One Book, Twelve Months of Content: A Simple Repurposing System for Busy Authors

One Book, Twelve Months of Content: A Simple Repurposing System for Busy Authors

If you’ve ever sat down to post on social media and thought, “I have nothing to say,” even though you literally wrote an entire book, this one is for you.

Most authors don’t have a content problem. They have a repurposing problem.

Because a book is not one piece of content. It is a content library. It is characters, themes, settings, micro-moments, emotional beats, quotes, questions, behind-the-scenes decisions, and reader reactions. When you learn how to break that library into smaller pieces, you stop feeling like you’re constantly starting from scratch.

This post gives you a simple, realistic system to turn one book into a full year of content without posting every day, without trying to go viral, and without burning out.

The mindset shift: content isn’t “more,” it’s “smaller”

A lot of content plans fail because authors think content means creating brand-new ideas all the time. More videos. More captions. More hooks. More everything.

But the most sustainable content comes from going smaller, not bigger.

Instead of thinking, “What should I post today?” you think, “What tiny piece of my book can I highlight today?”

A scene. A trope. A character trait. A setting detail. A reader's emotion. A line of dialogue. A research fact. A choice you made as an author.

When you build your content around small pieces, it becomes easier to show up consistently, and it starts to feel more natural, because you’re talking about something you already know inside out.

Step one: build your book’s content vault (one hour, once)

Before you map out a year, you need a vault. This is just a list of reusable content “ingredients” you can pull from when you’re tired or busy.

Create a document and add these sections.

• Your hooks: Write 10 to 15 one-sentence hooks. Not summaries. Hooks. The kind that creates curiosity.

Examples of hook angles include a “what if” question, a bold promise, a tension line, or a relatable reader problem.

• Your tropes and promises: List your top tropes and the emotional promise of the book.

For romance, that might be slow burn, forced proximity, second chance, found family, or forbidden attraction.

For thrillers, it might be an unreliable narrator, domestic secrets, cat-and-mouse tension, ticking clock.

For fantasy, it might be a magic academy, a chosen one twist, a morally gray hero, ancient prophecy.

These aren’t just marketing labels. They are content themes you can post about all year.

• Your characters: List 6 to 10 characters and write a short “content angle” for each.

Think personality traits, internal conflict, iconic quotes, relationships, aesthetic vibe, and what readers tend to love about them.

• Your settings and vibes: Write down the key locations, mood words, and sensory details.

Setting-based content is easy and performs well because it pulls readers into a feeling.

• Your “micro moments:” These are little moments from the book that do not spoil major twists but still spark emotion.

A confrontation. A confession. A decision. A near-miss. A funny exchange. A moment of fear or longing.

Aim for 20 to 30 of these.

• Your behind-the-scenes notes: This includes your inspiration, research, how long it took, what you cut, what surprised you, and any fun trivia.

Readers love feeling like they’re getting a peek behind the curtain.

Once you have this vault, you have material. And the rest becomes simply organizing that material into a schedule that fits your life.

Step two: pick your monthly themes (this is what makes it sustainable)

Trying to post about everything all the time gets messy. A theme-per-month plan keeps you focused.

You do not need themes that are complicated. You just need categories that help you choose what to talk about.

Here is a simple set of twelve monthly themes that works for most fiction authors. You can adjust them to fit your genre.

• January: The promise of the book and who it’s for

• February: Characters and relationships

• March: Tropes and reader cravings

• April: Setting and atmosphere

• May: Micro moments and tension beats

• June: Quotes and dialogue

• July: Behind-the-scenes and author life

• August: Reader reactions and reviews

• September: Related comps and “if you like X”

• October: Deep dive into theme, emotion, and meaning

• November: Holiday angles or seasonal tie-ins

• December: Recap, gratitude, and “what’s next”

This structure does two things. It makes planning easier, and it makes your content feel cohesive rather than random.

Step three: decide on a realistic posting rhythm

A year of content does not mean you must post daily. Consistency is more important than volume.

