Top Tips: How To Launch A Book

You’ve written a book. Congratulations! You’ve done an amazing thing. Pop some fizz, soak up the applause, and then turn your attention to the next conundrum. How do you launch it? Getting attention on the various bookseller platforms isn’t easy, but here are some things you can do…

1. Have an author website, where you share about yourself and your book. Go behind the scenes, give readers sneak previews of early chapters, show off your cover. Blog like crazy. Getting your story out there is the first step to building buzz.
2. Make sure your social media presence is sorted as this is a great way to get your name out there. Get on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter as minimum, and post to build anticipation for your book. Even if it’s your first book, bet on yourself.
3. Make some pretty launch graphics to use on your socials. You can do this using Canva or PicMonkey for free. Never used a graphics program before? Watch some YouTube videos. If that’s not your bag, get a more knowledgeable friend to do it, or pay someone on Fiverr.
4. Reach out to bloggers in your space and offer them the book for review. Make it easy for them: supply the book in epub and mobi formats, give them properly labelled images of your cover and a spellchecked blurb. Bonus points if you give them a smaller-sized cover jpg for use on the web. All bloggers will appreciate that detail!
5. Join some Facebook reader groups centred on lesbian/queer fiction and comment on posts. Make friends. Be nice. DO NOT go into these groups and slap a load of graphics up that say “Buy my book!” This has never, in the history of book-selling, been a good marketing tactic. Rather, be a nice person, and karma will come back to you. If the group allows, of course you can promote. But don’t do it non-stop. It’s exhausting for everyone.
6. In these groups, you can see if anyone would like an advanced review copy of your book, then hopefully get some reviews right out of the gate. Getting early reviews gives your book social proof that readers enjoyed it, and then more might give you a try. Having those reviews settles your nerves, too. I remember waiting for the first reviews to come in on my first few books. I was a nervous wreck!
7. Get on a podcast as a guest. Look into podcasts that might be interested in you: make sure you’re a good fit before you approach them. There are quite a few in the queer/lesbian fiction space, so do some research. Take it from me: podcasts sell books.
8. If it’s your first book, I wouldn’t bother with ads. Don’t get swept up in the clamour to do them. The next best thing you can do is write the next book. However, if this is book number three or more, give Amazon ads a crack. They’re cheaper and easier to learn than Facebook or Bookbub, and they shouldn’t break the bank. However, if you hate them, don’t do them.
9. Launch at an attractive price. This is especially important if it’s your debut and readers aren’t familiar with you. With indie publishing, you can always change your price at the click of a button, so try out a few.
10. Enjoy your success! Writing and launching a book is a huge achievement, so don’t forget to celebrate. But remember, the absolute best way of getting readers to discover your books is to write more.

Read my blog about my upcoming book, Big London Dreams!

Read my blog about my latest book, Hot London Nights!