Launching a book is exciting, but it also involves a lot of moving pieces! From coordinating promotional opportunities to getting advance copies into readers’ hands, there’s plenty happening behind the scenes.
Recently, I launched That Girl Who Ran Off and Saved a Kingdom, the second book in my YA portal fantasy duology that begins with That Girl Who Ran Off and Kissed a Vampire.
Because readers need to read the first book to understand the second, I approached this launch a little differently. Rather than focusing exclusively on promoting the new release, I wanted to bring fresh attention to the entire series and I treated this as a relaunch of book one, hoping that new readers would discover the story and have the ability to continue on to book two.
Here’s a look at the strategies I used and how things turned out.
1. A BookBub Feature to Bring New Readers Into the Series
One of my biggest promotional opportunities was a BookBub feature for the first book in the series.
I discounted That Girl Who Ran Off and Kissed a Vampire to $0.99 and used the promotion as an opportunity to introduce the series to new readers. The results? I sold 228 copies of book one over the three-day’s surrounding this promotion and saw a huge boost in preorders for book two. I ultimately ended up with 121 preorders for That Girl Who Ran Off and Saved a Kingdom.
One thing worth mentioning is that BookBub wasn’t able to schedule my feature closer to the release date. Instead, the promotion happened about a month before many of my other launch activities. While the timing wasn’t exactly what I originally envisioned, It helped bring attention back to the first book and gave readers time to discover the series before the sequel arrived.
2. A Book Tour to Build Awareness
I also organized a book tour for the first book through Colored Pages Book Tours. One thing I particularly appreciate about this book tour company is that the hosts actually read the books they’re promoting. That makes a difference! It gives readers an opportunity to hear genuine thoughts about the story rather than simply seeing another promotional graphic. The tour also included a giveaway, which I felt helped generate additional awareness and encouraged readers to engage with the series.
3. Advance Reader Copies (ARCs)
Advance reader copies were another major part of my launch strategy. I gifted approximately 100 ARCs of both books.
At the time of writing (eight days post launch), book two has received:
- 15 reviews on Goodreads
- 4 reviews on Amazon
Book one also gained about 15 new reviews across Amazon and Goodreads.
Would I have liked to see more Amazon reviews for book two? Absolutely! Sending out an ARC doesn’t guarantee a review. Still, I think getting books into the hands of readers early is worthwhile, and I expect to see more reviews trickle in in the upcoming weeks. Many of my ARC team members opened in to join my author newsletter as well, resulting in 100 new subscribers.
4. Giveaways and Cross-Promotion With Other Authors
I also incorporated giveaways into my launch strategy to drive engagement on social media posts. One of these was a multi-author spooky-season giveaway that I organized alongside other indie authors. I thought it would be a fun opportunity to cross-promote our books, introduce our audiences to new authors, and encourage readers to explore stories they might not have discovered otherwise.
Cross-promotion is one of the things I appreciate about the indie author community. We all have stories to share, and finding opportunities to introduce our readers to one another can be mutually beneficial.
5. In-Person Events: Connecting With Readers Face-to-Face
If I’m being honest, my preferred way to sell books has always been face-to-face!
The day after my books released, I packed up a ton of inventory and headed to Rose Romance Lit Con. It was so much fun getting to bring my new sprayed-edge special editions of That Girl Who Ran Off and Kissed a Vampire and That Girl Who Ran Off and Saved a Kingdom to an event and see readers picking them up in person.
One of my favorite parts of being an indie author is getting to actually meet readers and connect with people. While online marketing is an important part of launching a book, I don’t think we should overlook the value of in-person events. They give you connections with other authors and industry professionals, opportunities to build a local readership, and more profit per book sale than trying to sell books online. They are also a lot of fun!
So, How Did the Book Launch Go?
Overall, I consider the launch a success!
I definitely feel like I got new eyes on the series, and due to bookbub and the second book’s launch That Girl Who Ran Off and Kissed a Vampire officially surpassed 1,000 lifetime sales!
Book two is still making its way into the world, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the series continues to perform over time.
Thank you to everyone who has picked up a copy, shared a review, participated in a giveaway, or helped spread the word. And if you’re an author preparing for your next release, I hope this little behind-the-scenes look at my launch gives you a few ideas to consider for your own marketing strategy! Learn how I can support authors here.
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