Launching a book
When my books are being published by a ‘traditional’ publisher (one of the big 5’…Random House/Penguin/Harper Collins etc…including Harlequin who publish my Mills and Boon books) I have little say over when the book is coming out, what the title is or indeed what will be on the cover. And this is fine, it means I can concentrate on writing the books.
But when I decided to ‘self publish’ some of my books I discovered that a whole lot is involved in the publishing process. here is what I’ve done in the lead up to Something Secret being launched on Friday 21st…
- Write the 63,000 word book (ha! Easy, right?) Keeping in mind this is a series book, so have to remember to make sure other characters from previous books are mentioned too. (Started 28th May 2018)
- Edit the 63,000 word book
- Send to editor (4th August 2018)
- Discuss cover ideas which leads to new covers and a rebrand for the other books in the series
- Discuss more ideas and review designs
- Revise the book using editor’s suggestions (August 8th)
- Send revised book back to editor for final proof (August 16th)
- Finalise cover
- Format temporary book
- Set a launch date and upload temporary data to Amazon and Draft2Digital (platform for uploading book file to ibooks/KOBO/Barnes and Noble et al)
- Book back from final edit (September 4th)
- Send book to Beta readers and ARC readers
- Email everyone on newsletter list to alert that book is coming out
- Bite nails waiting for feedback
- Add all the details of the new book to the back matter of the other books in the series
- Read feedback and change a few details accordingly including add an epilogue
- Format final book and upload
- Bite nails some more…
- 21st September LAUNCH!!!
WINE!!
Just went through this same process for my book released last Thursday. I can relate. Did Mark Dawson’s course really help you with the marketing for this one?
Best of luck with this venture!
Hi Jan! A launch is a nail biting time, right? Best of luck with your new book!
I did Mark Dawson’s 101 course when I first started self publishing and that was a great help. I didn’t follow Mark’s launch suggestions to the letter for this one but I did most of the steps he outlines in the course and I found it has helped get my head around what needs doing and when. I am also doing the lead magnet and landing page stuff and that’s certainly getting good results for my newsletter sign ups.
I am now doing the ads for authors course and am trying little things here and there, I think it’s about testing and testing and seeing which ads get most traction. I believe it’s a marathon not a sprint and think I’m getting there, albeit slowly!
Thank you so much for the candid response. That last sentence is exactly what my husband told me. I tend to be a sprinter so it will take some retraining.
Jan, yes….it is frustrating when we don’t see quick results, especially after all our hard work writing the book!! A wise editor once told me that ebooks have a ‘long tail’ in sales and shelf life… I’m just hoping she’s right! Oh, and writing in a series is key, and that’s what you’re doing!
Again, best of luck xxx