Book Launch Show

Sooner or later you're going to need to hire someone to help you with your marketing activities. When that time comes, you'll need to know what questions to ask and what kind of services to expect. This week, Certified Book Launch Coach, Sue Campbell, takes us through the process.

How can writers use the storytelling skills we already have, to market our books and grow our businesses? This week, Valerie interviews Jarie Bolander, a fellow Certified Story Grid Editor who helps business owners tell better stories about who they are and what they do.

As part of her 10K strategy, Valerie is considering using adverts, but there's a whole lot she doesn't know. So, this week, she sits down with Mark Dawson for some expert (and eye opening) advice about Amazon and Facebook ads.

How do you get 10,000 pairs of eyeballs on your book? This week, Valerie came up with a strategy. Does Tim like it? Or, are there improvements to be made?

As Valerie continues to wrap her head around sales, Tim advises her to find the nerds first and craft a pitch that will grab their attention. What's the best way to do this? Start at the end and work from there. Tune in to find out how.

This week Tim and Valerie talk about the elephant in the book marketing room; asking people to buy your book. If earning a living from your writing is your goal, you have to do it eventually. So, when it comes time to sell your book what is the single most important thing you have to do? Tune in to find out.

How do you create a following of diehard fans so that you don't have to rely on an algorithm to find new readers? It doesn't happen overnight, but there are things you can do (that don't take a lot of time or cost a lot of money). In this week's podcast, Tim explains what they are and how you can use them.

Tim called his book Your First 1,000 Copies, but why a thousand? Does that number have to come from sales or can they be free downloads? Do authors need to move 1,000 copies within any particular timeframe? For answers to these questions and more, tune into this week's Book Launch Show podcast.

This week, Tim tells Valerie to not market a book that she's written. Why would he say this and how could this advice help her find readers and grow her business?

Have you ever bought a book because the front or back cover contained an endorsement quote from a notable author or journal? Ever wonder how to get those blurbs for your book? If you have, this episode is for you.

This week, Valerie and Tim take another look at the Connection System. Now that permission and content are in place, it's time to drill down on outreach. How do you figure out where your readers are and how do you know which outreach activities work best?

This week, Valerie thinks outside the box and proposes a very different way to present author updates to her audience. Has she innovated an idea, or is she completely off the mark. Tune in to find out.

Valerie has started a book club for her mailing list subscribers. How can she turn that one marketing idea into many so that, without a lot of extra effort, she has can exponentially grow her audience and author platform?

In this special episode, recorded Live in Nashville, Tim explains how authors can leverage in-person events to develop their platform and grow their audience.

Valerie's outreach to podcasts has been a success! Find out what she did to get bookings and hear her plan for starting a Book Club to attract readers and develop a long term relationship with them.

It's finally time for Valerie start her outreach activities! Now that she has a list of podcasts, what's the best way to contact them? What should she say when she reaches out to them? Tune in to find out.

Valerie has done a lot of work to improve her website, but she's still missing some key strategies to get readers on her mailing list. Are you doing everything you can to convert your subscription rates? Tune in to find out!

The more specific you are about your ideal readers, the more likely you are to find them. This week, Valerie gets super specific about who she's trying to reach and she's come up with a great tool to help you. She's also redesigned her website. Is her new site doing the two things every author website needs to do? Is yours?

Blogging has changed dramatically in the last 10 years, so should Valerie be blogging or is it a waste of her time? Tim talks about what blogs do best and how Valerie can make the most of them.

As Valerie continues to revamp her website, Tim advises what should be on her homepage and how she can optimize the site to build her mailing list.

Developing reader personas is a fantastic way to jump start your book marketing activities. In this episode, Tim teaches Valerie what personas are and how to design them.

Merchandising is a key strategy in any book marketing plan. Mark Leslie Lefebvre teaches Valerie how merchandising works at Kobo and how authors can get it working for them.

This week, Valerie interviews Mark Leslie Lefebvre to find out how to leverage Kobo to increase her global book sales. If your book marketing strategy is focused only on Amazon, you're leaving money on the table.

