Edie here! Today I want to include a personal note about Susan's newest book, 12 Ways to Age Gracefully. It's such a wonderful resource, I'd love encourage each of you to take a look at it. You'll find more information about the book at the end of the post. Be sure to wish Susan CONGRATULATIONS on another wonderful book!
How to Conduct a Successful Book Launch
Last month my newest book, 12 Ways to Age Gracefully released. Today it has over fifty Amazon reviews and ranks in five Amazon bestseller categories. I’m excited to share the strategies that helped me achieve this success so you can launch your book successfully, too.
The Gold Rule for Book Launch: Give to Receive
“Do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12). I’ve probably written over 300 Amazon book reviews. When I write book reviews for others, I purchase the e-book because it’s less expensive. I peruse the entire book on my Kindle app because this ensures the author is paid for each page read. At the end of the Kindle app, I write a review, which automatically goes to both, Amazon and Goodreads. You get the two for one deal. After I’ve written a review and received the confirmation email from Amazon, I forward the email to the author to show my support. And I let them know that I’ve written a review for both sites.
With this book launch, I had over a dozen people write book reviews for my book without even being on my launch team. What goes around, comes around. So the first thing to do to have a successful book launch is write book reviews for others without expecting anything in return.
Build Your Launch Team
To ensure a successful book launch, try to have at least 100 people on your book launch team. From my experience, about 50 percent of your team will write a review. For my previous book, thirty-five out of seventy-five team members wrote a review. To build a large team, tap into your network of friends, family, church members, book club friends, and old study group members. Of course I asked all those who are in my Word Weavers Christian Writers Group. I ended up with 110 people on my team.
Minimal Email Communication
Nobody likes being bombarded with emails. Once I established my launch team, I sent a clear and concise email about a month before the launch (see my email below), followed by two more emails—one on the launch day (to buy the book) and one the day after (to post social media graphics). This approach keeps your team informed without overwhelming them. Here is my first email to my team:
Friends!
THANK YOU for helping me launch my book, 12 Ways to Age Gracefully.
I have three quick tasks for you:
- 1. PLEASE REPLY TO THIS EMAIL—To confirm you received it.
- 2. DOWNLOAD THE BOOK—Please download an advanced review copy of the book at (BookFunnel Link). Begin reading and marking your favorite parts so you can prepare an Amazon book review to submit after you purchase the book.
PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE THE BOOK BEFORE THIS DATE. If we all purchase the book on the same day, the book can be on Amazon's Top 100 bestseller list! I cannot thank you enough for helping me!
Blessings, Susan Neal
That was it. The instructions were simple, short, and clear. Members can peruse the email and understand what to do with one glance. I feel as though this technique is a fresh approach, which I would prefer.
I keep track of who wrote a book review. Two months after the book's release, I send a gentle reminder to those who haven’t yet written a review, as they agreed to do when joining the team.
Timing the Book Purchase
I did not ask my launch team to purchase my book prior to the launch date. That is because only books purchased within a week before your release goes towards your Amazon book ranking. Why would I want everyone to buy my book two months before its release and all those sales wouldn’t go towards my ranking? That doesn’t make sense to me.
Strategic Categories and Keyword Selection
Months before your launch, be strategic about choosing your Amazon book categories and keywords. Determining your book’s best categories can significantly improve your book’s viability. Choosing highly searched keywords helps readers find your book because it is more likely to populate on the search feed when your book contains a keyword that an Amazon reader is searching for. It takes time and training to figure out a book’s categories and keywords. Many times, publishers appreciate an author performing this analysis for their book. I know mine did. If you want to figure out your book’s categories and keywords, take my course, Determine Your Book’s Most Strategic Categories and Strongest Keywords, at CIPA.Podia.com.
Amazon Ads
Start your Amazon ads shortly after your launch when sales and ranking begin to decline. Yes, you share your profits with Amazon, but this investment increases visibility and sales. As we know, this business is not about making money, but about reaching others to further the kingdom of God.
