What Would Alex Stern Do?

building relationships between your readers and your characters

Join the Open Book subscriber chat to get simple, actionable tips inspired by my philosophy that less is more when it comes to brand and book marketing.

This isn’t a post about Ninth House, though the Alex Stern mentioned in the title is in fact, Leigh Bardugo’s main character. When my team and I were working through this idea, Alex came up as the example—literally, Tamara said, “How would Alex Stern react to what’s going on in the world?”—and it embedded itself into my brain as the only viable hook. Now, here we are.

So much of what we talk about here is the concept of author branding, and that it takes time and consistency to get to the point where your name alone can carry a story—where you can write anything, and people will read it, because you wrote it.

While you work toward that, let’s talk about book marketing, another Open Book favorite topic where creativity should come into play more than it usually does. I’m often asked to help authors with their marketing when it’s time to launch. Many struggle to share their book without coming across as repetitive, salesy, or vague. You know the posts I’m talking about: authors and early readers holding them up and sharing the synopsis; graphic mockups for tropes, themes and book tours. While these posts are important and should maintain space in your marketing plan, they rarely have any personality, which means it’s harder for readers to emotionally connect to both you and your story.

The answer (almost always) is to stop focusing primarily on your book’s plot and start focusing on it’s people.

Because Alex Stern is our headliner, let’s run with the example. Let’s say you’re Leigh Bardugo and you’re promoting Ninth House. You should absolutely talk about the secret societies and the Yale lore—but what if Alex Stern also took over your platform for a day? What if she commented on the absurdity of the Met Gala, the reality of student debt, or the kind of grief that doesn’t resolve neatly?

What if she spoke to readers in her own sharp-edged, unapologetic voice?

There’s a moment in every book when characters stop being characters and start becoming people—people whose reactions you can anticipate, not because they’re predictable, but because they feel real. People who draw you into their world because they’ve started to feel like part of yours.

We have the ability to bridge the space between our readers and our characters through our platforms. When we stop marketing at readers and start building relationships—between them and the people in our books—everything changes.

If your goal is to make readers care about your book (and it is), you need them to care about your characters. This is the difference between a pitch and a connection. Holding up your book and sharing the synopsis as your caption says, “Here’s a story.” A photo of a coffee cup with your character’s go-to order scribbled on the side says, “I’ve got someone for you to meet.”

Ready to give immersive book marketing a try?

Start asking yourself the kinds of questions that bring your characters into the real world. They don’t need to be likable—but they do need to feel real.

• What would your featured character post on Instagram?

• What would they be like at brunch? Would they even like brunch?

• How would they react to current events?

By taking this approach, you’ve added personality to your promotional content, and created a reason for fans (and future fans) to care.

Write in-character content: Letters, journal entries, playlists, or text threads. Give your characters the space to speak in their own voices. These pieces can live on your newsletter, Instagram, or even a bonus section on your website.

Create reactive moments: How would your characters respond to today’s headlines? Think outside the story. Bring them into our world, before submerging readers into theirs.

Show how they see things: Use your character’s point of view to talk about a theme from your book. Let them challenge the reader’s perspective or validate it. These are the types of posts that spark comments like, “Oh! I never thought about it that way.”

If you’re an author struggling to promote your book, don’t just ask what is my story about? Ask who is my story about—and how can I introduce them to the world?

Because the truth is: readers fall in love with stories, but they also fall in love with people.

Caveat

Your content—no matter how creative you plan to be—should always point back to your work. It should reflect what you care about and what your audience connects with. That balance matters!

xx

Jessica Sorentino specializes in branding and marketing for authors, helping them connect with readers and position their work for agents and publishers. With over a decade in publishing, she transforms stories into lasting brands through strategy, connection, and visibility.