Ready, Set, Go: How to Create a Launch Team to Help Promote Your Book
This post was written by Karissa Murray from Smith Publicity – an award winning book publicity and marketing firm.
After hundreds of hours of writing, editing, finding the perfect title, designing a cover, choosing a publishing partner, and managing a million more little details, the publication date of a book can feel like the finish line…but the work is really just getting started!
It’s easy (and understandable) to feel burnt out or overwhelmed at the idea of now promoting your work. On one hand, authors want their work to reach its fullest potential, but with the stress of the promotional responsibility resting entirely on one person’s shoulders, authors often have difficulty reaching their marketing goals.
The good news is that there’s a much better way: authors can draw on the resources they already have available to maximize the launch of their book and minimize the pressure on themselves. After all, your voice deserves to be heard, and you have a whole network of people who have a vested interest in amplifying it, even if you don’t know it yet!
This is why you should develop a book launch team and strategy… and here’s how.
What is a book launch team?
In the simplest terms, your book launch team is a network of people, organized and mobilized with specific responsibilities when it comes to the pre- and post-publication promotion of your book. By multiplying your resources with their resources, it will be a win-win situation for all involved when you invite your friends, family, colleagues, and followers in your network into the process of launching your work to the world.
How do I choose a book launch team?
The best place to start when forming a book launch team is to find the people in your life who would have a genuine interest in the subject matter and themes of your book, regardless of your involvement. Of course, you as the author is often an added bonus, but you want to formulate a team of people who would desire to promote your book in one aspect or another, whether that be as a fellow expert in the subject matter, an enjoyer of the genre, a fellow writer, or a colleague in the same industry. The more personally excited your team members are about the content of your book, the more likely they will be to help effectively support your launch.
How do I get people on board with my book launch team?
The best way to begin is to ask! Reach out to the list of people with interest in your book, let them know why they might be interested in supporting you, what benefits they could gain from it, and that their level of involvement is truly up to them. Some people may want to support you but have less time and resources than others—make people aware they have total flexibility in choosing the responsibilities they take on. If they express interest, give them options for the different ways they can support you and your team, and, of course, express your own gratitude for any and all support.
What are the ways a book launch team can support you?
The most basic function of a launch team is that they read and review (and ideally buy) your book. In order to feed into Amazon’s algorithm, you want it to be recognized as the top search under your name on the site, and the more positive reviews and purchases, the more likely you are to rise to the top of the search rankings for your name, title, and genre. It’s important to note that your launch team should use their regular Amazon account and review as a “Verified Purchase,” as Amazon will often delete reviews from burner accounts or inactive users in order to prevent fraudulent reviews.
Here are several other ways your team can support you:
Buying your book on Amazon (or your preferred retailer of choice) and leaving a public review
Posting a rating and review on Goodreads
Buying your book and gifting it to others who may like it
Sharing your book and their reviews on their personal or professional social networks & platforms
Signing up for your email newsletter
Writing to local libraries and bookstores to request they stock your book
Listening to and sharing any podcasts or other media you’re involved in
Helping you develop promotional content
Showing up to any book launch events or signings
Brainstorming ideas of how to market your book in new ways to new audiences
Sharing and discussing your book with others who may be interested
How can you support your launch team?
After you’ve gathered your launch team and gotten people excited about supporting you, it’s crucial that you support them in turn, and make it as easy as possible for them to help with your launch. First and foremost, you want to create a clear channel of communication. Some may already be on your email list, but it’s helpful to create a private Facebook group and/or Instagram page where people can follow along with your updates, see all your links in one place, leave questions and comments, and network in community with other members of your team. You can create content for these sites or keep it basic with your posts, but it’s critical that communication is clear and concise, and responsibilities and requests are easy to find.
If people are supporting your launch, it’s often common courtesy to give them a free PDF download of your book in order to leave online reviews and familiarize them with your work. Of course, many team members will pre-order and purchase the book regardless, but by giving them a digital copy you are showing appreciation and giving them adequate time to read. The amount of time you give people to read prior to your launch is up to you, but it’s best to start forming your team several months out from publication and, depending on the length and size of your team, provide four to eight weeks to read and review your book. You do not want to be pushy, but rather encouraging and enthusiastic as you increase promotion the closer you get to the launch date.
The publication of your book can be an equally exciting and stressful time, but by designing a strategy and forming a solid book launch team, you are free to enjoy more of the process and watch your work release into the world with its fullest potential.