1. Make sure you have plenty of coffee on hand.
That might show up as #1 on my list, but what would you place there?
For the writer, preparing for a book release can be a little like getting ready for a birth. I had my hospital-bound suitcase packed a month ahead of time. I had a checklist, to make sure I was ready to go. I still wasn’t ready to go when the time came.
You also need to make sure home is ready to receive the new addition. The nursery is ready and well-stocked.
So, how does that compare with a book release? Well, I’ve packed my suitcase with all the essentials: blog posts and short articles, tweets, and Facebook posts, memes, and possibly a video clip, if I can get around to it. I have a few lovely, embroidered linen book marks to give away. They’re similar to the handkerchiefs used by Nancy and Amy Emerson.
I’m working on a few other giveaway items. I once won a $100 gift card and a beautiful scarf and earrings from a book release, along with an autographed book, of course. Amazing! I loved the book, so left a positive review in all the right places.
Back to business! Early communication with your team, if you have one is vital. A team can be made up of friends and family who are willing to share your posts about the release.
Release Day can be crazy busy, so you want to have as much as possible done ahead of time. You’ll also want to be ready and available to respond to comments and questions on those blog posts and updates.
If you are planning a blog tour, you’ll need to keep an eye on those, so you can respond in a timely fashion to all the comments (speaking positive words over future blog posts!).
Hopefully, release day is only the beginning as readers enjoy the work of your hands (and heart). That’s kind of like having someone visit to see the baby. They “ooo” and “ahh” over the infant. They want to cuddle and kiss the baby. When it’s a book we’re talking about, we hope our readers love it so much, they’ll leave a positive review on Amazon, or Goodreads, or even just talk about it on social media.
Word of mouth sells books. If you enjoy reading books by a certain author, your positive words in the right places help more than you may realize. So, if you love the idea of helping a beloved author, but stumble at the thought of writing an actual review, all you have to do is tell your friends how much you enjoyed the book.
As in that first trip to the hospital, I’m still not ready! I have a lot to do before release day, August 7, 2018, when this lovely lady makes her public debut⇒⇒
SALE! The book releases at a one-day-only low price of 99¢ (Kindle edition), but we’ll also be giving away a novella to those who download the book on that first day. The novella is a quirky little mystery called “Lake Frigid Aire”, written by me! 🙂
Watch for more exciting release news and a giveaway or two!
NEXT WEEK: An interview with one of the main characters in Rebecca’s Legacy!
Betty Thomason Owens 