Guest Post: The Real Benefit of a Book Launch Team by Phyllis Keels
Today, I welcome my friend and critique partner, Phyllis Keels. She’s celebrating the release of the third book in her medieval Daldriada series, The King of Daldriada. It’s filled with fun and action!
Welcome, Phyllis!
Even though the book I’m releasing this week is not my first book, it is my first book launch. What I mean is, this is the first time I’ve committed to forming a book launch team, to write reviews and help spread the word.
I gave a half-hearted attempt at this for my last book, and as you can imagine, that resulted in a half-hearted book launch. I should have done the real thing for my other books, but I didn’t want to because it seemed like too much work. Yep, I was lazy.
It turns out I was right. It is a lot of work, and I’m not even doing some other aspects of a book launch that many authors do. A full-scale launch with blog tours, book signings, and launch party are beyond my ability right now. I’ll have to work up to that.
So, why go through all the trouble? After all, shouldn’t people simply buy our books because they are available, because they are good books, and because we let a few people know about them? Sure, in an ideal world, people would spread the word like crazy, and everything would fall into place.
We all know that’s not how it works. People can’t buy books they don’t know about. People need reviews because they want to know if something is worth reading before they spend their money on it.
What I didn’t think of with my earlier books was something that Paul said about the gospel:
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:14-15, NIV)
Yes, forming a book launch team is a lot of work, but I have had the most fun doing it. I had no idea how great it could be to give others a chance to participate in sending your book off to live out in the world.
The feedback you get is so valuable. The offers to help promote, and share resources, the contacts you make, and the opportunity to pass along that help to others… All of those things are wonderfully satisfying.
What won me over to committing to a book launch team was in remembering that our readers deserve to hear what is waiting for them. They deserve to know the beauty of the story that will draw them in, and will allow them to become the characters for a while.
They deserve to feel the peace of a sheltered garden, or the thrill of a ride on the back of a thundering stallion, or to see the love in the smile of a prince for them.
The more people we enlist to help spread the word, the more consideration we show to our readers. The more consideration we show to our readers, the better authors we will become.
After all, how can we write if there is no one willing to read? Sorry for the cliché, but readers complete us.
A lot of work? Sure, but I prefer to think of it as blessing our readers, of giving them something that will bring them joy and excitement for years to come. That, my friend, is the joy of every author.
Phyllis Keels
Have you participated in an official book launch as either an author or a reader? What did you enjoy about the experience? Anything you would do differently?
Author Phyllis Keels (a two-time award winner for her Christian fiction) is a woman who is always wondering why she has too many irons in the fire.
In addition to being a writer, Phyllis is a speaker, the illustrator of an Amazon Bestseller written by Kimberly Rae, a Bible study teacher, and a woman after God’s own heart. Through her books, classes, and blog, she brings the tender words of our Heavenly Father to those who are crushed in spirit.
Phyllis shares honestly about her own experiences with loss, specifically the loss of her adult daughter Julie in 2011, and how compassionately the Lord has comforted her. She gives the call to women who long for a deeper level of honesty in their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ as they learn to cling to Him in life’s valleys.
Her passion is that others may also know that the Lord is faithful, and that Jesus is intimately aware of our suffering. She helps others allow the Holy Spirit to carry them by the peace that comes from receiving Jesus’ love for us.
On the foundation that Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith, Phyllis uncovers the pictures of our Savior found throughout the Scriptures. Through her love of the written Word and a gift of humor, she shows others the beauty of the real story our Heavenly Father has written for us.
A full-time author, speaker, and business owner of The Gifted Writer, LLC, Phyllis lives in Salisbury, North Carolina with her faithful yellow Lab named Emma.
Come join Phyllis and see how the Lord gives us a crown of beauty in exchange for our ashes of grief. (Isaiah 61:3 NIV)
You can read more about Phyllis, find out about her books, and follow her at:
Website: www.PhyllisKeels.com
Twitter: @PhyllisKeels
Facebook Author Page: www.Facebook.com/AuthorPhyllisKeels
Goodreads: Phyllis Keels
Pinterest: www.Pinterest.com/PhyllisKeels
Blog: www.TheGiftedWriterLLC.com
Two-time Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist
Sandra Ardoin
As an author of heartwarming historical and contemporary romance, Sandra Ardoin engages readers with page-turning stories of love and faith. Rarely out of reach of a book, she's also an armchair sports enthusiast, country music listener, and seldom says no to eating out.
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Phyllis Keels
Thanks so much for allowing me to guest post, Sandy! I appreciate you!
Sandra Ardoin
Thanks for including me in your launch. How exciting for you! Looking forward to the twitter chat (#DaldriadaChat) at 11:00.
authoramheath
Thanks for posting this! I’m about to release my 2nd book, but I never really did a book launch with the first. I considered trying it with the second, but the series has to be read in order.
🙂 You’ve help convince me that I really need to put forth the effort to create a larger book launch…and to re”launch” the first book.
What sorts of things did you do in your book launch?
Phyllis
Thank you so much for your comments and question! Sandy’s the real expert in book launch. She did a lot more than I did.
Mine was mostly forming a book launch team to read the book and write reviews for it prior to launch day. One of the reviews became an endorsement for the back cover, which was really helpful to me.
My dear intern did a lot of work creating memes for posts and tweets leading up to launch day. She also helped me set up a Twitter chat for an hour so even more people could hear about the book.
The main thing I learned is that I must let people help me, especially in the areas I’m not good at (like promotion).
Hope that helps. Best of luck with your book releases!
authoramheath
Thank you, that does help! Thankfully, the launch is beginning to take shape in my mind.
For those following and mildly curious, I plan to make a bigger deal out of the new release with giveaways and such, on top of the normal memes frenzy. 😉
But for the relaunch, I plan to form a team that is NOT living in my area and have them post reviews after they read the book. I also plan to dust off some of the key blog posts that I’ve written for the book and have them share those, along with select memes. I plan to have something to share about twice a week for a month before turning the focus over to the new baby.
Phyllis
Those are great ideas! I’m going to add that to my list for next time!
authoramheath
🙂 I’m glad they were helpful!
Sandra Ardoin
Great plan, Anita. Pushing our book’s availability without appearing pushy is such an uncomfortable thing to do. We want to get the word out, but don’t want to toot our horns or feel like we’re taking advantage. That’s why it’s a blessing when friends are standing by to help.