frey Saga

Provided indie fantasy author Melissa Wright a book marketing critique, which I delivered via a detailed Google doc. This critique included:
- Website Assessment
- Newsletter Assessment
- Social Media Assessment
- BookBub Ads Assessment

One example recommendation I made on her website assessment was to "Provide readers with an incentive to sign up to your mailing list. This could be any sort of free content: a free book, a novella, a short story, or even a downloadable one-sheet of your books and your suggested reading order. Since you have a large backlist, I would recommend giving away a first-in-series for free — and make sure the back matter of that free book is updated with buy-links to the next book in the series."

She did exactly that, offering new subscribers a free ebook series starter set. Also, as I recommended, she created a dedicated landing page and promoted this subscriber magnet on her homepage, helping her grow her mailing list.

Melissa was thrilled with this service and provided the following testimonial: "A solid online presence is more important than ever. Diana gave me insight into how my brand was coming across to readers and where to fill in gaps — and her feedback was absolutely invaluable. If you’re an author, do this now!"

Portfolio