Flat Lays: My Favorite Low-Effort Marketing for New Releases

Ya’ll know I like low effort. I save all my big energy for the bonkers stuff I write in my book. And then —inevitably— it comes time to promote my books. One of my favorite things to film during a new release is a flat lay.

If you’ve never heard the term before, a flat lay is simply a photo or video taken from directly overhead. Your book is laid flat on a table and surrounded by props that match the mood, colors, and genre of the story.

They’re beautiful. They’re inexpensive. And they’re one of the easiest ways to create eye-catching content for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, and even your Shopify store.

Here’s my process.

I head to Michael’s Craft Store!!!!! It’s my favorite place. I sometimes go in there not needing anything and spend an hour looking at everything… even though nothing new is available.

But when I’m looking for flat lay items, I’m looking for items that match the vibe of the cover.

Things like:

• Silk flowers

• Ribbon

• Fabric

• Candles

• Faux greenery

• Wooden hearts

• Moss

• Decorative stones

• Mini pumpkins or Christmas ornaments (if it’s seasonal)

• Little knickknacks that fit the story… go into the doll house aisle, I dare you! It’s where I found the little bed so I could use the trope “there’s only one bed!”

The goal isn’t to recreate the story. The goal is to make someone stop scrolling because the image is beautiful.

How I Arrange My Flat Lays

There’s no single “right” way to build one, but here some suggestions.

• Put the book in the center and arrange props around all four sides like a picture frame.

• Place the book at a slight angle and let flowers or ribbon trail across opposite corners. This creates movement and feels less rigid.

• Keep the book off-center and build a little “scene” in one corner with candles, flowers, or props.

• Stack several books from the same series with decorative items scattered around them.

• Include a mug, blanket, reading glasses, and maybe a candle so it feels like someone is about to curl up with the book.

Then I Film

Once everything is arranged, I simply film several 10-second videos.

That’s it.

I slowly move the camera across the flat lay.

I zoom in on the cover.

I pan from left to right.

I move closer to the flowers or props.

Nothing fancy.

One setup can easily give me several weeks of content.

Add Text Later

I bring the videos into Canva (you could also use Capcut or Adobe Premiere) and add different text depending on the post.

Some ideas:

• Favorite quotes

• Tropes

• Taglines

• Short excerpts

• Review quotes

• The blurb

• Release date

• “Now Available”

• “Read in Kindle Unlimited”

• “Book One in the Series”

The beauty is that one video becomes twenty different posts just by changing the words.

Don’t Forget the Caption

The video gets people to stop. The caption tells social media who should see it.

Instead of writing: Here’s my new book! Think about what your ideal reader is searching for. Include keywords naturally throughout your caption.

For example:

• paranormal romance

• romantasy

• cozy fantasy

• small-town romance

• military romance

• second chance romance

• enemies to lovers

• fake dating

• marriage of convenience

• fated mates

• dragon romance

• wolf shifter romance

• morally gray hero

• villain heroine

• happily ever after

• spicy romance

• no spice romance

Don’t just list keywords. Write captions your readers would actually enjoy reading while naturally weaving those phrases into your description.

If your ideal reader is searching for “dragon romance with fated mates,” give the algorithm every reason to connect your content with that reader.

The flat lay catches their eye.

The caption tells the algorithm who to send it to.

Together, they become one of my favorite low-effort marketing tools for both new releases and backlist books.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go wander Michael’s and convince myself that yes, I absolutely need another bundle of silk flowers.

Want more launch strategies? You should check out my Page Turner Planning series where I give you a year’s worth of marketing, business, and writing advice.

And don’t forget to follow my Diversified Author Blueprint Kickstarter. I’m currently documenting my processes for selling across various platforms and strategies so that I’m not dependent on one retailer or algorithm.