Launching a book can be one of the most exciting, rewarding, and challenging times for an author. With hundreds of thousands of books published every year, it’s more important than ever to have a strategy to make your book stand out.
Though book sales don’t happen overnight, a successful launch creates momentum and buzz to help your book thrive.
In this guide, we’ll cover how to create an effective pre-launch and launch plan. We’ll look at setting goals, choosing a launch date, marketing, and analyzing results.
1. Define Your Goals
When launching a book, it’s important to define your goals upfront. This will help guide your strategy and determine where to focus your efforts. Some common goals to consider are:
2. Increasing Sales
The most obvious goal is to sell more books. Come up with a sales target based on realistic expectations. Factors like genre, marketing budget, and existing audience can impact potential sales. Set both a launch week sales goal and an ongoing sales goal.
3. Building an Audience
Use your book launch to grow your readership. Getting the book into more hands is key. Consider giveaways, promotions, and building your email list. The launch can attract new readers who will continue purchasing your future books.
4. Getting Reviews
Reviews are essential for building credibility and social proof. They also help with visibility on retail sites. Come up with a plan to get reviews on launch day from early readers. Also, make it easy for readers to leave reviews post-launch. Reviews take time to accumulate, so start early.
5. Choose a Launch Date
Picking the right date to launch your book is an important decision that requires some strategic planning. You’ll want to select a date about 1-3 months prior to your book’s release when you can start building momentum through pre-launch marketing.
Avoid choosing dates that coincide with major holidays or big events in your industry, as you’ll get lost in the shuffle. For instance, launching a business book right before the new year or during the summer vacation season means fewer people will be paying attention.
Instead, look for windows when your audience will be most receptive. Mondays and Tuesdays tend to be good launch days since people are productive and focused on work. January to February, or June to July, is often an ideal time to launch.
Don’t forget that having a launch date circled on the calendar will help you maintain momentum and give your pre-launch activities a sense of urgency. Just don’t rush to pick any old date – be strategic in selecting one that maximizes your chance to successfully introduce your book to readers.
6. Plan Pre-Launch Activities
The pre-launch phase is important for setting your book up for success. Some key activities to focus on include:
Editing & Proofreading
Investing in professional editing and proofreading will ensure your book is polished and error-free before release. Use our online rich-text or plain-text editor tool to polish up your manuscript and strengthen your writing. Then, have a proofreader thoroughly check for typos, inconsistencies, and formatting issues.
Design Cover & Interior
Your book’s cover and interior design will make a strong first impression on readers. Work with a professional designer to create an eye-catching cover that represents your book’s themes and genre. Choose a clean, readable interior format and font that enhances readability.
Identify Influencers & Media Outlets
Research potential influencers like bloggers, journalists, and industry experts who could help promote your book pre-launch and at launch. Create a media list of publications, podcasts, radio shows, and other outlets that might be interested in featuring you and your book. Pitch them with a press release and review copy before launch.
7. Build a Launch Team
A launch team is a group of supporters who help get the word out about your book leading up to and during the launch. Enlisting a team of advocates can create buzz and momentum for your launch.
Consider recruiting friends, family members, existing fans or followers, colleagues, and industry connections. Identify people who would be excited to support you and willing to actively promote your book through their own networks.
Offering free advance copies of your book in exchange for honest reviews is a great way to build buzz. Reach out to book reviewers, bloggers, influencers, or industry professionals who might be interested in reading and reviewing your book pre-launch. Getting positive early reviews can help convince readers to buy your book once it’s released.
Make sure to provide your launch team with assets like your book cover image, description, release date, pre-order links, and suggested social posts. Keep them updated on any launch plans or promotions. Express your appreciation and recognize their efforts to boost word-of-mouth for your book.
8. Execute Launch Day Promotions
The launch day of your book is the culmination of all your hard work and provides an opportunity to generate excitement and drive sales. So here are some key strategies you can use.
Online Ads and Social Media Campaigns
- Run paid ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Google leading up to and on launch day. Make them eye-catching and highlight the book’s key selling points or reviews.
- Post frequently on your social media accounts on launch day. Share excerpts, photos, quotes, and encourage people to order or download your book.