Before Valerie can really dive into outreach, she needs to get very specific about who her ideal reader is. She's not writing for everyone, and neither are you.

What kinds of outreach activities should Valerie do to market her fiction, and why?

Random marketing activities bring random results. This week Tim helps Valerie focus her efforts; what should she be doing and why?

What's the best way to market your books when you write across genre? What do you do when you write under more than one name?

What are the 3 things every author needs to build a successful marketing platform? Tim walks Valerie through each of these and how to identify the different areas.

Pretend you're an author stuck on their marketing and now sure what to do next. That's the new format for the Book Launch Show.

My new book, Running Down a Dream, is now out! In this episode I share an extended excerpt from the audiobook.

We're getting close to the pub date for RUNNING DOWN A DREAM and I've made a lot of progress on the launch. In this episode I discuss how to get blurbs, recording an audiobook, choosing indie vs trade publishing, creating a media kit, and a lot more.

The manuscript is done and off to the copy editor, so now it's time to start getting blurbs and starting outreach.

With my next book, Running Down a Dream, being published on July 11th, I'm now in book launch mode! This week I talk about the origins of the book, my overall plan to launch this book, and my emotions around launching such a personal book. Links mentioned in the show: The War of Art by Steve Pressfield The episode of the Story Grid Podcast where I found the theme for my book. Part 1. Part 2. Book Launch Coach Certification Book Launch Outreach Training

My next book, Running Down a Dream, will be published on July 11th. Follow along for the next three months as I plan and execute the launch. In this episode, we start talking about the importance and basics of Outreach. Join me for a live training at https://booklaunch.com/outreach

In Part 3 Michael Bungay Stanier continues sharing the do's and don't's of a self-publishing book launch. Check out The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier

In Part 2 Michael Bungay Stanier continues sharing the do's and don't's of a self-publishing book launch. Check out The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier

Michael Bungay Stanier has done both traditional and self-publishing, and with his latest book he's had the most success. Follow along as he shares the do's and don't's of a self-publishing book launch. Check out The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier

Charlie and I continue our discussion on how to successfully launch books on the Kickstarter platform. We talk through how to count the cost of your campaign, how to pick the right funding levels, and how to ensure that your project gets funded.

Marketing and launching a book on Kickstarter. This is a conversation with Charlie Hoehn on the ins and outs of what it takes to launch successfully.

Have you ever thought about launching a book on Kickstarter? Or even running your own crowd funded book project? Book marketing expert and friend Charlie Hoehn joins me to discuss his latest project and how he's leveraging Kickstarter for the launch. Click here to support Charlie's Kickstarter campaign.

Email marketing is your #1 tool in selling more books. In this episode I discuss how to get your email list up and running and get your first 100 subscribers. Two links to start with: Email Marketing 101 for Authors How to Automate Your Book Marketing

How does social media play into your overall author platform and book launch goals? In this episode I break down the truths and myths around social media.

Every author has to solve three problems in order to build a platform that reliably sells books.

What is the best time of year to launch your book? How do you prove that people bought your book? How fast can I expect to grow? These questions and more are answered in this episode. Click here to watch the videos about how to setup your giveaway system.

How much time should I spend on marketing? How do I move to the Long Game launch? Should self-pub authors focus on pre-orders? These questions and more get answered. Submit your own questions here.

There are two groups of people you want spreading the word about your book... fans and influencers. One is pretty easy and straight forward, the other... is not! Tim walks you through each of these and how to best approach it. Share Link Generator

Why should anyone buy your book right now? It's going to be available forever. It's too easy to put the book on their wish list and then never get around to buying it. How do you trigger people to buy now instead of waiting until later?

There are 4 types of book launches and you need to know which type you are running before you start making any plans. 3 Myths and 2 Truths About Social Media for Authors

What is the #1 most important thing for a successful launch? The answer may surprise you...

What is the difference between Strategy and Tactics and Fans and Influencers? And how does this apply to your book launch? Email Marketing 101 for Authors

Join Tim Grahl, book marketing expert, as he shares the strategy and tactics he's learned from launching dozens of top bestselling books.