I’m putting together a new digital product to help authors with their launching, so I thought it might be fun to put together a daily launch diary so that you can get some insights into my launch process.
The last time I did this was two years ago for a big group programme. This time around I’ve created an 8 week launch planner so that authors never feel stuck for ways to promote their book on social media.
Week 1:
5th November 2024
The first post in this daily diary, but I’ve done a fair bit already, so thought I’d summarise where I’m at right now.
- The actual digital product is created. I sent it to a couple of authors in my paid Substack community for feedback (thanks!), and have made a few tweaks thanks to their invaluable suggestions.
- I’ve mentioned it in passing in some of the emails I’ve sent out, and have had 1 sale as a result (hooray!). Launching anything can be quite intense on the old self-doubt front, even with the great feedback I’ve already had. Having that one sale has done wonders for my mindset. I went from ‘is this is a good time? Should I actually launch it? Maybe I should do it some other time?’ to: Yes! Let’s get this thing ready to go.
- I am planning a 2 week launch window, where I focus my efforts for a concentrated period of time. Clearly there are bits and pieces I’ll be doing outside of that (hiya, you’re reading one of them!), but the main focus will be on those two weeks (18th – 29th November).
- Anyone who orders before that window starts gets 15% off (promo code earlybird), and paid community members get 25% off (email me & I’ll send you the code!), so if you’d like to get in with a discount, now’s the time!
This week I have taken on no client work so that I can prepare everything I need for the launch. This includes:
- 3 fully written emails
- 8 social media posts
- An introductory video to help people get the most from the planner
- Making sure that everything in the backend is set up properly for authors to get stuck into
So far I’ve come up with the ideas for the emails and social media posts, but haven’t done anything more than that, so lots to get through tomorrow and Friday (Thursday I’ll be away for a memorial service).
6th November 2024
A hard news day today. I’ve been glad to have this to work on, as it feels like an enjoyable distraction from the news and online reactions.
Today I wrote scripts for the introductory video and a new content pillars video I decided yesterday to add in. Once those are edited, later on today, all of the elements of the product itself will be ready to add into Teachery, which is where I host my digital products.
Tomorrow I’ll be away, but back on Friday to write out the first of the emails I’m sending out in launch week. I’ve unexpectedly booked in a big piece of work next week, so am feeling slightly stretched for time, but know that I DO have time for everything – I just need to be focused when I’m at my desk.
8th November 2024
Yesterday was a lovely, but exhausting, day, taking the kids to a family memorial. Today I’ve taken things slowly, but feel like I’m more or less still on track.
I’ve decided to do an ‘open and closed’ window for the launch of this product, meaning that all of my efforts will be concentrated into two weeks. Traditionally the product is then taken off sale, so the only time someone can sign up is during the two weeks. I won’t be doing that – if now isn’t the right time for someone to buy, I want it to be there for them when it is. But I won’t be talking about it or promoting it for a few months, while I focus on other projects.
One of the reasons I have built a social media launch planner for authors is because I wish I had one of these for myself. Launching anything can be intense and overwhelming, so I hope this product takes some of the overwhelm off authors’ shoulders.
So: Week one roundup:
- All (okay, both – there are only two!) of the videos are now edited and ready to go
- I’ve written 2 of the 3 emails I’m going to send during the launch period
- I’ve written out headlines for all of the social media posts
- Everything is ready in the backend
The dates for the campaign are:
- 18th November – OPEN – 1st official email goes out talking specifically about the planner
- 29th November – CLOSED – last email goes out mentioning the planner
I’ve also decided on my low and high goals for sales. My low goal is 10 – this is how many I need to sell to make it worthwhile to have created and tested out this product, and my high goal is 30, which would prevent me having to dip into savings when I take time off over Christmas. I’ll check back in on these at the end of each week.
Week 2:
11th November 2024
Today is my main chance to work on the Book Launch Navigator launch, as I’ll be starting a new Author Marketing Roadmap tomorrow, which will take up the rest of my week.
But I feel like I’ve done a lot!
- I set all of the lessons live, meaning if you sign up now, you’ll get 15% off (using code earlybird) AND all the lessons are ready to go for you.
- I emailed the person who bought in advance to let her know, and to ask for some early feedback.
- I set the welcome lesson up so that it’s free and visible to everyone. This is a video lesson where I take people through the planner, so think it’s a useful one for anyone that isn’t sure it this is something they want. It also gives me a nice thing to share as part of the marketing.
- I scheduled the first email to my list to go out next week, and finished the second email (which I’ve completely changed from last week, just to give myself more work!).
That’s it! If I make any progress tomorrow, I’ll check in again. Otherwise I’ll see you later on this week (okay: it’s not *quite* a daily diary…).
13th November
All emails are now scheduled for the launch. I’m sending three across the two week period. I’ve also written out the social media content for the first week, so feel like I’m a good place.
The main thing I know about myself when it comes to launching anything is that I need to have all of this content prepped in advance, or my brain will go blank when I’m meant to say something about whatever it is I’m selling.
It’s like when someone says ‘let’s go for dinner, where shall we go?’ and my brain empties of any restaurant I’ve ever been to or wanted to go to.
I also really struggle to promote myself in a launch period. I am very much at the ‘introvert’ end of the scale, and although I do love to talk about all sorts of things on social media / in my newsletter, I hate sharing hard sales messages, and much prefer gentle nudges. But gentle nudges can’t be the only thing one ever does when one is actually trying to sell something. I need to have this kind of content ready and waiting to go, and I need to do it when I’m not in the middle of feeling naked and vulnerable trying to promote something. So, pre-planning is a must for me.
I know there *must* be authors out there with one or both of the same afflictions, so really hope that this planner will help take that pressure completely out of their minds. Is that something you struggle with? 👇
15th November
It’s the end of week one and everything is set up for next week.
Of course I DID forget that it’s an inset day on Monday and that I’m taking the kids ice skating, so although I’ll still be sending out an emaill that day, social media will get pushed back to start on Tuesday.
I’m now feeling a lot of nerves around launching and the inevitable ‘WHAT IF NO ONE BUYS IT’ feelings are crowding my brain. Again, I’m glad I have all the content ready in advance, and I’m heading into a coaching call now with my lovely coach Jo to talk about how to keep my mindset from falling off a cliff in the launch period.
If you have a book coming out in the future, I really encourage you to figure out who your support team is going to be. It could be a fellow writer or group of writers. It could be me (I offer this to my paid newsletter subscribers). It could be a mindset coach or therapist, depending how much support you need. But launching involves a lot of putting yourself out there and one of the hardest parts about it is to just keep showing up for yourself day after day.