Wednesday, August 7, 2019

How to Organize a #Successful #BookLaunch

It may not be the end of summer, but with school around the corner, it's the end of MY summer... And though I had a rocky start, it's finished out fantabulous! I turned bad news into an opportunity and published my 6th book with more re-publishings on the way. With the Windy Hollow Release Tour complete, it's time to talk about results and PRIZES!

First, I'll give it to you by the numbers...Over the 45 days of my release tour:
  • 563 likes, tweets, posts, and chat participants from my awesome volunteers!
    • which averages to: 80 shout-outs per week!
  • 7 average number of #WedWrant participants per week -- a big hit! (more info in a min)
  • 1073 views of my blog posts
Not only did I reconnect and strengthen relationships with established friends, I also made several new ones!
  • Many new followers on social media
  • New subscribers to youtube channel and newsletter
  • Lots of new connections via guest post comments
And for today's IWSG post, I'm sharing my process.

Success is a relative term. Many people judge success by how many books are sold. And I am pleased to say that the first books in each of my series are always good sellers at events, with previous readers asking for the sequels when I return. But for this release tour, my previous books were whisked away and it's up to me to re-publish them...

As a loner with many responsibilities, and the setbacks I've had to deal with lately, I consider gaining exposure and building connections a big success. Here's how I did it:
  1. Put out Feelers--I asked my friends way in advance if they could help me. Then I asked them how and when they'd be able to help, like:
    • host a guest post
    • shout-out on social media
    • read an ARC for review
    • make a video! like this one Sheri Larsen and I did...It was so fun! We really put ourselves out there--and now that we've tried it, I'm looking forward to more!
    • I also offered a prize drawing for my helpers (see below for winner)
    • An online Form is the way to go!
  2. Organize--I use a calendar and I set reminders. It's the only way I can keep up with everything.
  3. Get Social! Besides the regular guest posts, I took this Release Tour a bit further:
    • Mon - blog posts
    • Tues - Insta/FB/Twitter
    • Wed - CHAT day-#WedWrant
      • #WEDWRANT - we had a blast with this and we WILL GO ON! I had a tremendous response to keep it going. So I will continue to send reminders to those who responded. Feel free to let me know if you'd like to be added to the reminder list!
    • Thu - Insta/FB/Twitter
    • Fri - Videos and misc
    • I planned topics, used old and created new graphics/images, and posted my butt off!
    • Hootsuite made it so easy to schedule posts.
    • And to help my helpers, I sent out emails of things they could post
  4. Challenge the people - I hosted a mini-meme (haha) challenge. It was spur of the moment, so not a lot of participants, but I got tons of visitors!
  5. Offer Gifts--I usually do a Rafflecopter, not sure if they draw attention as well as they used to, but I got some new views that way too.
All in all, I had a hugely productive summer and hope to continue to gain more ground, if at a slower pace. With school about to start, I will have to cut way back to my normal once a month post for a while. But I plan to nourish the new connections and keep promoting, or I'll be forgotten. That's how it is in today's fast-paced world--go and keep going or get left behind. The more active I was, the more attention I received. If you have time, go for it!

This is all thanks to my awesome writer friends and helpers. I couldn't have gotten this extra exposure without your help. Everyone who helped is getting some personalized note stationary! Like these:




And the BIG WINNER of my Helpers Raffle is:


And lastly, here are the winners of my giveaway...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you! And I'd love to help YOU!

25 comments:

lostinimaginaryworlds.blogspot.com said...

Such useful ideas, Tara, I do long to be able to participate, but because of circumstances are unable any longer to do so. It is brilliant, all you are doing for others 🌹

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

That's very generous of you!
I wasn't able to help with every Tweet, but I tried. You had some great ideas for staying visible and active.

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

Well done, Tara!

And I agree about success being a relative term. It really depends on how we define it for ourselves, at different times in our lives, etc.

Chemist Ken said...

After all this hard work, going back to school will seem like a vacation!

The Cynical Sailor said...

I just had a big awww moment seeing my name up there. So sweet of you! You are such an amazing organizer when it comes to book releases. It's no wonder it was such a huge success.

Cheers - Ellen

L. Diane Wolfe said...

You know how to do it right.

Sadira Stone said...

Thanks for sharing your tips for promo. I haven't yet delved into analytics and should probably give that a go. With only two books out (small press), I'm sticking to free/cheap options, and should spend more time analyzing which yielded the best results.
I wish you happy writing in August!

Carrie-Anne said...

I wish I had your confidence and connections! I'm afraid of coming across like a shameless, awkward beggar if I outright ask people to help with generating buzz for a book or hosting me for a guest post.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Tara - great acknowledgement from Diane ... about doing it right - so well done ... all the best now - cheers Hilary

Felicity Grace Terry said...

Such positive stuff. Well done on what sounds like an amazing book launch. I'm looking forward to starting the first of the three books soon.

Anonymous said...

I was so impressed with all you got done with this. The emails were a great help in reminding me to share and I love the chat on Wednesday. I really need to take a page from your book when it comes to my next release.

Rachna Chhabria said...

Well done Tara. I need to do something similar when my new book comes out end of next month.

Sarah Foster said...

I love the Wedwrant chats! Glad they're going to continue.

Elizabeth Seckman said...

You are the queen of organization and good ideas. You did an awesome job with your launch!

M.J. Fifield said...

I thought you put together a fantastic book launch. And the Wednesday twitter chat is so much fun. Well done on all fronts!

(And thank you very much!)

Natalie Aguirre said...

Congrats to the winners! Thanks for sharing all your tips on marketing. They are really helpful, and it was generous of you to share how you did it.

cleemckenzie said...

Lots of great tips, Tara! It's always helpful to read what others are doing,

Loni Townsend said...

Great ideas! Dang, I admire your tenacity and hard work.

H. R. Sinclair said...

Thanks for sharing. Great tips and ideas in there!

Juneta key said...

Congratulations, and well managed.

dolorah said...

Good for you Tara. Seems to me you deserve a vacation now :)

Diane Burton said...

Wow! You did great. Not only did you do so many things, you analyzed the results. Good for you. So glad you feel all your work was a success.

Michael Di Gesu said...

Hi Tara!

Congrats to all your "helpers" and winners. I TOTALLY enjoyed WINDY HOLLOW as you know, I also did a shout out for it on my blog today. Just a simple, I loved it with the link to Amazon.... I hope it helps! Enjoy what's left of your summer!

Computer Tutor said...

This was really helpful. I'm about to start a book tour. Now, I have a blueprint.

Heather R. Holden said...

Hooray! Glad you had such a successful blog tour! And the #WedWrant chats have been so fun. Nice to see that continuing!

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