This is part eight in a series on How To Write An eBook: From Idea to Launch. You can read part one here, part two here, part three here, part four here, part five here, part six here, and part seven here.
Finally we’ve arrived—the planning of your eBook launch. Feels like a long-time-coming, right?
You’ve been planning and writing and pulling together your team. Now it’s finally time to take the book you’ve created and send it out into the world.
But first there are some big questions you need to answer with regard to your eBook, such as:
- How will your market your book?
- How will you spread the word?
- When will you launch it? (I recommend a 3-4 week lead time)
You don’t just want to publish your book and blindly launch it (I’ve done this before, it’s not a smart idea). You need a plan of attack to make sure all the effort you’ve put in the last couple months is worth it.
Not having a marketing plan is the number one reason that eBooks (or even traditionally published books) fail. You as the author must stand behind your book 100% and take on the responsibility of making it successful.
Because unless you pay someone to do it for you, you’re on your own.
Yep—it all comes down to you.
Create A Plan
Having a plan will make a huge difference for your eBook launch. It will be the difference between knowing exactly what to do and when to do it, versus running around on launch week like a frazzled writer with no head.
Your plan doesn’t need to be complex, but it should be as solid as possible. Make sure to cover all angles and communication channels.
Your plan starts with answering the biggest question of all: When will launch day be?
Once you have a date in mind, then you can build the rest of your launch plan around it.
1. Grab Your Calendar
- Circle your launch date, highlight it, draw stars around it. Do something that makes your launch date stand out. This is your starting point. Everything you do from here on out works backwards from this date.
- Work Backwards from launch date to create a “lead up” plan. This includes all the pre-marketing and set up work you’ll need to do in order to launch on the day you’ve chosen.
2. Lead Up Work to Consider
- Posts on your blog leading up to launch day
- Guest posts on other blogs, scheduled around the week of launch day
- Email newsletters—you’ll want to prep people for the eBook release so they’re expecting it
- Traditional media—do you want to send a press release to your local newspaper? Is your book something the local TV station might be interested in?
- Freebie content—is there any content you can create to give away and generate more reach and interest? Maybe a special podcast or worksheets that go with the book?
- Sales page copywriting and testing—your book will need a sales page, both on your website and on whatever channels you use to sell it (Amazon, for example).
- Shopping cart set up—you’ll have to choose how you’ll sell your book. Do you want it to be available just on Kindle? Or do you also want to sell a PDF version on your website? (If so, you’ll need a service, like eJunkie).
Once you have your plan in place, then you can move onto the next step.
Create An Action List
Using your launch plan, you can now break things down into specific actions that you need to take. Create separate lists for each big task, if need be. Whatever helps you keep things organized and keep taking action.
For example, if decide that you want to set up a “blog book tour,” then you’ll have specific actions to take, like:
- Research blogs for book tour
- Contact blog editors to discuss opportunity
- Confirm blog tour dates and URLs
- Create content for each tour stop
- Etc.
Using your plan, create an action steps list. Then get moving on taking the actions on the list!
The final installment in this series is all about launch day/launch week and how to best tackle it (coming next week).
Share With Us
How did you prep for the launch of your eBook?
Note: I’m an eJunkie affiliate. I’ll make some spare change if you decide to use eJunkie too and sign up through the link above. I’ve used them since 2010 and have no complaints!
Image courtesy of spykster
