Author Marketing & Reader Growth
From manuscript development to reader growth, Author Growth helps authors strengthen their books, find the right positioning and connect with the readers who are most likely to care.
If your book isn’t published yet, we help you strengthen the manuscript. If it is, we help you grow the book and its readership.
My book is already published
Your book is out in the world, but are the right readers finding it?
We’ll look at your book’s positioning, discoverability and reader-growth opportunities and identify areas worth improving.
Get My Free Book AuditI’m still working on my book
Your manuscript doesn’t have to be finished before you ask for help.
Whether you need a beta reader, editorial feedback or professional editing, we’ll help you identify what your manuscript needs and the best way to move it forward.
Get Manuscript HelpMost books that struggle don’t struggle because of the writing. They struggle because the right readers never meet them.
A reader decides in seconds. They scan a category, a cover, a title and the first lines of a description, and in that moment the book either makes a clear promise to them or it doesn’t. When the promise is vague, or aimed at the wrong reader, even an excellent book stays invisible.
Many authors respond by doing more: more posts, more ads, more promotions. More activity rarely fixes a problem of direction. It usually makes the problem more expensive.
Author Growth starts somewhere else. The goal isn’t simply to promote a book. It’s to build the path between the book and the readers who are most likely to care about it.
A clear, honest promise to a specific reader. Positioning decides the categories you belong in, the books you sit beside and the words a reader sees first. Get it right and every later effort works harder.
Book PositioningBeing findable in the places your readers already look: retailer search, categories, recommendations, libraries, reviews and conversation. Discoverability turns a good promise into something readers actually come across.
Discoverability StrategyTurning first-time readers into returning ones. The readers who finish your book and want the next one are your most valuable audience, and they can be grown on purpose.
Reader GrowthThe reader’s path
Every reader takes the same four steps before a book becomes part of their life. Step along the path to see where books most often stall, and what we do about it.
Before anyone can choose your book, it has to appear where they are already looking.
Categories chosen for accuracy rather than for where readers browse. Keywords nobody searches for. A book that can only be found by someone who already knows its name.
We research how your readers search and browse, then align your categories, keywords and metadata with what they actually do.
Readers judge quickly. The cover, title and first lines of the description have to say the right thing to the right person.
A description written in the author’s voice rather than the reader’s. A cover or title that signals a different genre. A promise that is clever but unclear.
We sharpen the book’s promise: its positioning, its comparable titles, the opening lines of its description and the signals a reader reads before page one.
Interest becomes a decision when the reader trusts what they’re about to spend their time on.
Too little around the book to build trust: few reviews, a thin author presence, or a launch that came and went without the right readers noticing.
We build trust around the book with a considered author platform, a planned launch or relaunch, an ethical review strategy and conversations in the right places.
The last page is where a readership begins, if there is somewhere for the reader to go.
Readers finish the book and there is nowhere for them to go. No newsletter, no clear next book, no relationship with the author.
We create the path forward: reader invitations, newsletters, series read-through and content that keeps your readers close between books.
Choose one piece of work or combine several. Each service shares the same aim: a book that is ready, discoverable and read.
Define who the book is for and the promise it makes, so every signal points the right reader towards it.
Categories, keywords, metadata and retail presence, aligned with how your readers actually search.
Turn first-time readers into loyal ones who look out for your next book.
A professional home for your work, built around the readers you want rather than the platforms you feel you should be on.
A launch plan with a clear audience, sequence and purpose, for new releases and relaunches.
Content that gives the right readers a reason to find you, and a reason to stay.
New editions in other languages, planned, managed and positioned for readers in that market.
Every engagement follows the same five steps. The order matters: you can’t build a path to readers until you know who they are and where they look.
We start with the book and with you: what you’ve written, what you want it to do, what has already been tried and how much time you can give to what comes next.
We study the readers most likely to care: the books they already love, how they search, where they browse and the words they use. This is the step most marketing skips, and the one we take slowly.
We define the book’s promise and its place: the reader, the comparable titles, the categories and the message that belongs at the front.
We connect the book to those readers through the right mix of discoverability, platform, launch and content work, in a sequence you can sustain.
We watch what readers actually do and adjust. Readers respond to consistency, so we keep the direction clear and refine the details as we learn.
You won’t get a template, a bundle of posts or a promise of overnight success. You’ll get careful thinking about one book, and the practical work that follows from it.
Every recommendation starts with evidence: real readers, real comparable books and the way people actually search.
Positioning, descriptions and strategy are written in the language your readers use, so the right people recognise the book as theirs.
Advice you can act on, sized to your time, budget and energy, so the work gets done and keeps working.
We’ll tell you what we see, including what isn’t working. We don’t promise rankings or sales figures, because nobody honestly can.
Comments from authors Kendra has worked with on their manuscripts.
It was a pleasure working with Kendra. The developmental edit she provided me with was filled with excellent, detailed suggestions that I could not have identified on my own. She took my manuscript to the next level, and was extremely professional, timely, and clear throughout the entire process!
Working with Kendra was everything I hope it would be and more! Kendra and I started our collaboration through a developmental edit. Her feedback transformed my manuscript from a seed idea into a full, nuanced book.
After scrolling through editors I trusted my gut and went with Kendra. Wow, just wow. She far exceeded my expectations.
We cannot recommend Kendra highly enough. From the very first interaction all the way to the end of the project months later, she was extremely thorough, knowledgeable, diligent, patient, and friendly.
Upbeat, enthusiastic and thorough are three adjectives that come to mind when I think of my experience with Kendra. My children’s picture book had already been through multiple copy editors by the time it got to Kendra, but she still found a way to improve on a lot of small details.
It was wonderful working with Kendra. She was very clear on the process and very thorough in her editing. She made other valuable suggestions that really helped.
Kendra was a joy to work with in so many ways! As a first-time author, I had some concerns and trepidations. She helped me so much in navigating the challenges and offered so much expertise.
It was a pleasure working with Kendra. She was very professional and efficient. She was invested in the project and provided me with valuable feedback. I hope to work with Kendra in the near future.
I was very happy to work with Kendra. She is so amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better person to help me edit my very first book. I am so thankful and grateful to have worked with her.
Children’s picture books, professional non-fiction and plenty in between, as author, writer and editor.
We work with authors who care about their books and want a thoughtful partner, whether the manuscript is still taking shape or the book has been out for years.
You control your book’s metadata, pricing and marketing, which means every decision is yours to get right. We help you make those decisions with clarity and research behind them.
Your publisher handles distribution and trade relationships. The reader-facing work often falls to you. We help you build the author presence and reader relationships that sit alongside your publisher’s efforts.
You don’t need a finished manuscript to begin. We help you understand what your draft needs, and find the right editorial support to move it forward.
Our philosophy
The goal isn’t simply to promote a book. It’s to build the path between the book and the readers who are most likely to care about it.
That idea runs through everything we do, from the first read of a manuscript to the long work of growing a readership.
Already published? Start with a free look at your book’s positioning, discoverability and reader-growth opportunities. Still writing? Start with the help your manuscript needs.