Your book launch should start around 12 months before you actually launch your book. That’s right… 12 months. If you aren’t already boosting your visibility, check out our free information on Book Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Publicity, and Public Speaking.

Set up a pre-order on Amazon. This way you already have a link established to share while marketing, and you can begin to get reviews. If you already read our eBook page you’ll know how important book reviews are.

Once you’ve successfully built relationships with your audience, offer a free chapter or even the entire book to your followers in exchange for their review. Ask them to post their reviews on Amazon. Although you really want those Amazon reviews, ultimately book reviews can go anywhere that is appropriate and will increase the visibility of your forthcoming book including your reader’s blogs and social media.

Blog your book. By summarizing chapters into your posts you have the opportunity of instant feedback. You can use the comments to clarify the purpose and meaning of your book (interpreted by others). Knowing what your readers are responsive to is a great advantage in marketing your book.

That first week counts! Not to contradict what we said earlier about Amazon pre-orders (this is still a great idea) but the first week your book comes out is the most important. Best-seller lists are measured by the week. So, if your book sold 10,000 copies in its first month, but only 500 in its first week, this isn’t going to look good for your seller status. Promote the launch day/week heavily starting the 2 weeks before.

Offer something that people can’t resist during the first week of sales. i.e. order November 4th through 11th and email me your receipt and I’ll send you (whatever gifts you can offer) valued at $200. Get creative in your offers, you don’t want to do this out of pocket, but it needs to be something worthwhile and desirable to your audience.

Finally, remember to measure your results. This will tell you what worked and what didn’t and is a great way to prepare for future book and product launches.

For more information on Book Launches and Marketing, or to schedule a free consultation, contact us at info@SEGRpublishing.com.