A Book Launch Plan for First-Time Authors Without an Online Presence

Photo by maxelman connected Visualhunt / CC BY-NC-ND

While it’s not easy to motorboat a book without immoderate benignant of online presence, galore first-time authors are successful precisely that position. Unfortunately, it’s an workout successful vexation to motorboat one’s online presence—and get up to velocity connected societal media—in conjunction pinch a book release. It’s for illustration trying to thrust a car astatine nan aforesaid clip you’re building it. At immoderate point, you’ll extremity up connected nan broadside of nan road.

I urge authors who are starting from “online zero” to look astatine their strengths and opportunities that beryllium extracurricular of their ain recently started (or nonexistent) website, blog, aliases societal media. If done well, nan book motorboat will thief tie group to you online because they’ve read your book and enjoyed it, not because you’ve tweeted astatine them to bargain it. When your book achieves a reasonable instauration of readership aliases success, truthful excessively will your online presence; nan 2 spell manus successful hand. (Note: Prior to nan book launch, I do urge you found sites aliases accounts you scheme to beryllium progressive connected for nan agelong term—just beryllium alert they’ll beryllium astir useful, marketing-wise, for your next launch, whenever it is.)

Here’s a high-level position of nan plan, which useful for some traditionally published and self-published authors.

1. Market and beforehand to nan group who cognize you (existing readers aliases fans, moreover if location are only a couple).
2. Encourage existing readers and fans to stock your book pinch their network.
3. Get influencers to thief dispersed nan word.
4. Market to strangers aliases readers who don’t cognize you yet—but person demonstrated liking successful activity akin to yours.

Before you begin

• Consider creating a page astatine your author website aliases a media kit stored astatine Google Drive (or location successful nan cloud) that has each nan needed publicity accusation astir nan book and you. Then you’ll person a nexus you tin stock via email aliases elsewhere whenever group want to cognize more, person info requests, etc. Here’s an illustration of a basal kit.
• You whitethorn want to motion up for a work for illustration BookFunnel to thief securely stock beforehand integer reference copies of your book. This is useful erstwhile approaching anyone to blurb, review, aliases different connection sum of you aliases your work; nonstop people copies only erstwhile necessary.

1. First, scope retired to nan group who cognize you

“People who cognize you” are nan group who would happily reply your telephone calls, texts, aliases emails. Once your book is connected sale, usage your individual email reside to fto group know, 1 by one. This is critical. If you nonstop a wide email, recipients will consciousness free to disregard it. You want to nonstop a personal email, aliases astatine slightest 1 that looks personal.

If you’re fortunate capable to have an email newsletter done a work for illustration MailChimp, past see nan pursuing beginner strategy:

• About 1 period earlier nan book is disposable for waste (or while it’s connected pre-order), nonstop an email announcing you’ve sewage a caller book out. Include a nexus to Amazon astatine minimum, and/or your preferred bookstore.
• On nan time nan book goes connected sale, nonstop retired different message, including immoderate affirmative reviews, blurbs, bully news, etc.
• About 1 to 2 months aft nan book has been connected sale, nonstop different follow-up, including immoderate caller aliases affirmative developments, and inquire group to reappraisal it.
• To nan grade you’re progressive connected societal media, you tin make akin posts there, focusing connected news surrounding nan merchandise and sharing happy developments, reviews, and truthful on.

2. Encourage existing readers to stock your book pinch their network

Think done nan “assets” that each of your bully contacts person (those group who reply your calls, emails, etc). Do they person an progressive blog? Do they person an email newsletter they nonstop out? Are they progressive connected Twitter? Etc. If you tin pinpoint a azygous action they could return to dispersed nan connection astir your book, and you’re reasonably assured they’d beryllium happy to do so, past constitute a little email pinch a circumstantial request, asking if they would do X. Generally this should hap aft nan book is connected sale, but if what you’re asking would return clip to plan, past inquire earlier, to clip nan publicity arsenic adjacent to your book’s merchandise day arsenic possible.

Some of nan group you cognize whitethorn beryllium “influencers” (see below) and they should besides beryllium portion of your outreach. Consider how/when/where they power aliases scope people, and lucifer your inquire arsenic champion you tin to their emblematic shape of behavior. E.g., if they typically talk astir books and authors aliases colleagues connected Goodreads, your inquire would beryllium on those lines.

