Launching a book comes with a great sense of satisfaction-even before the actual launch itself. The months leading up to it is one of the most exciting and anxious moments in the life of an author. After long months of sleeplessness, you finally have your book resting on your palms, ready for launch-the moment couldn’t get any more beautiful can it? Well, in as much as it is a self-fulfilling moment to have your book finally ready for take off into the world, it is equally as important to get it right.
For most authors, writing a book comes with varying reasons, ranging from
- Making revenues from actual book sales
- Looking to land speaking engagements
- Wanting to impress
- Sharing knowledge
- Selling value to the reader
- To sell a course and win consulting contracts
The list could go on as every author has a reason unique to them as to why they embark upon publishing a book. But one thing that is very common among every author, is getting to launch their book-and getting it done right of course.
WHAT IS A BOOK LAUNCH?
Book launches are all forms of activity done by an author to promote the release of a book. Activities created to market and create awareness of a book usually to initiate sales.
Research shows that most people don’t feel very comfortable giving their money out right away, no matter how much value you’re selling to them. Most readers need to be cajoled into knowing who you are and the value you offer.
Launching a book is a very delicate process for an author because things could go badly pretty quickly. Whatever your end goal is, the success is determined by the success of your book launch. A great book launch is the door that leads you to your ultimate goal.
Ensuring a successful book launch most times goes beyond just having actual book sales, it helps support the customer/reader relationships you wish to build. The importance of a successful book launch cannot be overemphasized as it gives you the support you need at every stage of your authors’ journey moving forward.
Successful book launches for every author is the gateway for:
- Creating the right media connections and author awareness
- It boosts your portfolio as an author
- Helps you build an engaging social media platform.
In recent times, it has been proven that the value of book launches aren’t the sales they provide-well, not at first, but all of the other benefits to enjoy from the publicity of your book ( authors awareness included).
There are various ways to ensure that your book launch measures the right success and value, here we will be looking at three most powerful ways to achieve that.
- Launching On Amazon.
Amazon is a powerful medium to get the right publicity and to launch your book also. The Amazon reviews are valuable and immensely build up an author’s portfolio. Most authors make the mistake in believing that launching your book on Amazon and having reviews should equate to making immediate sales. This isn’t right. Whilst the sales do come later on, its first value of launching on Amazon is to help introduce your work to potential readers/buyers.
To better reshape your thoughts, think of this medium as providing the right tools you need in building your reader’s infrastructure rather than looking to make actual book sales. Launching your book on Amazon helps you build your author’s portfolio, authors website, social media channels or even building your newsletter. It aids in giving you more credibility as an author. The more reviews you have on Amazon the better.
- Secure Media Placements
This is one of the perks that comes with a successful book launch and also one way you can measure the value of your book launch.
The media placement aids in building your reader’s infrastructure, just as it is with launching on Amazon, it doesn’t ultimately lead to massive book sales. However, the more media placements you secure the better.
Whilst landing media placements after a book is published is good, what you do with the opportunities is what truly matters. The question on how you intend to leverage on the media placements should be your guide;
- How to leverage on each media placement to land yourself new opportunities
- How to use media placements to build on your portfolio
- How to ultimately ensure sales through early media placements
- Social Media
The advent of social media has been proven to be of a huge advantage to authors. The possibility seems endless and it has once more proven to be an important tool towards launching a book and thereafter providing much value after the book launch.
Social media is the perfect avenue to exploit building up the right momentum to your book launch. The more contents you add on your social media channels, the easier way you get to figure out what content your readers contents to and you get to leverage on that.
Building up to your book launch, social media is the right tool for your book publicity. You get to give a snippet of your book through graphics with brief quotes from your book, this way you keep your readers engaged and also learn ways to introduce your book to your audience.
The social media channels (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc) provide the right audience for pitching your book and ultimately book sales.
