Launching Your Best Book by DiAnn Mills
CHARACTERS, CRIMES,
AND CRIMINAL TACTICS
Launching our books doesn’t have to be a formidable task. Instead, consider the it a challenge we can meet head-on with a plan that works.
The plan to market our book has many layers but with one goal in mind: to place our books into the hands of readers. We are passionate about our books and our enthusiasm must shine through our book launch plan.
My process is a multi-tabbed spreadsheet that I use whenever launching a new book. If you’d like to receive a copy, email me at diann@diannmillscom. I encourage you to modify the information to fit your personality and project. Writers, we don’t write or work or plan the same way. My goal is to give you an overview and let you create your successful book launch.
A timesaver from one book to the next is to analyze what proved successful and what didn’t. Don’t be afraid to discard something that no longer works or try a new method of promotion.
Ideally, we begin our book launch as we develop our manuscript. While in the creative process, consider how the book would resonate with readers. From there note various marketing and promotion ideas that come to mind.
The following are 21 tips to help you develop your book launch plan.
Organization. We can’t move forward if we don’t know how to navigate the roadways. We must learn to read maps and develop a concise journey.
Research our readers. To discover who they are, we must understand the readers who prefer our type of manuscript. What are their interests, wants, needs, problems, and goals?
To aid in finding your target audience, research answers to these questions:
What does my target audience read?
What age is my target audience?
Where does my target audience live—city, suburbs, or rural?
What matters most to my target audience?
Is faith a part of their lives? How?
What are my target audience’s fears?
Aging?
Financial?
Health?
Relationships?
Peer Pressure?
Loneliness?
Politics?
God?
Media and news?
Education?
Past behavior?
Parents?
Children and grandchildren?
National debt?
How is my target audience attempting to solve their problems and meet their needs?
What is my target audience’s income?
Does my target audience use a worldview or specific faith in decision making?
What is their age bracket? Socio-economic level? Where do they hang out in person or on-line?
Develop a professional website.
Social media is today’s handshake. We find out where our readers are online, and we join in the conversations. Social media is not an opportunity to raise a buy-me banner but an opportunity to form relationships. It’s not about the writer but the reader.
Master and memorize your elevator pitch. This can be used to create interest in your book, ad copy, pre-sales, garnering an agent’s or editor’s attention, and anywhere where someone asks: “What is your book about?”
Enlist trusted and loyal readers to become a part of a street team.
Use a chronological plan to ensure the tasks of promoting your book are done effectively and efficiently.
Pinterest is an excellent way to attract new readers. For each new book, Consider developing a secret board that includes a variety of images according to the book’s topic. Quotes, food, images of people who could play specific roles if the book was made into a movie, homes, clothes, jewelry. For nonfiction, charts and additional bits of help for the reader add another layer to marketing and promotion. Once you’ve completed populating the secret board, decide when best to launch it publicly.
Develop speeches that connect to the book. If speaking is not your gift, you can learn or choose to use a podcast.
Book reviews are recommendations by a reader for others to purchase our books. Various methods work. Your street team can help in this area.
Use a blog or newsletter to keep readers updated with information that benefits them.
Make sure your online retailers have an updated bio and headshot. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Christian Book Distributors, and your publisher’s website are hotspots for readers.
Bookmarks are an amazing method to create interest in our books. Writers can have their publishers design them or use one of the creating tools online like printrunner.
Readers appreciate personalized bookplates. We can’t always sign a copy face-to-face for our readers, but we can mail or email our heartfelt thanks.
Draw attention to our work through blog posts and/or guest blogs. Write the posts in such a way that it addresses a need or topic in your fiction or nonfiction book.
Short videos that are about the book, the writer’s passion for writing the project, or the inspiration behind the project can be uploaded to our website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other areas.
Book clubs are in the business of finding the next great read for their members. Devote a tab on your website specifically for book clubs. Add giveaway suggestions, discussion questions, games, menu ideas, fun facts.
Giveaways show we care about our readers.
19 https://authormarketingclub.com/ is a huge asset for me.
If you need a professional quality way to develop ads and social media images for your books, look no further than BookBrush.
Brainstorm with other writers on how they launch a book. You can help each other spread the word.
If you have questions, I’m only an email away: diann@diannmills.com
Launching your best book takes diligence and research. But with a plan, you can do it!
DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She is a storyteller and creates action-packed, suspense-filled novels to thrill readers. Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests.
DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. She is the director of the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference, Mountainside Retreats: Marketing, Speakers, Nonfiction and Novelist with social media specialist Edie Melson where she continues her passion for helping other writers be successful. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country.
Connect with DiAnn here: www.diannmills.com