Special thanks to Pooja Arshnapally of The Content Repurposer for her help with this post and her appearance at our November Author to Influencer Accelerator Power Hour!

How to Repurpose Your Content

1. Maximize your content value
2. Extend the lifespan (and value) of your content
3. Expand your audience reach
4. Save yourself time and resources

Start by reading your book again (I know, but hear me out). You want to make sure you’re familiar not just with your book subject but with the actual content within the book – anecdotes, steps, how-tos, and pull out your central themes and your core message/ mission statement. “But I know my book!” Yes, you do! But this is a good time to revisit your book and be sure you know the exact content so you know what you can pull to repurpose and so you can be sure all your social content supports your core message.

Besides your central themes and core message, it’s also a good idea to pull out your “supporting evidence” – key concepts, how-tos, unique insights, and anecdotes. For nonfiction books, you’re most likely not the only author to cover this subject. Pull out what makes your book or perspective different and highlight that in your repurposing! As you’re pulling out this supporting evidence, make sure you’re able to clearly and easily refer it back to your core message. You don’t want to reach, and you don’t want to risk leading your audience around a wild goose chase. It’s this additional information that’s going to help the audience connect with your book content-wise and give you more to work with. 

A few other ways you can pull out the core message and supporting evidence without rereading your book:

1. Upload (recommended 1 chapter at a time) your book to ChatGPT and ask it to pull out the main theme,
2. Look at past reviews, or
3. Ask someone else to read your book and tell you their key takeaways.

I have my core message and my supporting evidence. Now what?

Now you can start to generate content ideas! We call this step mapping your content, though you can do so without creating an actual map. You can do this in a document or a spreadsheet, so long as you have space to lay out each of your central ideas and connect each piece of supporting material back to it. Use this method to help break concepts down into simple steps.

You want to, at this point, be sure you’re catering to your audience. Follow the language you use in your book but also incorporate other verbage your target audience is using. Additionally, be sure you’re focusing on your audience’s pain or motivation related to your topic. Relate to them (a good way to do this is by referencing past reviews!) and show them how your book can help by following your how-tos or concept maps.

Okay, but what kind of content can I actually make with this information?

Social media posts, blog posts, and newsletters are all great ways to repurpose your content. You can also consider…

Microblogging 

Share bite-size content of key insights and valuable information. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter/ X are popular social media sites for nonfiction authors, though you can also expand and turn this idea into full blog posts. You can also share information this way on Instagram, you’ll just need an image to share with it. This is a great outlet to use if you have graphics, maps, or pictures in your book that are equally important as the written copy.

Short-form videos 

Share short videos highlighting key insights and valuable information. You can use short-form videos to create a path back to your book – your short-form videos encourage your audience to check out the additional information in your long-form videos, which then encourages them to seek out more information by buying your book. 

This is also a great way to promote your book without seeming “too sales-y,” since at the base you’re just sharing information, not trying to push your book in your audience’s face.

Here are some sites you could share short-form videos to: Tiktok, Instagram, Youtube, LinkedIn, or anywhere else that has “reels” or “shorts.” A tip here: all these reels and shorts are based on Tiktok, which set the standard for short-form video content. If you create your video with the intent of it doing well on Tiktok, it’ll do well on the other sites, too.

Interactive Q&A 

This allows you to engage with your audience using your book content. You can do this a couple different ways: host lives on your social media site of choice and bring people on to help answer questions, provide a review of your core message, and help promote your book, or you can create a FAQ section on your website, blog, or newsletter.

Q&As are a great thing to do that gives you a ton of content repurposing options! From a Q&A, you can create short-form videos (1 or 2 questions), long-form videos (multiple questions or a FAQ video), and you can write it out to use on your website or in emails and newsletters.

My book is fiction, can I still use these ideas?

Yes! It’s just as important to be sure you’re aware of and connecting all your content back to your main theme. Fiction books help audiences feel a different kind of connection – rather than connecting with their struggles and motivation, you can connect with your audience through your characters and your book’s themes. You can create character introductions and post teasers by finding pictures online that may have a similar look or feel as certain places or events in your book.

Think about a movie trailer – when generating content from your fiction book, you want to give enough that readers will be intrigued without giving away the whole plot, even if your book is already out! 

About Pooja Arshnapally

I’m Pooja Arshanapally, The Content Repurposer, and my mission is to help businesses leverage their wealth of content to expand their influence.

From an early age, I recognized the incredible value of knowledge—it opens doors to endless opportunities. Once you acquire it, it becomes an invaluable asset.

As I matured, my passion for empowering businesses through education and content deepened. I’ve witnessed the transformative power of content, particularly in books, as an accessible gateway to knowledge.

Today, my focus has shifted to assisting businesses in reducing ongoing marketing expenses and saving time by repurposing their content. I believe in optimizing existing content to maximize its potential across various platforms, streamlining the sales process and expanding their reach

Looking for more Content Tips? Check out:

• Compelling Social Media Content Ideas for Authors
• How Authors Can Win With Content Marketing