A very sustainable rhythm for busy authors is three posts per week.

• One short-form video or reel

• One carousel or static post

• One story sequence or quick text post

That gives you roughly 12 posts per month, which is enough to stay visible without turning content into a full-time job.

If you want to go lighter, two posts per week works too. The system still holds.

Step four: use the “3 formats” rule (the repurposing shortcut)

The easiest repurposing system is to take one idea and express it in three formats.

• Format one: short video or reel

• Format two: caption post or carousel

• Format three: story post or email snippet

For example, let’s say your idea is a trope, like enemies-to-lovers.

Video: “If you love enemies-to-lovers with real tension, here’s why this couple works.”

Post: A short breakdown of what makes your pairing satisfying, with a quote overlay.

Story: A poll, like “Do you prefer enemies-to-lovers or rivals-to-lovers?” followed by a teaser line.

Same concept. Three uses. Less effort.

You can do this with anything in your vault: a setting detail, a character trait, a behind-the-scenes fact, a line of dialogue.

Step five: plug your vault into a 12-month plan

Now you’re ready to map the year. This part is easier than it sounds because you’re not inventing content. You’re choosing from your vault.

Each month, pick:

• Four posts based on the month’s theme

• Four posts based on the book’s tropes or hooks

• Two posts based on behind-the-scenes or author life

• Two posts based on social proof, like reviews or reader comments

That’s 12 posts.

You can repeat the pattern monthly and just change the specific details.

If you write a series, you can rotate between book one and book two, or between your new release and your backlist, so you are always feeding your catalog.

Step six: bake in “evergreen” posts (so you’re not chained to trends)

Trends are optional. Evergreen content is what saves you.

Evergreen content is content that works any month of the year because it connects to timeless reader desires.

Examples include:

• A hook that teases the premise

• A trope post that highlights the emotional payoff

• A character introduction

• A setting vibe post

• A short quote graphic

• A “who this is for” post

• A “if you like X, try this” post

Build your year mostly on evergreen posts. Then, if you want, sprinkle in trends when they fit, not because you feel forced.

Step seven: turn reader feedback into content (the easiest content on earth)

Once your book is out, readers start giving you material.

• A review that mentions a favorite character is a character post.

• A comment that says “this ending destroyed me” is a hook angle.

• A message that says “I stayed up all night reading” is a pacing post.

• A quote a reader shares is a quote graphic.

Collect these in a “reader reactions” folder. Screenshot them. Paste them into a document.

Social proof content not only saves you time, it usually performs better than “look at my book” content because it is not you praising yourself. It’s other people validating the experience.

Step eight: batch-create your content in small sprints

Batching is what makes the plan doable.

You do not need a full-day content marathon. You just need a repeatable sprint.

A good sprint looks like this.

• Week one of the month, create 6 posts.

• Week three of the month, create 6 posts.

• Schedule them. Done.

Or, if you prefer, create all 12 posts in one afternoon and schedule them.

The key is that you are not making content every single day. You are choosing content once, then letting it run.

Step nine: keep your captions easy and natural

Your captions do not have to be long essays. You can follow a simple flow that sounds human.

• Start with a hook line.

• Add a short explanation or vibe.

• End with an invite, like a question or “want the link?”

For example:

“Do you love stories where the small town is hiding something?”

“This book is built on that feeling, the one where everyone smiles, but nobody is telling the truth.”

“Are you team small-town secrets, or do you prefer big-city thrillers?”

It’s clean, it’s natural, and it encourages interaction without begging.

The goal is to stay visible, not to be everywhere

A year of content from one book is not about flooding feeds. It’s about building steady visibility, so your book keeps finding new readers long after launch week.

When you repurpose intentionally, you stop feeling like content is a treadmill. It becomes a simple rhythm. Pull from the vault. Match the month’s theme. Use three formats. Schedule it.

And then you get to do what you actually want to do, which is write the next book.