When publishing a book, you can’t merely put it on Amazon and expect readers to stumble upon it. You have to have a plan to get your story out into the world and into readers’ hands. It can take months (and even years) to prepare for a good book launch.
Here’s a breakdown of what my book launch for Angel from the Rust looked like day by day:
Sunday, Jan. 15
2 days before the official launch
- Publish the book on Amazon to make sure there aren’t any kinks in the system
- Set the price at 0.99.
- Group promo on Bookfunnel begins (Kindle Unlimited)
Monday, Jan. 16
1 day before the official launch
- Publish paperback and hardcover
- Add buy links to my website
- Email ARC readers asking to post reviews
Purchases: 6
Tuesday, Jan. 17
Day 1 – LAUNCH DAY!
- Mailing list: Announce launch; CTA – Kindle buy
- Announce launch to Kickstarter backers; ask them to write reviews
- Post video of me announcing launch on FB
- Interns post on social media
- Bookbub promo
Purchases: 90
Wednesday, Jan. 18
Day 2
- Contact BKNights about promo
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 56
Thursday, Jan. 19
Day 3
- Mailing list: CTA – Book Funnel deal
- Mail family about buying copies of the book to give to friends
- Create Udemy sale – buy a course, get my ebook free
- Interns post on social media
- Indie author feature on Dominish Books
Purchases: 14
Friday, Jan. 20
Day 4
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 4
Saturday, Jan. 21
Day 5
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 4
Sunday, Jan. 22
Day 6
- Interns post on social media
- Promo on Ereader News
Purchases: 38
Monday, Jan. 23
Day 7
- Promo message to Udemy – last day of the Udemy sale
- Mailing list: to unopened
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 19
Tuesday, Jan. 24
Day 8
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 3
Wednesday, Jan. 25
Day 9
- Interns post on social media
- Promo on Bknights
Purchases: 4
Thursday, Jan. 26
Day 10
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 6
Friday, Jan. 27
Day 11
- Interns post on social media
- Promo on Fussy Librarian
- Promo on Book Funnel begins (Epic Sci-fi Fantasy)
Purchases: 9
Saturday, Jan. 28
Day 12
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 5
Sunday, Jan. 29
Day 13
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 1
Monday, Jan. 30
Day 14
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 0
Tuesday, Jan. 31
Day 15
- Mailing list: Reviews and Bookfunnel Promo
- Promo on Robin Reads
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 30
Wednesday, Feb. 1
Day 16
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 12
Thursday, Feb. 2
Day 17
- Mailing list: Request for reviews
- Promo on Bargain Booksy – 12 purchases
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 12
Friday, Feb. 3
Day 18
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 4
Saturay, Feb. 4
Day 19
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 2
Sunday, Feb. 5
Day 20
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 1
Monday, Feb. 6
Day 21
- Interns post on social media
- Promo on Book Raid
Purchases: 5
Tuesday, Feb. 7
Day 22
- Mailing list: Reviews
- Interns post on social media
Purchases: 4
Wednesday, Feb. 8
Day 23 – End of Launch
Purchases: 0
What I learned
- Buying cheap promotions gets cheap results. More expensive services like BookBub’s New Release, Robin Reads, and Ereader News produced more sales.
- I should have scheduled my promo ads closer together, not putting too many days between them. The ads produced spikes in sales, and Amazon doesn’t like spikes since it sees them as unusual events. Scheduling my ads on dates closer together would create more of a nice round “hill” of sales rather than spikes. And that would make Amazon happy.