Marketing Efforts
Begin your marketing months prior to your books release. Five months prior to my book’s release I contacted a couple television stations. Both stations set up interviews with me during a timeframe when I was planning to be in their area, as I was speaking at a conference nearby. I also contacted other television stations I had met when attending the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Convention several months prior to my books release. If you want to attend NRB to obtain a year’s worth of media interviews, sign up to attend with the Christian Indie Publishing Association at https://christianpublishers.net/trade-shows/.
One of them scheduled an interview with me. I had two live television interviews the week after my book’s release. After each television interview, I sent an Edible Arrangement to them. Since I write about healthy living, sending a fruit arrangement works well with my branding, and it also helps the TV station remember me.
Two months prior to my book’s release, I started being interviewed on radio and podcast shows. Most of the shows were able to schedule around my book’s release date or shortly thereafter. I also wrote magazine articles. One article was published the month after my book released and it had over 400,000 subscribers.
Book Blogger Campaigns
In my publishing contract, I negotiated for Amazon ads and a book blogging tour. My publisher arranged a Just Reads tour starting on the release day, which significantly boosted my book’s social media presence. I also paid for a Celebrate Lit blog tour a month later, giving my book a fresh wave of attention and sales. The 14 Day Celebration Tour reaches over 700,000 views. CAN/CIPA (Christian Authors Network/Christian Indie Publishing Association) members receive a discount on this tour.
Through enhancing book sales you activate the Amazon algorithm so they will show the book to more people if your marketing efforts are productive, especially if you run Amazon ads. If your book is selling well, Amazon is going to show it to more people through your ads.
Retail Promotion
Christian Authors Network (an association for traditionally published authors) offers numerous promotional opportunities for their members. I did all of them, including: - More To Life Magazine article about a topic in my new release.
- Did You Know? article in Munce’s More To Life newsletter about tips and trivia about my new release.
- Book review blog on the Christian Authors Network website and Facebook page.
- Fascinating Friday blog about the behind-the-scenes tidbits about my new release.
Additionally, I have a book signing at the Christian Product Expo Apps and Autograph book signing event where over 100 retail store owners or managers come to visit with the author and get a signed copy of their book. If the book sells promptly, they may order more books for their store. In the past, my book sales always increased after attending the CPE.
At this point, I am very pleased with the success of my book launch. Podcasts, blogs, and articles are going live. I’ve done my work. I’m taking a short break before diving back into marketing. I hope these tips provide valuable insights for launching your book successfully.
TWEETABLE
Embrace the Youthful Spirit at Any Age As you face the mirror each day, do you meet an older version of yourself? It’s a familiar journey, one where we acknowledge that we’re not as young as we once were, yet not quite ready to embrace being old. But what if there was a way to traverse this path with grace and vitality? The good news is you can slow down time. By making the right choices, you can look and feel younger. You don’t have to spend a fortune on products either; simply learn and implement the tools needed to move gracefully and joyfully through your senior years. By making simple lifestyle changes, you’ll look and feel better. Discover how to choose vitality over disease; joy over depression; youthfulness over listlessness. 12 Ways to Age Gracefully will empower you to: * boost your energy levels, * improve senior brain health, *learn how to feel better about yourself, *develop better stress management, and *fulfill your God-appointed purpose with renewed vigor. What path will you choose? Discover the secrets to not just feeling better but also looking fantastic as you do so!
Susan U. Neal, RN, MBA, MHS: Susan’s mission is to improve the health of the body of Christ. She has her RN and MBA degrees, as well as a master’s in health science. She is a CERTIFIED HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACHwith the American Association of Christian Counselors. She published five books, the Selah award winner 7 STEPS TO GET OFF SUGAR AND CARBOHYDRATES, CHRISTIAN STUDY GUIDE FOR 7 STEPS TO GET OFF SUGAR AND CARBOHYDRATES, HEALTHY LIVING JOURNAL, SCRIPTURE YOGAa #1 Amazon best-selling yoga book, and YOGA FOR BEGINNERSwhich ranked #3. She published two sets of Christian Yoga Card Decks and two Christian Yoga DVDs that are available at CHRISTINAYOGA.COM. Her digital product HOW TO PREVENT, IMPROVE, AND REVERSE ALZHEIMER’S AND DEMENTIA is a great resource. To learn more about Susan visit her website SUSANUNEAL.COM You can also connect with Susan on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and INSTAGRAM.
