Getting an author heard
A finished book and a dormant network 10,000 strong, with no effective engine to reach them.
An author with something to say
Our client is a business owner, entrepreneur, and self-published author. Like most independent authors, he faced a problem that had nothing to do with the quality of his work: a finished book, a real message, and no reliable way to get it in front of people.
He had assets: nearly 10,000 professional connections built across decades in business. A track record of speaking engagements. And of course, something worth sharing.
What he didn't have was a system to activate any of it.
The self-published author's problem
Independent authors sit on the same paradox. They have networks, credibility, and a message — but no publicist machine, no publishing house engine, no outbound system. Promotion happens in fits and starts, one manual email at a time, and then stops.
The goal was straightforward: put the book in front of the people most likely to care, and get the author in front of audiences who wanted to hear him speak.
The question was whether AI-powered outreach could do at scale what an author can only do one conversation at a time.
Two channels, one engine
LeadStrong ran a sequence of targeted outreach campaigns — testing distinct approaches to find what actually moved the needle.
Activating the existing network
Personalized outreach to the author's own professional connections, introducing the book directly to people who already knew him. Rolled out in batches, testing message and audience along the way.
Media and podcast pitching
Cold email outreach to podcasts, radio programs, and media outlets — pitching the author as a guest, using AI to identify and reach the right producers and hosts at scale.
| Campaign Type | Audience |
|---|---|
| LinkedIn network outreach | Personal connections, batches of 50–1,000 |
| Speaking-engagement outreach | Canadian community & HR/L&D organizations |
| Podcast pitching (cold email) | 1,244 podcast hosts |
| Corporate speaking pitch (cold email) | 842 HR & L&D leaders |
Pulled directly from the Alta campaigns dashboard — outreach performs very differently by audience and channel.
What happened
- Signed copies ordered directly through campaigns
- Radio interviews booked via media outreach
Where it really works
The most valuable finding wasn't the book sales. It was the discovery that AI outreach is exceptionally good at one specific thing for authors: getting them heard.
Pitching a podcast, a radio show, or a media outlet is a numbers game that rewards persistence, personalization, and volume — exactly what a single publicist can't sustain alone, and exactly what an outreach engine does well.
An author doesn't just need readers. They need a stage. This is how you find one.
Still running
The campaigns continue across the remaining connections. Media and podcast outreach is expanding. What started as an experiment is becoming the engine behind an author's entire promotional strategy.
And what worked here isn't unique to one author. There are thousands of independent authors with a message, a network, and no machine to reach it.
Most authors fail to reach their audience for the same reason most businesses fail to reach their buyers.
Not because the product is wrong, but because there's no system doing the reaching.
LeadStrong's AI-powered outbound engine personalizes at scale, and can turn a dormant network into fruitful conversations, orders, and opportunities.