It is not out of place to come across an author that has spent ample time preparing a manuscript. Since a well-written book goes beyond just a perfect manuscript, authors that are looking to get the best out of a book go the extra mile. They pay for proofreading, formatting, and editing. All these are great. However, lots of authors do not give any attention to how to launch a book.
You see, as an author, you could put in a lot of effort into getting a book ready.
Well, regardless of the effort you put into getting a book ready, you might not get the sales you need if you do not make plans to promote it.
There are various ways to promote a book. One of them is organizing a book launch. Read on to find out how to organize a book launch.
What is a Book Launch?
A book launch is a promotional activity put together prior to a book’s release. It is a form of marketing that ensures book enthusiasts are aware of the existence of a book. Furthermore, it plays a major role in ensuring a book enjoys good sales.
Things to do Before Launching a book
As an author, knowing how to launch a book is a great move. However, it is not good enough to simply know how to launch a book.
To get the best out of a book launch, you should know what to do before launching any book. A book launch, no doubt, is very important. However, of equal importance are activities before the actual book launch.
Some things you need to do to ensure your book launch is successful are;
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Create a Book Description: This is a simple activity. Also, it is key to ensuring a book launch goes according to your plan. You can do this easily with the use of a book description generator.
Your Book Must Fall Under defined Categories: When a book is released, it can be in various categories. However, prior to its launch, you should select a couple of categories. You can do this by heading to the Amazon KDP dashboard.
Select Some Keywords: To help your book stand out, you will need to choose a couple of keywords. You do not need to make a choice of several keywords. Seven will be just perfect.
If you are not sure how to go about this, you can make use of Kdpspy and KDP Pocket.
You should have a Landing Page: A landing page is a necessary requirement before you go on to launch a book. With a landing page, you can get people’s email addresses. With this, you can send your prospective readers the first chapter of the book. This will go a long way in building their anticipation for other parts of the book.
Tips on how to launch a book successfully
Do you wish to learn how to launch a book successfully? The tips below will be helpful.
1. You Need a Budget
A book launch will definitely cost you money. So, to ensure you get value for whatever amount spent, you should have a budget.
The aim of launching a book is to boost sales.
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To achieve this, you do not have to get involved in anything fancy or expensive. Although there are no rules as regards how much you should spend, you do not have to spend too much to get things done right.
To have the right budget, you need to be certain of some of the things you will be spending on. You should consider the cost of promotional materials, the cost of a venue and decorations, the cost of printing some books and also light refreshment for guests.
2. Will Your Book Launch Strictly be by Invitation?
There are various ways to go about a book launch. You could leave It open to the public. You could also ensure it is strictly by invitation. Making a choice might not be easy. However, having an idea of what you want to achieve will make your choice less difficult.
If the aim of a book launch is to boost sales, then, you should have it open to the public.
If this is the route you will be taking, you should give a lot of attention to promotion before the actual date of the book launch.
Some of the ways to prepare for a public book launch are through the creation of an event age, creating a buzz on social media, and having a press release.
3. You Need the Right Venue
As your book launch approaches, if you get everything right but go wrong with your venue, things could go south. When looking for a venue for your book launch, you should consider its ease of accessibility. This will go a long way in helping people attend the launch.
Although there are no rules in the type of venue you can select, some venues definitely stand out from the others. Some of the best venues you can select when looking to launch a book are a local café, a bar, or a library.
4. You Should Make Adequate Plans for Sales
If you cannot generate sales with a book launch, then, you have not learned how to launch a book. To a large extent, the aim of a book launch is to boost sales. A lot of authors are aware of this fact. However, while preparing for a book launch, they seem to forget that getting ready for major sales is a key part of launching a book.
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To ensure you achieve your aim of launching a book, you must get ready for sales. This is easier said than done. However, with the right structures put in place, it can be achieved.
Taking care of sales in a book launch can be challenging. However, if you are using a bookstore for your book launch, you can let the staff handle the book sales. This is a great way to have less work on your hands. But, if you decide to do things this way, you will likely not get a hundred percent profit.
That’s not all.. If you decide to sell in a bookstore, you will need to sell at a reduced price. This is important because the book store will be looking for avenues of making a profit from your book sales.
Furthermore, bookstores do not pay for books ahead of time. So, you only get paid after they have sold some books. Also, you should be prepared to offer book enthusiasts various discounts and deals.
If you do not want to have a bookstore in charge of your sales, you will need to get prepared for electronic and cash deposits.
5. Get a Speech Ready
A book launch is really not complete without a speech. Going by this, you need to get a speech ready.
If giving a speech is something you are comfortable with, feel free to pour out your heart. However, if it is not something you are comfortable with, ensure the speech is short.
Delivering a speech is not the easiest thing for lots of people. So, if you fall into the class of people that are scared of speeches, then you can prepare one prior to the book launch and practice severally.
While getting a speech ready, ensure it talks about the process of writing your book. You should also include details of where your book can be bought. Additionally, don’t forget to thank the attendees.
6. Prepare Giveaways
Not everyone is used to attending book launches. So, to keep your audience involved in the entire process, you should prepare some giveaways. Since the book launch is to get people to buy your book, give them the liberty to do so. This means your giveaways should be other items apart from your book.
7. Take Advantage of Social Media
There are lots of things social media can do beyond just helping you have some fun. You can take advantage of its existence to let people know about your book launch.
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If you want your target audience to be aware of your book launch, then, you will need to promote it on social media.
In addition to promoting your book launch on social media, on the night of the book launch, ensure you take lots of pictures. These pictures should be shared on social media with a dedicated hashtag.
You should not be the only one to take pictures and share them on social media.
Get your guests to take pictures too and share them on social media with dedicated hashtags.
What Do You Do After a Successful Book Launch?
Having a successful book launch is great but you should not stop there. There are still other things you should do after a book launch.
To get the best out of a successful book launch, some of the things you should do are;
1. Put out a Fresh Book
After launching a book successfully, you should work towards building momentum. One way to do this easily is to write a new book. Some of the most successful series started out with a single base and soon built an army of loyal followers after releasing a couple of books. Some of these series are the Harry Potter series and Game of Thrones.
With a series, you do not need to struggle to keep the traffic going.
2. Set Up a Business
Lots of authors write amazing books simply because they enjoy writing. Well, the fact that you love writing does not mean writing is all you should do. After a successful book launch, you can set up a business around the successful book.
You could do this by drafting a course based on your book. You could also go for several book tours. You could become a full-fledged public speaker by going for book tours.
The TakeAway
For you to have a successful book launch, there are a lot of things you need to learn. But, regardless of how limited your knowledge might be, if you take advantage of what is contained in this article, you certainly will launch a book successfully.
