I150 A Blueprint on How to Launch Your Book
Novel Marketing, Episode 150
In this episode, we’re going to talk about how to launch your book in a way that will rocket it to success.
Thomas: First, this is our 150th episode, and it’s a big accomplishment. We started Novel Marketing back in October of 2013.
Here are some quick show stats for those of you who’ve been with us a long time. Jim and I have written 270 pages of show notes. Those aren’t scripts, just little sentences and bullet points on what we’re going to say, and they already add up to more than a whole book.
We’ve published 52 hours and 50 minutes of audio, and that’s not counting the five-year plan or any of the Patreon exclusive episodes. Add it all together and it’s 2.2 days of audio.
We should give a prize to anyone who listens to all 2.2 days straight through, without sleeping, eating, or taking a break. I do know people who binge the show in a week or two, starting at the beginning and going through to the end, especially people with really long commutes.
Please do take naps. As of this recording, the show has 168,876 downloads and only 79 reviews on iTunes. What’s going on there?
Part of it is that people download multiple episodes, but the bigger issue is that people are hesitant to leave iTunes reviews. A lot of them don’t know how to do it or how to get into Apple Podcasts.
If you’re one of the 79 people who went to Apple Podcasts and left a review, I really appreciate you.
A few more stats. The median episode length is 20 minutes and 35 seconds. If you multiply our downloads by the show length, that’s 3 million minutes of listening, 56,000 hours, 2,345 days, or 6.4 years.
We’ve collectively sucked 6.4 years of your life away. Tell us how you feel, and for posterity, be honest with us on iTunes or Apple Podcasts.
Jim: I love the Princess Bride reference you slid in there, Thomas. Very subtle.
Why dedicate a whole course to launching?
Thomas: After 150 episodes, one of the biggest questions we’ve received over the years is specifically about launching a book. We talk a lot about marketing, but launching is the month before and the month after the book comes out.
Like the question of how to build a career, which we built the five-year course for, this one is too big for a single episode, or even a series of episodes. We’ll give you an overview, but the exciting part is that we’re creating a course specifically to help you launch your book and craft a custom blueprint for it. Joining us to do that is Mary DeMuth. Jim, who is Mary DeMuth?
Who is Mary DeMuth?
Jim: It’s really cool to have Mary here for the 150th episode, because she was pretty significant in the start of both of our careers. Thank you for being here, Mary.
Mary: It’s so great to be here. Love you guys. Thanks for having me on.
Jim: Mary, have you written, what, 330 books? Something like that? I think the number is 37 now, so 37 books.
Mary is the rule breaker. You’ve heard us talk about how difficult it is to do both fiction and nonfiction, and Mary is one of the people who has broken that rule. She’s been successful in fiction, a Christy Award nominee, and successful in nonfiction. She’s done both.
The thing I love most about Mary is that she’s all about the heart of her readers. She’s a great teacher and a great speaker, but I keep coming back to the fact that Mary is great with the heart.
Mary: That’s very sweet, thank you. It’s true, or at least that’s my desire.
Thomas: It’s fun to talk about launching a book with somebody who’s launched over 30 books. She’s done it again and again, indie books and traditional books, fiction and nonfiction.
We want to give you a quick overview of what preparing for a book launch looks like, and what doing the launch looks like. This is partly a promotion for the course, but we’re also going to give away a lot of nuggets.
Not everyone will be able to do the course, and we realize that. In fact, we’re limiting signups, and enrollment ends at the end of August. You have one month, because we’re all going through it together, day one together, day two together, with a Facebook group for everyone. Jim, Mary, and I are going to be very involved.
How do you lay the foundation in week one?
Thomas: The course runs three weeks. Week one is get ready, week two is get set, and week three is go. Jim, tell us about week one.
Jim: Week one is all about getting ready, and there are five days of it. Day one is about where marketing is and how you sell yourself, because ultimately you are the brand. Your book is not the brand. You are.
How do you promote yourself? How do you figure out who you are and find your bigger why for doing this? Once you have that, it’s your foundation.
