The first couple of weeks with a book marketer usually mean a run of “I just sent you access to…” emails. Google Drive, BookFunnel, Facebook, MailerLite, Goodreads. The list is longer than most authors expect, and every platform hands out access a little differently.
This page pulls all of it together. Every guide in the series covers one task: what it is, how to do it, and what to watch for. Work through what you need at your own pace, and bookmark this page so you can come back to it.
Still choosing a provider? How to vet an author marketing service provider covers what to ask before you sign.
What does giving your marketer access actually mean?
It does not mean handing over your password. Nearly every platform here has a permissions system that gives your marketer their own login with a set level of access, so you never share credentials and never lose track of who can get in. Amazon KDP and Goodreads are the exceptions: neither offers true multi-user access, so those tasks are ones you either handle yourself or delegate under a specific, agreed arrangement, never a casual password share.
When you add someone the proper way, the access is scoped to the work. An admin on your Facebook Page can manage posts without seeing your personal inbox. A team member on BookFunnel can run your ARC campaign without touching your payment details. A WordPress editor can draft and schedule posts without changing your site settings. And when the work ends, you remove the access in a click. A password someone has memorized, you cannot take back.
Start here: your two core tools
Set these up first. They cover day-to-day communication no matter which services you are running.
- How Your Shared Google Drive Folder Works (and What to Put In It): what files live in the shared folder, how to structure it, and how to add your marketer without making everything on your Drive visible.
- How Your Todoist Board Works: Tracking Your Book Marketing Without Learning Another App: how the shared board is structured, what you can see, and how to stay informed without checking in constantly.
ARC and reader delivery
Running an ARC campaign? BookFunnel is the delivery platform. These four guides cover the account, the plan, team access, and the upload.
- How to Set Up BookFunnel for Your ARC Campaign: creating the account, choosing your plan, and getting set up for the first time.
- How to Add Your Marketer as a BookFunnel Team Member: how team access works and what role to assign.
- How to Upload Your Book to BookFunnel and Turn On Watermarking: the upload process and how watermarked delivery protects your manuscript during the ARC period.
- Which BookFunnel Plan Do Authors Need for ARCs?: what the tiers cover and which one fits an ARC campaign.
Social media
Your Facebook Page and Instagram account each have their own permissions system. These guides cover both, plus connecting them so they can be run from one place.
- How to Set Up a Facebook Page for Authors: if you do not have a Page yet, start here.
- How to Add a Marketer to Your Author Facebook Page: adding team access through Meta Business Suite.
- How to Add a Marketer to Your Author Instagram: Instagram’s permission system and what access your marketer needs.
- How to Connect Your Author Instagram and Facebook: why connecting the two matters and exactly how to do it.
Retail and publishing
Buy links, KDP setup, moving off IngramSpark, and Goodreads. Most are one-per-book tasks, but getting them right early saves time later.
- How to Share Your Book’s Buy Links Correctly (Book Page, Not Author Page): the difference between a book page and an author page link, and why it affects your sales tracking.
- How to Set Up KDP for a New Book: Keywords, Categories, Series: the setup decisions that affect discoverability from day one.
- How to Move a Book from IngramSpark to KDP: the process, the timing, and what to do about existing reviews.
- How to Update Your Book Cover on Goodreads: how Goodreads cover images work and the fastest route to updating them.
Email and newsletter
- How to Give Your Marketer Access to MailerLite (and Mailchimp / Flodesk): adding a team member to your email platform without sharing your login.
- How to Add an Admin to Your Substack (and Why Invite Order Matters): Substack’s admin system and the one step authors consistently miss.
Website and direct sales
- How to Give Your Designer WordPress Access Without Sharing Your Login: user roles in WordPress and which one to assign for different work.
- How to Point Your Domain (DNS) for a New Author Website: what DNS actually is and how to point your domain to your new site.
- How to Sell Direct with Shopify + BookVault: setting up direct sales, the print-on-demand connection, and the price-sync issue that catches most authors out.
Where should I start?
Start with Google Drive and Todoist. Those two affect communication for every service, so having them in place means your marketer can get to work without waiting on you. After that, set up whatever your first campaign needs. ARC starting soon? The BookFunnel guides are next. Social campaign first? Facebook and Instagram access come before anything else. Each guide links to the ones that follow, so you do not have to work through the list in a fixed order.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to set all of this up before my campaign starts?
No. You only need the platforms directly relevant to your first campaign. Your marketer will tell you what they need access to before work begins, and you can work through the rest as your services expand.
Is it safe to give my marketer access to these accounts?
Yes, when you use each platform's proper permissions system. Your marketer gets their own login with a defined level of access. They are not logging in as you, and they cannot see personal information outside what they need. Wherever a platform offers its own team access, these guides use it rather than password sharing.
What if I already have accounts set up differently?
The guides cover common variations, including an existing setup that needs adjusting. If your situation is not covered, flag it to your marketer. Most of these setups are ones they have worked through before.
How long does the whole setup take?
Most individual tasks take under fifteen minutes. DNS and Shopify take longer because of processing delays outside your control. The relevant guides flag anything with a waiting period so you can plan around it.