Tips to Manage an EBook Launch Like a Pro
Approaching an ebook launch can seem intimidating without a good framework to give you clarity on the planning, content creation, execution, and follow-up. For new authors, this can seem even more daunting. The good news is there are some great resources out there to help you on this journey. This article is an additional perspective to help you on your way to marketing success.
Publishing the Book
After you’ve fully written the book and had at least three other people read it and give you feedback and corrections, you will need an additional 10 to 15 hours to go through and make final edits. Hopefully, this will not take that long, but it is natural as a writer to start re-editing your work and want to make further changes. Resist!
If you are self-publishing on Kindle, get onto the site and start prepping your book specifications, including images and other back information. Then, download Kindle Create and create a table of contents and make any appropriate changes. Do a final preview to make sure your book looks good, and all the links work. Finally, properly upload your book to your Kindle Bookshelf and set your final pricing.
Preparing to Market
It is advisable to work on this portion well in advance of your launch date. There is a lot of content to prepare, so you are ready as the launch date approaches. Here are some suggestions:
Book Promotional Materials:
- Get 10-20 book mockups to use in different social media posts, articles, and promotions
- Write out your Author Bio
- Media Kit for the book (describing who the book is for and more about the book and author)
Social Media Promotions:
- Copy for Facebook social media post #1, #2, #3
- Copy for LinkedIn social media post #1, #2, #3
- Copy for Twitter social media post #1, #2, #3
- Prep Instagram social media post #1, #2, #3
Press Release/ Announcements:
- Write out 1-2 press releases to share with newspapers and other media
- Prep 2-3 Author headshots
Identify and Execute on Your Marketing Channels
At this stage, you will fine-tune your messaging and plan the execution of the marketing campaign to coincide with the book launch. Here are some ideas:
- Social Media: Use a social media scheduling program like MeetEdgar to plan out posts several days before the launch, the day of the launch and for the next 2-3 weeks after the launch. This is where all those book mockup images will come in handy.
- Online Promotions – Free – Facebook Groups: One of the most significant areas to tap into, are the numerous Facebook groups helping authors share their book information. A simple search of “Kindle books” in Facebook Groups will yield dozens of groups. Be sure you tap into these early on and contribute with likes and comments for other users. Don’t just show up on the day of your launch, as you often need to get approved to join the group and then in some, the post needs to be approved as well.
- Online Promotions – Free – Other Online Sites: Be sure you tap into sites like Goodreads and other great directories to share your new book and claim your author page.
- Online Promotions – Paid: There are many sites that will help you promote your book. In fact, there are so many it is a good idea to review some of the great lists that summarize all the different sites and vendors. For instance, Wordlikes.com has several different packages that can help you start to explore reaching new audiences.
- Online Promotions – Facebook Live: This is a great low-cost option to get your face out there and share your book launch. There are many different platforms you can use so find one that you like. Be.live is a great one to stage pictures of your book and other content so you are ready when you go live.
- Email your List or Friends: This is a big one. People who know you, like you and trust you, will help you get the word out there. Give them links to share on social media, pictures and other great materials so they can become raving fans.
- Email other authors: Chances are, in the course of writing your book, you have met many other authors. Send them an email when your book launches and ask them to get it, read it and give you feedback. Chances are they will also get online and leave you a review.
- Email reviewers: You may also choose to target 15-20 people and ask them to read your book and give a review. This can help build up the reviews on your book page and/or on other sites.
- Book Trailers and YouTube videos: Create several videos to get the word out there as well.
While there are endless options for things you can do, find your balance. Craft a plan that makes sense for you and your audience. You can also stage specific marketing every 2 weeks to balance out your sales. Finally, as you do your launch, create checklists, procedures and take lots of snapshots of how you did things, so when you publish book #2 it will all be easier.
Cheers to navigating an EBook Launch!