Then you move to day two, developing your author brand. You figure out specifically what it is and present it in a powerful way to your readers. You look in the mirror and see who you are, then look at your readers and see who they are. We’ll teach you how to look through your readers’ eyes and into their mirror.
If that sounds confusing, it really isn’t. It’s a way of looking at your brand and yourself from all angles, so that when you present it, your brand resonates deeply with current and potential readers.
Thomas: Then we talk about how to build a rabid tribe of fans, which Mary has done. Mary has built one of the most rabid tribes of anyone I know, so she knows a bit about that, and about starting a launch team.
Mary: I love to create community around my books and what I do, and I’ve done a pretty good job of it. I usually don’t pat myself on the back, but that’s one thing I think I do well. I know how to create the kind of tribe that’s wildly enthusiastic about your work.
There’s a verse in Proverbs that says to let another promote you, and not your own mouth. That’s the basis of this whole idea of tribe building, so that other people carry the message out for me and I’m not the only one constantly shouting about it.
How do you get set in week two?
Thomas: That’s really good. We’ll cover the blocking and tackling of starting a launch team, but let’s move on to week two, get set. We laid the foundation in week one, and now we build on it.
The first thing is email. Email is a key part of launching your book, so we’ll talk about how to build your list and what email strategies to use around your launch.
The pro tip is that you can get away with a higher than normal sending frequency during your launch. If you normally send one email a month, don’t think, ‘My book comes out this month, so I can only send one email.’ False. You can send several, and we’ll walk you through exactly when to send them and what to put in them to get people excited.
Timing matters, which is why we cover it in the first five days, and we’ll also teach you how to write copy that’s effective.
Jim: You can send emails at the right time with the right frequency, but if the copy isn’t strong, it won’t do you much good. We’ll teach you how to write it.
Thomas: Another thing in the get set week is developing a media calendar. Mary, you do a lot of guest interviews like this one, and you’re on the radio a lot. As soon as we finish recording, you’ve got a call with a major publication you can’t talk about. Tell us a little about the editorial and media calendar. What is it, and what will people learn?
Mary: To back up a little, what people don’t realize is that they spend so much time writing a book, thinking, ‘Wow, that took so long,’ but launching takes about the same amount of time.
Over that one-month launch, and the month and a half or two months after, you need a calendar or you’ll go a little crazy. You need to know when things are going live and when you’ll be on podcasts, so you can line up your social media shares.
A little tip there, it’s normal to go crazy, so if you’re overwhelmed, you’re like about 99% of all authors. It’s a lot of work, and that’s why we want to give you the blueprint before the launch, so you’re not so overwhelmed once you’re in the middle of it, which can get a little hairy.
Thomas: Another advantage of the calendar is that it spaces out your activities so they don’t all happen on one day. There’s a mistaken idea that the launch is a single day, that everything has to happen in one insanely busy day.
That won’t work. People need to be reminded multiple times, and you’ll die, or at least slip into a sleep coma, if you try to do all the work in one day.
The calendar helps you space it out and notice, ‘I don’t have anything for day 14 of my launch, I need to find something.’ It helps you fill the gaps, and it lets you schedule rest. Don’t feel like you have to do something every single day during the month before and the month after your book comes out.
What makes your Amazon page so important?
Thomas: The next thing in the get set week is the best ways to use Amazon. If you’re indie published, your book’s page on Amazon is the most important page about your book on the internet, because that’s how most people will encounter it.
Some people may buy your book on other websites, but most will buy it on Amazon, and that page has to be amazing. Mary will talk about the cover, the back cover copy, having clean also-boughts, and how to get lots of reviews. That last one is a pro tip, because this is where your launch team comes in, so you launch with a good number of reviews.
We’ll also dedicate a day to websites, where I’ll synthesize basically everything I know about preparing your website for a launch. Then Mary and Jim will talk about how to become a guest on blogs, podcasts, and websites. Mary, why is that important?
Mary: First of all, most people ask poorly. As a podcast host, I’ve experienced this many times. People pitch me and say, ‘Hey, I want to be on your podcast,’ but they have no idea what the podcast is about and don’t connect with its mission or vision.
