Today is my book launch day! The soft launch is over and The Consultants, sequel to The Not So Average Life of Average Jane has officially been released!
The launch of my second book has been much more enjoyable than the launch of my first one just a year and a half ago. Why you ask?
Overall, the writing and publishing process for The Consultants was actually shorter by a few months than it was for my first book. So technically I could have released The Consultants several months ago. When I say I gave myself more time what I mean is that I allocated more time for editing, more time for ARC readers, and more time for a soft launch.
Even though I did a soft launch for my first book, I only planned for five days prior to my big release. Remember how Amazon KDP locks your book within five days of your release date? Well, an ARC reader alerted me to a typo that slipped through the cracks and I needed to update the interior file. But I couldn’t do that until the book was live on Amazon.
Combine that with the fact that KDP was having technical difficulties, which forced me to upload the new files many times, and that ARC reader reviews were taking unusually long to post publicly and I was stress level midnight.
No nerves this time around! You could say part of that is because I’ve done this before, but that doesn’t make it any easier. I learned from my first launch in a few important areas that have made this release just fun.
Editing - I allowed more time for the entire editing process. My copy editing and line editing phase was much more meticulous than my first book. Shout out Cheli Vance! I also added two additional phases of proofreading after the book was formatted. So heading into my release I felt much more confident about the book from a technical perspective.
ARC Timeline - I added three extra weeks for my ARC readers to finish reading the book, upping the timeframe from six weeks to nine weeks. Having early reviews has helped with the promotion of The Consultants on social media, in emails, and on sites like Goodreads.
Soft Launch - Instead of a five day soft launch I had a two week soft launch. This has given my ARC team plenty of time to write reviews and it’s allowed enough time for those reviews to become live on sites like Amazon, which has a lag time of a few days from when the review is posted until it’s live on your book’s product page. I learned with my first book when some reviews were taking up to a week to go live to give myself extra time during this period.
Between pre-orders and sales during the soft launch I’ve already sold 150 copies of The Consultants before it’s officially even hit the shelves!
Recall that the average self-published book sells around 250 copies in its lifetime, as in forever. In addition, many people in the book industry agree that 90% of self-published books sell less than 100 copies ever.
So even before my release, I’ve surpassed sales for 90% of self-published books, which is pretty amazing! Stay tuned for how to create an effective pre-order strategy in a future post.
Stay twisted!
Author, Marketer, Gif Aficionado
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