Book Launch

There’s a blazing hot sun parked overhead and you can hear the kids splashing in the pool. Your backyard grill is fired up and ready to go, while the dog has settled down for a nap on one of the few patches of cool shade. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Or at least it should for self-published authors who want to take advantage of the holiday selling season to launch and sell their next books. And here’s why.

As an author, a book signing is one of the rare times you’ll come face-to-face with actual human beings who want to read your book. Here's our ultimate book signing checklist so you can be prepared for your big moment.

The blazing sun and summer calendar don’t change the fact that the holiday self-publishing crunch has already begun. This book publishing timeline will help you manage the calendar.

What are the basics of book publicity? What do you do on a day-to-day basis? Generally, I tell my clients I prefer to start working on a book five months before publication. There are many media outlets that not only require working that far ahead – mainly magazines and venues that have authors as speakers – but sometimes it just takes a long time to work with some media outlets and convince them that this is a book and an author that they should pay attention to.

There are a lot of variables that go into a book launch – there isn't a single template that will work for everyone – but consider approaching your book launch timeline in three phases.

It’s THE question. The one I’m always asked, whether I’m speaking at author conferences or doing webinars. Though phrased a little differently each time, it goes something like this: What are the most important things that go into successful book promotion? My response is always the same – a five-part answer. The first four parts are, quite frankly, pretty predictable. The last one might come as a bit of a surprise.

To get reviewed on Amazon and other places online, you need to assemble a book review team and learn how to follow up. It's a model that has worked for me over the course of many years and dozens of book launches.