No matter how you slice it, book launches are hard. There's no easy way to do it, but there are several steps that can make the process bearable and make you, the happy author, contented to just pop the bubbly when the happy day arrives. Below is the list of eleven things I did before my book launch. It is hard to say what any one thing would have done by itself, but as a joint effort, my book, The Believers, was able to make it into the #1000s on Amazon rankings and my first book, The Breeders made it to #500. Pretty successful in my mind.
Things I did before book launch:
1) Set up a BookBub promo .99 cent for my first book. Book Bub is a very popular subscription service. For a fee they push your book out to tens of thousands of subscribers. Plan at least a month ahead and be prepare for rejection. My other book was denied because it was a relatively new title and I am a relatively unknown author. (I was super lucky and got this approved the day after my release. ) On another note, I used a Kindle Countdown Deal for The Breeders which let me keep 70% of the royalties instead of 35%. Since I sold almost 800 books in four days that is a huge savings. I highly recommend using Kindle Countdown Deal.
2) Contacted all my blogger friends and awesome book people to ask for blog space. I send out one contact email to all the people who I know might want to help. I keep a running list all year long of who those people are so I don't have to scramble when release time comes. Book bloggers are awesome and so are all my other indie author friends. You have to be willing to reciprocate when they have their launches, but I love helping all my indie friends.
3) Posted first chapter on my website. I did this two weeks beforehand. I also did a cover reveal about a month or two before. Countdown posts on social media with the release date in them were scheduled about once a week.
4) Did a pre-email to my newsletter group letting them know when the book would release. I have about 200 on my newsletter list. Not a ton, but a good start and all of them have asked to be notified so they are likely to be some of the first to buy.
5) Did a follow up email to my newsletter group on the day of the release. Just as a gentle reminder. I kept it light and short. I was releasing on Black Friday and knew some of the turkey hangovers and shopping sleep deprivation could cause them to forget.
6) Did several posts via Facebook and Twitter announcing the release date.
7) Set up a paid review tour for January. I am doing this through Kismet Tours who did a great job with The Breeders book tour. I wish they could've fit me in before the release date but alas. Always plan way ahead.
8) Sent out ARCs to reviewers who were asking for them. My book blogger fans are some of the best people in the world and I love them.
9) Joined an author co-op with some awesome ladies of Indie Speculative YA. More to come on this.
10) Did a giveaway of signed copies on my website. Hopefully you entered. Hopefully you won. If not, stay tuned for more swag and prizes.
11) Paid for a Facebook Ad on my release day so that all my Facebook fans and their friends would see the post. Everyone wants to know, right?
There you have it. My framework for a release. I did these things in stages and had everything ready to go so all I had to do on release day was spread the word and check my stats. I've done three book launches so far, but I am sure there are some of you more seasoned than I. I'd love to hear from you. Sound off below.
Things I did before book launch:
1) Set up a BookBub promo .99 cent for my first book. Book Bub is a very popular subscription service. For a fee they push your book out to tens of thousands of subscribers. Plan at least a month ahead and be prepare for rejection. My other book was denied because it was a relatively new title and I am a relatively unknown author. (I was super lucky and got this approved the day after my release. ) On another note, I used a Kindle Countdown Deal for The Breeders which let me keep 70% of the royalties instead of 35%. Since I sold almost 800 books in four days that is a huge savings. I highly recommend using Kindle Countdown Deal.
2) Contacted all my blogger friends and awesome book people to ask for blog space. I send out one contact email to all the people who I know might want to help. I keep a running list all year long of who those people are so I don't have to scramble when release time comes. Book bloggers are awesome and so are all my other indie author friends. You have to be willing to reciprocate when they have their launches, but I love helping all my indie friends.
3) Posted first chapter on my website. I did this two weeks beforehand. I also did a cover reveal about a month or two before. Countdown posts on social media with the release date in them were scheduled about once a week.
4) Did a pre-email to my newsletter group letting them know when the book would release. I have about 200 on my newsletter list. Not a ton, but a good start and all of them have asked to be notified so they are likely to be some of the first to buy.
5) Did a follow up email to my newsletter group on the day of the release. Just as a gentle reminder. I kept it light and short. I was releasing on Black Friday and knew some of the turkey hangovers and shopping sleep deprivation could cause them to forget.
6) Did several posts via Facebook and Twitter announcing the release date.
7) Set up a paid review tour for January. I am doing this through Kismet Tours who did a great job with The Breeders book tour. I wish they could've fit me in before the release date but alas. Always plan way ahead.
8) Sent out ARCs to reviewers who were asking for them. My book blogger fans are some of the best people in the world and I love them.
9) Joined an author co-op with some awesome ladies of Indie Speculative YA. More to come on this.
10) Did a giveaway of signed copies on my website. Hopefully you entered. Hopefully you won. If not, stay tuned for more swag and prizes.
11) Paid for a Facebook Ad on my release day so that all my Facebook fans and their friends would see the post. Everyone wants to know, right?
There you have it. My framework for a release. I did these things in stages and had everything ready to go so all I had to do on release day was spread the word and check my stats. I've done three book launches so far, but I am sure there are some of you more seasoned than I. I'd love to hear from you. Sound off below.
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