I also get a lot of guest blog requests. I saw one today from a handyman, and I thought, ‘Wow, that has nothing to do with restorying life,’ so I said no. Actually, I just deleted it.
If you’re going to pitch an entity, whether a blog, a podcast, or radio, you need to know your audience. We can give you strategies for making it beneficial for both sides. A lot of the pitches I receive only benefit the sender, and then I feel a little used. I don’t want you to be a me-monster who’s constantly using other people for your book. It’s about what you can offer them.
Jim: The pro tip is that people like Mary, and even us, are looking for great content and great guests, because you have to keep this hungry machine going. But like Mary said, it has to benefit both parties, not just you, and we’ll teach you how to do that.
What actually happens during launch week?
Thomas: Let’s move on to week three, because we’re running out of time, and there’s so much here we can’t even summarize it all. Get ready, get set, go. This is go time, the actual things you’ll do during your launch.
On Monday of that week, we talk about your three best friends when it comes to launching your book, which are urgency, scarcity, and popularity. These are psychological triggers in your readers’ minds. Play to them well and you’ll motivate readers to buy. Fail to play to them and you’ll have a failed launch. Psychologically, these three things are the essence of a good launch.
There are techniques for creating urgency, techniques for creating scarcity, and techniques for creating a sense of popularity, what social scientists call social proof. It’s the feeling that all my friends are doing it, so I want to do it.
Jim: I’ve got to do it too. ‘Johnny’s jumping off the cliff, so I’ve got to, Mom.’
Why does Goodreads matter for a launch?
Thomas: One place you’ll do that is Goodreads, and we dedicate a whole day to it. Goodreads is super popular with super readers, the kind who will take a risk on a new book or a new author.
If you’re launching a book early in your career, Goodreads is really important. Later in your career it’s still important, because your readers already follow you there, and you want to make sure they know about your book during launch week. A successful launch helps you rank on the bestseller list, which helps new people discover your book.
Is launch day really a big deal?
Thomas: Then we talk about launch day. Mary, is the day a big deal?
Mary: It is. I have one coming up. I’m launching The Seven Deadly Friendships on October 1st, so I’ve been working and working on it.
It’s the big day. It’s the day you want to see Amazon sales happen, and a time to celebrate. You might host a launch party, maybe one online. It’s also the beginning of a very long, tiring month.
Thomas: It’s the beginning of the marathon, and everyone is clapping and cheering. Nothing hurts. Your shoes are in perfect condition. It’s a great day.
How do you nail a media interview?
Thomas: Finally, we talk about nailing media interviews. If you’ve done a good job soliciting blogs and your editorial calendar is working, knowing how to do a good interview is really important. Jim and Mary are handling this one.
It’s fun, but it takes a lot of practice, so it’s important to start before your book launches. For people who aren’t going through the course, in one or two sentences, what are the highlights of nailing an interview?
Jim: Mary already said it, practice, practice, practice. Set up a video camera, tape yourself doing an interview, and find a critique partner so you can critique each other on what was good and what was bad. You don’t want to go in cold.
The other pro tip is to realize you are not the star of the show. The person interviewing you is the star, and the second star is the person listening, not you.
Mary: That’s true, and it’s so important. It’s about serving others. If you believe in your book, your book is about serving others, even a novel, because you’re giving them a story.
It’s not about you, it’s about them. If you’re all keyed up, freaked out, scared, and shaking, that won’t go well. So practice, practice, practice. I was recently on CNN, and that was super scary, but I was alone in a room with a camera pointed at me and the Dallas skyline behind me, getting questions in my ear. I’m so grateful I thought it through and practiced beforehand.
Jim: Mary has done hundreds of interviews, and she still practiced for CNN. Like any skill, you don’t stop. You don’t stop practicing your writing, and you don’t stop practicing radio and TV interviews either.
What does the course cost, and who gets a discount?
Thomas: If you want to go through this course with us, as part of a small group walking through it day by day while we give you feedback and you ask questions, and if having a blueprint sounds interesting, we’d love for you to join. There’s a link to sign up.
