Launch Day Tips & Tactics
You’ve spent weeks or months waiting for this day—the moment you could launch your book out into the world and add the title ‘author’ to your bio. You may be tempted to kick back and take it easy for a couple of weeks.
But release day is actually one of the busiest days in an author’s career. There are plenty of things you should be doing to market your brand-new book.
Start by uploading a book trailer to YouTube. You want your video on YouTube because it’s the world’s second most popular search engine. That means when people want recommendations for the next book they should buy, they start looking on Google, and then YouTube.
Once your book trailer is uploaded, start scheduling a Facebook party. Ideally, you want to do it within the next day or two. This helps create a bigger buzz about your book. Invite all of your friends to your party and encourage them to invite others they think may be interested.
You can kick off your event by doing a Facebook Live video. FB Live will promote your video for you, which can result in even more attendees at your party.
Interact with participants and host contests. For prizes, giveaway free promotional items like bookmarks, pens, or Amazon gift cards. You can also share some ‘behind the scenes’ information with attendees or host a Q & A session about your book’s topic.
Another way to promote your book on launch day is to ask friends or colleagues if they’ll interview you for their blog or podcast. This gives you a chance to showcase yourself as an expert while sharing about your new book.
Don’t forget to ask for reviews. Do this at your Facebook party and in your interviews. It’s against most retailers’ policies to ask for a good review. So, you might say, “If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review on (Amazon or Barnes and Noble or another site).”
There’s a lot of hard work and hustle that goes into writing and publishing your book. But don’t let the process overwhelm you. Take it one step at a time and keep going. You’ll get to launch day if you keep chasing your dream.