marketing-research

name	marketing-research
description	Research literary agents, podcasts, book bloggers, reviewers, and newsletters in your genre with verified citations
author	AuthorAgent
version	1.0.0
triggers	["find literary agents","find a literary agent","find an agent for","research agents","find podcasts for authors","find author podcasts","book podcast research","find book bloggers","find book reviewers","find newsletters","find book reviewers","booktok research","bookstagram research","find indie reviewers","marketing research","promo research","find promo opportunities"]
permissions	["research_access","file_read","file_write"]

Marketing Research

Surfaces concrete book-marketing opportunities for an author's specific genre / subgenre / book. Built on top of AuthorAgent's existing research-lookup (Perplexity Sonar Pro via direct or OpenRouter), so every result comes back with verified live-web citations the author can cross-check before pitching.

What this skill researches

The skill takes a structured query and turns it into a real research request:

Type	What gets surfaced
Literary agents	Active agents repping your specific genre/subgenre, recent sales, submission status (open/closed), MSWL highlights
Author podcasts	Recurring podcasts that interview authors in your genre, recent guests, contact path, episode cadence
Book bloggers / reviewers	Bloggers actively reviewing in your genre 2025–2026, their review style, submission process, recent featured books
Trade publications	Kirkus / Publishers Weekly / Booklist / Foreword — cost, lead time, indie-author eligibility
Indie review services	Reedsy Discovery, BookSirens, Book Award contests, NetGalley alternatives, paid review legitimacy
Newsletters	Genre-specific newsletters that feature books, ad rates, submission process, audience size
BookTok / Bookstagram	Active accounts in your subgenre, follower scale, posting cadence, outreach approach
Comp authors	Recent successful authors in your specific subgenre — their launch playbook, their marketing channels
Conference / festival	Genre-aligned events with author tracks, dates, application windows

Important rules baked into every query

1. No fabricated citations. The skill uses Perplexity Sonar Pro underneath, which only cites sources it can verify in live web search. If the author asks about a niche subgenre with no current coverage, the result will say "I cannot verify reliable sources on this" rather than hallucinating agent names or podcast hosts.

2. No fake contact info. The skill explicitly does NOT generate email addresses, phone numbers, or DMs. Authors must look up contact info on the source's own published page (every reputable agent / podcast / blogger publishes their own submission process).

3. Verifiable + recent. The skill prefers sources updated in the last 18 months. Agents close to submissions, podcasts go on hiatus, bloggers stop updating — stale sources are explicitly downranked.

4. Author is responsible for due diligence. AuthorAgent is a research accelerator, not a vetting service. Always verify an agent before submitting (Writer Beware, Predators & Editors, AAR membership), and never pay for query review or "guaranteed publication."

How to invoke

Say things like:

• "Find literary agents repping cozy mystery"
• "Find podcasts that interview indie thriller authors"
• "Research book bloggers reviewing dark academia in 2026"
• "Find newsletters featuring romantasy releases"
• "Find BookTok accounts focused on enemies-to-lovers romance"
• "Who are the current comp authors for [my subgenre] selling well?"
• "Find recent literary agent sales for upmarket women's fiction"

The skill will:

1. Pull genre / subgenre / target audience from your active project (or the active persona) when present.
2. Build a structured Perplexity query.
3. Return a markdown report with cited results — name, what they cover, submission/contact path link, recent activity signal, and a one-line "fit" rationale per item.
4. Save the report to workspace/research/marketing/<topic>-<date>.md so you can come back to it.

Cost note

Each marketing-research query costs roughly $0.005–$0.02 in Perplexity Sonar Pro tokens (longer reports cost more). If no Perplexity / OpenRouter key is configured, the skill falls back to the active LLM and clearly labels the response as "no live web access — treat citations with extra skepticism."

What this skill is NOT

• Not a CRM. It surfaces opportunities; tracking your queries / replies is your job.
• Not a copywriter. The skill researches who/where; use the book-launch and query-letter skills to actually write your pitch.
• Not a substitute for human judgment on which agent / venue is right for you. AuthorAgent can find 30 thriller agents; choosing 3 to approach is your call.

Related skills

• query-letter — drafts a query letter once you've identified an agent to pitch
• book-launch — produces launch-week marketing assets (blog post, social posts, newsletter draft)
• comp-title-finder (premium add-on) — deeper comp-title positioning research with sales-trajectory analysis