8 Things I Learned Putting Together a Launch Team

After finishing the launch for my latest poetry book, I can finally take a second to breathe and comprehend everything that I went through to put this monster of a launch together. It was the first time I focused on building a successful Launch Team for any of my books. And I gotta say, it was an amazing experience and something I will continue to do for my future releases.

Although it was a lot of work, it was worth it because the next launch will be even easier to put together because all I need to do is duplicate everything from this launch and tweak it a bit. Now that I have a grasp on how to run a launch, I wanted to share everything I learned. Here are 8 things I learned putting together a launch team.

It will make your life so much easier if you automate as much as possible. I set up and automate all the emails that need to be sent out during my launch. So when someone signs up for my Launch Team newsletter, they are sent all the necessary emails and information automatically while I’m sitting back and relaxing (but not really).

Free up your future self by taking the time beforehand to schedule everything that you can. Schedule all of the emails you plan on sending to your newsletter. Schedule all of your ads. Schedule your social media posts. The more you schedule, the more you will thank yourself later on.

Yes, the money and book sales are nice, but will that really help you in the long run? Making long term connections by getting people who truly support your work to sign up for your Launch Team will set you up for future success. These are the people who will be there for you for all of your future launches. These are the people that will spread the word among their local network. These are the people that will tell you to keep pushing forward. So go out and make connections to find your people.

Organization is key when setting up a launch. I highly recommend creating an excel sheet of all of your Launch Team members to keep track of where everyone is at in the book launch process, whether or not they have left a review yet, and how to get in touch with them. I found that it could get really messy trying to figure out who you already reached out to, and this can save you a lot of time hunting someone down only to realize you already asked them twice if they are interested in joining your launch.

People like winning and receiving free things. To get people to sign up for your Launch Team, offer up a raffle with a chance to win a gift card, a free book, or whatever you think will intrigue people to sign up. You can set rules to your raffle by giving out more chances to win by having people share your book’s launch on their social media platforms to help spread the word.

Besides making valuable connections, the next best thing is to rack up as many reviews as possible. Ask your Launch Team members to leave reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, Bookbub, etc. But be warned, people tend to forget easily. You will have to find a good balance of kindly reminding your Launch Team to leave their reviews.

People are forgetful. Don’t take it to heart if they forget about your glorious achievement of publishing a book. It is glorious and you do deserve a pat on the back. If you are feeling like you’re not getting the attention you deserve, don’t be discouraged, gently send out a post about your launch to your local network. I’m sure they just simply forgot.

Be creative. Have meaningful conversations. Add your own twist to it. For my latest launch I’m putting on a concert and performing all the songs that are featured in my poetry book. Other authors like to do Facebook group takeovers, speaking at a library, or other live events. Make sure to invite your Launch Team!

So next time you’re planning on publishing a book, don’t just rush and click that publish button. Instead, take the time to set up a successful launch that will help positively shape your author career in the long.

Have you been thinking about writing a book and don’t know where to start? Or maybe you’re an experienced writer who has felt stuck and overwhelmed with a writing project? I’d be happy to talk it out with you over a FREE Discovery Call.