We want to keep this focused for people who are serious. In the publishing world, there are people who just want to learn and people who want to do, so to keep this a really valuable group, we’re pricing it. We thought about $500, but we fought and fought and got it down to $299 for the three-week course. If you’re not satisfied with your blueprint at the end of the three weeks, we’ll refund your money.
You may be asking, ‘I’m a patron, do I get a discount?’ Absolutely you do. Who do you think you are?
It’s only $249 for Novel Marketing patrons. If you’re already supporting the show, this is a way of saying thank you for your $2, $3, or $5 a month, and you save $50 on the course.
It’s limited enrollment, so if you haven’t signed up by the end of August, that’s it, and you’ll have missed your chance. Even if your book isn’t coming out right away, you can still develop a blueprint. Don’t feel like you have to launch in three weeks, because frankly you won’t be ready. You’ll have a blueprint you can build your launch with, so if you’ve got a book coming out later this year or next year, this course will be very helpful.
What free bonuses come with the course?
Mary: We’ve also got some freebies. One is my Launch Your Book checklist, which walks you through how to launch your book easily, so you get some practical tools as well.
Jim: We also did some fun recordings. Each of us found one person we thought would be really helpful. For example, I interviewed Allen Arnold, who was the senior vice president at Thomas Nelson and oversaw the launch of more than 500 books. I’m going to talk to Allen about what it takes to do a great book launch, so you’ll get that interview as a bonus, plus interviews from Thomas and Mary.
Thomas: For my freebies, I’m throwing in free versions of My Book Table Pro, My Book Progress Pro, My Events, and several of my other plugins, nearly $100 worth.
If you’ve heard us mention My Book Table and you’ve been thinking about buying it, you’ll get it free by joining. Anything we recommend that I’ve made, I’ll give away free in the course. I recommend using My Book Table to create a book page and help launch your book, which I’ll cover on the websites day, and I’ll give you My Book Table Pro, which comes with a special landing page mode built specifically for book launches, included in the price.
Mary: I’ll be interviewing Anna LeBaron, who has an amazing story about how to launch a book. I don’t want to give her story away, but she’s the guru on this, so that’s an extra special interview you’ll want to hear.
Why go through a launch with a group?
Thomas: Finally, you’ll have access to all of this training material perpetually into the future. The Facebook group will continue to exist, and no one new will be added, because the only way into the 2018 blueprint group is through the course.
You’ll have a cohort of students to learn from, and hopefully you’ll help promote each other’s books and even join each other’s launch teams. You’re on a team of fellow authors all pulling in the same direction. A three-strand cord is not easily broken, and having people going through the process with you is unbelievably helpful.
In October, I’m launching a baby, or rather my wife is launching a baby. She’s part of a Facebook group of other women who are also due in October, and having a group going through the same process at the same time has been a huge help. We just hit 30 weeks, and a lot of the women are starting to have morning sickness again, which we had no idea was a thing.
When my wife has morning sickness, she hears, ‘Oh, this is normal, it comes back in the third trimester.’ Nobody told us that when we signed up for the baby.
Jim: You signed up for having the baby.
Thomas: The fact that she’s with other people going through this difficult process is really helpful. You may think, ‘How dare you compare giving birth to launching a book.’ But I don’t know, Mary, you’ve done both. Are they kind of the same thing?
Mary: It’s true, the transition and all the fun things, the pushing.
Thomas: I went to a birthing class last night with my wife, put on by the hospital, and I learned more about things I never thought I’d learn. So think of this course like a birthing class for launching your book.
We really do want to see you succeed and thrive, surrounded by a group of other people who want the same thing for you. We hope you check it out. Enrollment closes at the end of August 2018, and we hope this is helpful for you.
Jim: This has been the Novel Marketing podcast with James L. Rubart, Thomas Umstattd Jr., and the amazing Mary DeMuth, giving you novel ideas on how to promote yourself and your writing offline, online, and everywhere in between. Thank you so much for listening.
