How Do You Prepare for Your Book Launch?

An author’s book launch is an exciting adventure—and if you’re going for Amazon.com Bestseller, it’s a nerve wracking one as well. There are a lot of working parts, and any author who wants to make a splash has the question I posed to you in the title of this post.

This  month, Bob Beck’s book Winning in the 5th Quarter will launch January 27^th. Since his book is about football, I can have fun talking about the team elements of a book launch and be right on target for this particular book. But first, I have to share an all-too-common story with you.

this is a sample portion of an email to me:

“My book is coming out next week. I think the picture should be up by then and I want to be an Amazon best seller. Can I do it this month?”

“Depends…Do you have emails going out to a million people?” was one question I asked.

The author wrote back, “Um…no I have a few friends. I guess this isn’t going to work. I really didn’t plan things out very well.”

This is a short story and a sad one. An author with this approach is only heading for disappointment, unless you have someone “in your pocket” who has a mailing list of hundreds of thousands of responsive people. (naturally you can plan things better and wait if you will settle down)

Now, let me pour some more lemon juice in the wound to go along with the salt I just poured:

Common Mistakes of Authors Before Their Book Launch

Failure to Acquire Relevant Bonus Gifts: AKA, Bogus Bonuses

A common mistake that many authors make is to focus on getting a pile of bonuses to give out without focusing on getting relevant bonus gifts. Bob’s book is about the success secrets of football, so he doesn’t want bonuses related to the stock market or gardening. Bonus gifts related to success, mindset, attitude, football, and life coaching are what he wants.

Failure to Grow Relationships with Your Readers and Launch Partners

Even if you hire someone to coordinate your book launch, you are the author of your book and you have to be the one both your intended readers and launch partners bond with. Bob Beck is a noted salesman, so he is at an advantage here because he understands that business is built on relationships. This is perhaps even more true in the online world than in person, because we don’t get to look each other in the eye or shake hands. 

Failure to Blog

Blogging is one of the cornerstones of a good book launch. If you’re  not blogging, you’re missing out on so many opportunities for both backlinks to your site and credibility.

Failure to Incorporate Social Media in Your Launch Plans

Like it or not, you must be seen as reachable and engaged. If you are not using tools like Twitter and Facebook, you’re making a huge mistake. You don’t have to let these tools suck the life out of you and waste your time, but you must use them. You’re not schmoozing, you’re building real relationships on these networks.

Failure to Build Buzz

Again, even if you hire someone to help with your launch, you have to be the one to get the excitement going. How would it look for someone else to have to do all the publicity and you’re not out there yourself creating links and sharing your excitement about your book?

Failure to Find Mavens

A few mavens – people who love what you’re doing and will talk about you all over the web – will skyrocket your success…assuming you have cultivated some.

Failure to Plan

It is said that those who fail to plan can plan to fail. You can launch your book even if it’s been out for a while, but you still must plan for success.

So how do you prepare for your book launch?

 

These are some of the things we’re doing for the Q5 launch

Launch date is planned for January 27^th. Bob is getting everyone he knows to get involved, either by joining as a launch partner on the page I created for him, or by buying a copy of his book on the 27^th.

I’ve made a Facebook Fan Page for his book and have instructed him over the past few months to get involved on this page and to invite all his friends, both on FB and anywhere else, to become a fan of the page and get involved in discussions etc. There are a couple of discussions and some wall posts with his lens and videos and other relevant media that he can leverage.

I’ve also encouraged him to reach out to anyone on Facebook who is into football, as they are his ideal market. He’s still getting used to social media, but he does have some good helpers.

His web designer is putting together the pages he’ll need for launch day. I’m writing the emails for book launch partners to use, and I wrote the page for the partners to sign up.

And speaking of book launch partners, maybe you’d like to participate. Book launch partners are the ambassadors who will send out the emails and/or post to their blogs on the big day. You’ll get all the instructions and be thanked most graciously. Maybe Bob will even have his new blog up and running by then.

Your launch partners are wonderful and gracious because they are helping you make your big dream a reality and you are giving them publicity in return. Well in Bob’s case, I am.

There is no guarantee of a bestseller, but you can stack the deck in your favor.

Resources

Join the Winning in the 5th Quarter Book Launch by blogging/emailing

Get your free Buzz Power action guide and 1 hr audio training. I’ll also give you a marketing quick tip each week.

Ronda Del Boccio is a transformational speaker, mentor and author known globally as The Story Lady because she teaches authors, entrepreneurs and business owners to easily connect with your ideal customers and contacts through the power of your story.

She is the author of numerous stories, poems, and articles, as well as her books I’ll Push You Steer, and other upcoming books.

Discover how to explode profits, prospects and prime media opoprtuntiies with her latest book is the Instant Credibility system, which teaches any business owner, entrepreneur, coach, speaker or writer to craft a lead-generating book that grows your business.

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