# Books Forward

> Indie-pioneering book publicity firm offering campaigns from $1,500 starter packages to $25,000+ full-service launches with media, social, and book-tour support.

Source: https://selfpublishingdirectory.com/marketing/books-forward
Website: https://booksforward.com
Category: Marketing (https://selfpublishingdirectory.com/marketing)
Pricing: paid — $1500–$25000/per-project
AI-powered: no
Editor's pick: yes
Tags: pr-publicity, media-outreach, social-media-management, book-tours, launch-publicity, indie-friendly
Last verified: 2026-05-07
Best For: Indie authors who want a tiered firm — small online-only promo at the bottom, full-service launch campaigns at the top — with explicit indie-author acceptance
Marketing Goal: launch-book, boost-sales, drive-discovery
Min Test Budget: 1500
Service Type: pr-publicity

Books Forward is the publicity division of JKS Communications, founded in 2000 in New Orleans and rebranded to Books Forward in 2020. They are one of the first U.S. publicity firms to publicly represent both traditionally published and self-published books — and have championed indie authors through Indie Next Picks and partnerships with indie publishing organizations. Offices in New Orleans, Nashville, New York, Atlanta, and Montreal.

- **Best for:** Indie authors who want to scale into PR — start with a $1,500 online promo and graduate into a full $20,000+ launch campaign with the same firm
- **Key services:** Media relations, digital marketing, social media management, book tour development, blog and podcast outreach, awards strategy
- **Pricing:** $1,500 (basic online promotions) to $25,000+ (full-service campaigns including cross-country tours); typical full-service campaign valued around $20,000
- **Indie stance:** Explicitly indie-friendly — represented over 1,000 authors including NYT bestsellers and debut indie novelists
- **Lead time:** Requires 6 months of lead time before launch for full-service campaigns
- **Limitations:** Books must be professionally edited with a professional cover and active distribution; rates above $1,500 are quote-based and not publicly tiered
- **Why authors love it:** Earliest legacy firm to seriously work with indies, broad price floor, and multi-city team that can run regional tours