- Ask fans and followers to share launch day posts. Word-of-mouth can spread quickly and widely on social media.
- Livestream events like readings or Q&As to engage followers. These interactive events create buzz.
Blog Tours, Virtual Events
- Schedule guest posts on book blogs leading up to your launch to gain new readers.
- Participate in online events with other authors in your genre around the time of your launch. Cross-promote each other’s new releases.
- Host a virtual launch party on social media or a livestream platform with giveaways and discussions around your book’s topic.
Discount Deals, Giveaways
- Offer launch discounts and limited-time deals to incentivize quick purchases. Free shipping, percentage discounts, or bonus gifts can sweeten the deal.
- Give away free copies of your ebook in exchange for honest reviews. Reviews are essential for generating credibility.
- Run contests and giveaways of your book on Goodreads and social media. Require sharing or tagging friends to enter to expand reach.
- Partner with complementary brands or influencers to arrange cross-promotions and giveaways on launch day.
9. Track Launch Results
Once your book is officially out in the world, you’ll want to closely track its performance and reader reactions during the launch period. This will allow you to gauge success, make any needed adjustments, and inform future marketing efforts.
Monitor Sales Rankings and Revenue
Keep a close eye on your book’s sales rankings and revenue on retail sites like Amazon. How is it faring in its categories and overall? Are sales meeting expectations? Look for positive momentum and signs that interest is spreading organically via word of mouth.
Use sales data to identify successful marketing activities to double down on, as well as any underperforming strategies that may need tweaking. Sales velocity in the early launch days can be a predictive indicator of long-term performance.
Get Feedback from Readers
Actively solicit honest reviews and feedback directly from readers. What did they like most? What could be improved? How likely are they to recommend the book to others? Feedback provides qualitative insights to complement hard sales data.
You can also get reviews on retail sites, directly on your website, and through social media. Make it easy for readers to contact you, and be sure to read each review carefully and respond professionally, even to critical ones.
Adjust Strategies as Needed
Use reader feedback and sales data to regularly re-evaluate what’s working and what’s not. Be willing to try new tactics or reallocate resources to better connect with your audience. The launch period is a chance to experiment and find the optimal path forward.
For example, if online ads are underperforming, try redirecting that budget to boost social media engagement. Or consider running promotions like free giveaways to generate more buzz. Adapt quickly to capitalize on the prime launch window.
Stay nimble, but don’t overreact or shift strategies prematurely. Use data-driven insights to make informed, strategic adjustments over the launch and beyond.
10. Maintain Post-Launch Momentum
The launch of your book is just the beginning. To keep up the momentum after release day, you’ll need to put in ongoing work to market, promote, and build on your book’s early success. Here are some tips:
- Keep marketing and promoting your book through social media, your website, events, and other channels. Share reviews, media coverage, and reader reactions to demonstrate growing interest.
- Plan additional content like sequels, spinoffs, or companion works to give readers more of what they want. A series allows you to reach existing fans while attracting new ones.
- Build on your new readership by engaging with readers online. Respond to their feedback and questions to foster an invested audience for the long term.
- Consider paid advertising to sustain interest. Targeted Facebook and Amazon ads can remind readers about your book or introduce it to those not reached initially.
- Pitch yourself and your book as a guest for podcasts, blogs, book clubs, conventions, and other venues. Remember, publicity is ongoing work.
- Enter your book into awards programs and competitions to gain accolades. Even being a finalist generates buzz.
Wrapping Up Your Book’s Big Debut
Launching a book is an exciting journey, but the launch process takes effort. Therefore, take the time to craft a unique, creative plan that fits your goals and audience, and stick to a budget.
Dream big about how you want to introduce your book baby to the world, and if you need help with editing, check out online editing tools.
SOURCES
At Voxtury, we prioritize using high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to ensure our articles are accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. To learn more about our commitment to quality and how we fact-check our content, please visit our editorial process page.
- Blurb Blog. (n.d.). How to plan a book launch: step-by-step guide.
- Shawn P.B Robinson. (n.d.). When Do I Launch My Book?
- J Connelly. (2023). 4 Tips for a Successful Book Launch.
