Three, Two, One: Prepare for Launch
Whether you plan to sell the 2,000+ digital copies (in one day) necessary to get on Amazon’s bestseller list, or you just want to sell to your friends, family, and acquaintances, please do not simply hit the publish button and step away from the computer on release day. You’ve gone through the trouble of producing a high-quality book—months of writing, editorial, and promotion—and you want it to do well. We all want our books to do well, whatever that means to us personally.
For this reason, you’re going to have to plan something special for its send-off. The launch is the thing that will introduce your book to the world. This is a big deal!
I’ve already told you that you need ten to twenty-five reviews on Amazon before the (magical) algorithms begin to take notice and start recommending your book to the most likely takers. Your Street Team will do you the huge favor of helping you get those reviews, but aside from that, you need to draw the attention of people who don’t actually know you or your book. I’m sure I’ve mentioned that about 140,000 new books are released every month, so you’re going to have SHOUT in order to be heard. The key is to do it in a pleasant (not annoying) way.
Your goals leading up to Launch Day are to 1) get attention from your targeted audience* on you and your book 2) tell as many people as you can reach what the book is about 3) encourage people to buy it. All of the platform building you’ve done prior to the launch will help you get the word out.
(*Your targeted audience is the group of people who enjoy reading books like yours. The ones who read in your book’s genre or category.)
Grab your calendar and let the planning begin.
The idea is to make sure something “special” that’s related to your book happens every day for two weeks prior to Release Day. If you’ve purchased a blog tour, you have this covered pretty well, though you can definitely do more. If you haven’t, you need to set up your own special events as best you can. Here are a week’s worth of ideas.
1) Do a cover reveal. Even if you’ve already posted your cover and used it for promo purposes, you can post it simultaneously on every social media account you have and declare it a “Cover Reveal.” Tell whoever designed the cover so they can post about it as well. And be sure to give them credit.
2) Write a guest post for a popular blog that in some way connects to your readership. If you’ve written a book about an ice skater, for instance, you might pitch a popular skating blog an article on your favorite Olympians or a trend in ice-skater fashion. (Of course, this must be set up in advance). (More on blog posts here.)
3) Introduce a giveaway on Instagram or Facebook. A giveaway on social media should last no longer than seven days. You can give away one signed paperback.
4) Post an interview you’ve done with an author who writes in your genre. If you have no one to interview, find someone to interview you. You can publish this on social media, your own blog, or as a guest post for a writing/genre website.
5) Do a local event, such as an appearance or workshop at the library, or have a news article come out in the local paper (this requires more preparation—and a press release).
6) Appear on a podcast. Do you have any friends who do podcasts? Start there. If not, get a press release together and send it to appropriate possibilities. Again, this “event” will require preparation. (Here’s my podcast post.)
7) Do a virtual event, such as a reading or simply chat about who you are and how the idea for your book came about. The virtual event can be live or prerecorded.
If you write an article or interview, be sure to include a simple byline that mentions your book and encourages readers to buy it. For example, Kim Catanzarite is an editor and writer. Her debut novel, They Will Be Coming for Us,” releases June 1. Buy it here! A link to Amazon is appropriate, and you should make a “call to action.” That means saying something to sell the book at this point. “Click here to buy my book!”
Plan a similar mix of “events” for week 2.
You’ll have to get creative. Fourteen days of special events is not easy to come by. If you can’t do something each day, continue to post on social media about the events that you do have scheduled—or have recently accomplished. You also might post a review someone wrote on the book or short excerpts or quotes from your book. No matter what, do something to get attention. The beauty of all of these things is that you will be able to advertise them on social media and via your email list and other platforms, which will in turn draw attention to the fact that your book is available for preorder now and for purchase in just a few days.
In these ways and others, you will get yourself and your book “out there” without having to scream BUY MY BOOK. Instead, you’ll be saying, “Enter my giveaway” or “Listen to my podcast.”
Yes, it takes time and effort to set these things up. Just do your best, and do what you do best. If you enjoy pubic speaking, be sure to set up some kind of speaking event. If you want to head up a writing lesson or do a reading, go ahead and plan for that. Social media platforms allow you to “go live” these days, so you don’t have to be invited to speak somewhere in order to do it.
The more often people see your book, the more their interest in it will be piqued. If you’re lucky, one of your events or posts could go viral. If that happens, I want to hear about it. Good luck with your launch!
Preorder a digital copy of They Will Be Coming for Us today.
Get the paperback June 1. See my Special Offers.
Next week, what to do on PUBLICATION DAY besides making a toast to yourself and your book.
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