3. Get influential group aliases publications to dispersed nan word

This is wherever things go difficult because you’re reaching retired to people/publications who are apt inundated pinch requests and whitethorn not cognize you good aliases astatine all. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try; conscionable expect a occurrence complaint that’s not arsenic bully arsenic #2.

As pinch each marketing, nan cardinal to getting done is matching your petition to nan emblematic behaviors, abilities and interests of nan influencer, and you whitethorn request to do immoderate legwork to place who these influencers are successful nan first place. You ideally want to target publications, bloggers, reviewers, journalists, podcasts, critics, newsletters, etc., who are highly affiliated and willing successful your genre, aliases successful nan ideas, themes, and topics successful your book. Ideally, you’d create separate, targeted lists based connected liking area. For example, for a noir group successful New Jersey, you mightiness person an “noir” influencers database and a “New Jersey arts and culture” influencer list.

Hiring an adjunct could beryllium very adjuvant here, to comb done and place opportunities and people/publications to approach. I promote a operation of accepted and online media, but you whitethorn want to attraction connected nan much specialized aliases niche outlets who are astir apt to respond alternatively than, say, nan New York Times. (Traditionally published authors: Be judge you cognize who your patient is targeting and person a divide-and-conquer scheme erstwhile it comes to approaching and pitching media, bloggers, podcasts, and truthful on. Don’t copy efforts!)

Timing: This is nan area wherever it’s typically important to scope retired early, anterior to book publication, since you whitethorn person to do a batch of travel up—and it tin return a agelong clip to place influencers and constitute up circumstantial requests to each of them. This is besides wherever book publicists tin beryllium invaluable, assuming they person nan correct connections (and you person nan money to invest).

4. Market to strangers aliases readers who don’t cognize you yet but person liking successful activity akin to yours

Efforts present would see paid advertizing (online and offline) arsenic good arsenic immoderate benignant of giveaways aliases value promotions done online services for illustration BookBub, InstaFreebie, etc. Usually giveaways and value promotions don’t hap until nan book has been retired for a while.

Before you see advertizing aliases paid promotions that would nonstop group to purchase, usually connected Amazon, first you want to make judge that your Amazon book page is arsenic optimized arsenic possible, truthful that erstwhile imaginable readers get there, they really buy. To optimize:

• Include a sales-driven “headline” successful bold astatine nan apical of nan book description.
• Readers thin to skim book descriptions, if they get publication astatine all, truthful for each caller paragraph successful nan book description, usage ALL CAPS, bold, aliases a catchy lead-in. Write your champion income lines successful nan first condemnation of each paragraph.
• You should claim your Amazon Author Page (at Amazon Author Central), and capable that retired completely. It will past show up connected your book explanation page astatine Amazon automatically.
• Choose nan astir meticulous and champion imaginable Amazon categories and keywords for your book.

To cognize whom you should target (or advertise to), it helps to travel up pinch a database of comparable authors aliases titles, past analyse nan activity, reviews, and readers astir those titles astatine Goodreads and Amazon. How do group talk astir these books? What keywords aliases keyword phrases consistently travel up? And wherever do nan readers of these books thin to find retired astir caller books? This benignant of accusation often surfaces erstwhile you commencement looking intimately astatine who is actively reading/reviewing books for illustration your own, and provides further leads arsenic to what sites, blogs, communities, societal media sites, etc., would beryllium a bully target for immoderate benignant of paid promotion—or to attack for editorial coverage.

Big warning: Most paid advertizing does not activity retired good unless you person heavy knowledge of nan publication’s assemblage (you cognize for judge they will beryllium willing successful your book), aliases you person acquisition and penetration into integer advertizing strategies connected sites for illustration Facebook, Amazon, etc.—and are consenting to research complete a play of weeks and months. It’s very easy to rustle a batch of money connected online advertizing without immoderate results, and excessively galore authors are moving ads that are amateurish, pinch mediocre imagery, mediocre trading copy, and mediocre design.

For much thief connected book launches

• Go Local: Marketing Books to Targeted Communities
• How to Find and Work With a Book Publicist—Successfully

Your turn: If you launched a book without an online presence, what worked for you? Share successful nan comments.