10 Surprising Lessons From My First Book Launch

Earlier this year, I published my first book—and in doing so, I learned sooo much about what it means to effectively market a book. In this post, I’m sharing 10 surprising lessons from my first book launch, including what worked, what didn’t work, and what I’ll do differently when I publish my next book.

10 Surprising Lessons From My First Book Launch

Lesson #1: Asking for favors (and then following up with everyone you asked) isn’t for the faint of heart.

The number one thing that surprised me about this book launch was how hard it was to ask for favors. And by favors, I mean things like, reading my book before it was published, asking for reviews during launch week, sharing my book on social media, asking someone for an introduction to another author or influencer, and things like that. Although I knew I would have to do these things, and I was ready to ask for these kinds of favors, it still made me uncomfortable. Not only is it hard for me to ask for help, but it’s also hard to follow up with the people I did ask for help who either didn’t respond to my initial ask or who said they’d do something but then got busy and forgot. 

There are so many moving pieces during a book launch, so it’s hard to juggle everything. But it’s also hard to bother people who are also just as busy as you are. I know this is a mindset issue. And I did have to give myself a pep talk and sort of just bite the bullet about following up with people. But I also knew there was a date on the calendar when I’d be able to stop asking for favors and help because the launch would essentially be over by that point. I knew I could handle being uncomfortable for a few weeks, so having that “finish by” date really helped. 

Lesson #2: Getting people to leave reviews on Amazon is surprisingly hard (even though it seems like an easy ask).

The second thing that surprised me during my book launch was how hard it was to get people to leave a review on Amazon. My goal was to get at least 100 reviews on Amazon during launch week, but I only ended up getting around 50. Now, don’t get me wrong, getting 50 reviews is still fantastic! But based on the amount of people I gave free copies to, I did expect this number to be a little higher. 

Reviews are important because they help people decided whether or not to buy a book. They also help train the algorithm because the more people who buy the book, leave reviews, and interact with my book’s page on Amazon, the more the algorithm will push it and put my book in front of people who might like it. So, all that being said, reviews are very important!

(If you’ve read my book, The Story Grid Masterwork Analysis Guide to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and if you haven’t left a review on Amazon yet, would you please leave one? I’m still shooting for that goal of 100 reviews! Thanks in advance!)

Lesson #3: No matter how you publish your book, you’ll always be responsible for the majority of the marketing.

The third thing I learned during my book launch wasn’t necessarily a surprise, but it was something I got to experience for the first time myself. And that is no matter how you publish your book, you’ll still be responsible for the majority of your own marketing.

As you may or may not know, Story Grid is the publisher of my book, and they did offer some support when it came to marketing. They let Abigail K. Perry (my editor) and I record a few videos for their YouTube channel, they sent out a few emails to their list about the book, and I know Tim Grahl, the CEO of Story Grid, talked about the book to people in their workshops and things like what whenever it organically came up. So, in terms of what I expected from them (as my publisher), that was about right on track. 

But here’s what you might not know about my book launch…

I did not hire a PR firm, so I was the one responsible for reading out to influencers and communicating with them. I also pitched myself to podcasts and YouTube channels and asked other people in the industry for blurbs and things like that. I planned the entire bonus package that readers got for free with purchase during the pre-order phase. I wrote all the promo emails and planned out all my social media content for the month, including creating the graphics and videos, writng the copy, and things like that. Now, of course, you don’t have to do all of that, but it was fun for me, and it worked. I loved marketing and had fun managing all the moving parts, but it was still a lot of hard work!

So, my point is that even though my publisher did contribute to my marketing efforts, the onus was on me. And when you launch your book, the same will be true for you, too. So, if I could give you any words of wisdom, it would be this: Find the kind of marketing that works for you. You don’t have to do what I did, but know that it’s going to be your responsibility to get your book into the hands of readers, regardless of how you publish.

Lesson #4: The quality of your email list can make or break your book launch, so start collecting subscribers early!

The fourth thing I learned was something I already knew, but I feel like I proved it to myself during this book launch. And that is having an engaged email list can make or break your book launch. I didn’t have to run ads during my book launch because my email list is engaged and I communicate with my subscribers often. So, yes, I did show up on social media during my book launch, and Abigail and I did go on Story Grid’s YouTube channel and things like that. But I can tell you without a doubt that I wouldn’t have hit my launch goals if I didn’t have an engaged email list. List building is SO important—way more important than social media (and essential even if you like using social media). If you need help getting started with list building, check out this post or episode #107 of the Fiction Writing Made Easy Podcast.

Lesson #5: Focusing on foundational marketing principles (not making a bestseller list) made my book a bestseller anyway.

Going into my book launch, I kept asking myself, “Do you care about being an Amazon bestseller? Because if you do, you know there are certain things you need to do to make that happen—and if you want that little orange flag, you better make sure you’re doing all those things!” And long story short, I decided that I didn’t really care about becoming an Amazon bestseller. If it happened, that would be great, but at the end of the day, the only thing it really gives me is bragging rights.

I already had a lot of strategies in place to help me sell books and get the ball rolling in terms of visibility on Amazon. I was also kind of busy doing all the other things I already mentioned and felt like I didn’t have time to dig into “how to become an Amazon bestseller.” But guess what? 

Because I focused on foundational marketing principles like building an engaged email list, finding early readers, and talking about my book as much as possible via email and on social media, my book became an Amazon bestseller anyway! And it was the #1 New Release in its category for a few weeks in a row!

So, I’m not telling you this to brag or anything. I’m telling you this because I think sometimes writers focus on becoming an Amazon bestseller or getting on the New York Times bestseller list, and those goals become the focus of everything. Now, that being said, if becoming a bestseller is on your list of goals, that’s great! Just make sure you’re also focusing on foundational marketing principles like building an engaged email list, getting ARC readers and influencers to talk about your book, and things like that. 

Because here’s the thing… Being an Amazon bestseller or a New York Times bestseller might help you sell more books. But it also might not.

So, yes, for me, having my book become an Amazon bestseller and the #1 New Release in its category was a fun surprise. But I definitely sleep easier at night knowing I’m not relying on that little orange flag as a way to sell books. 

Lesson #6: Selling a book is hard work! Even with the best intentions, most people won’t buy (or read) your book.

The sixth thing I learned during my book launch was that it’s really hard to get people to buy your book! Now, of course, one’s ability to sell a book depends on a lot of things—the size of their email list, how much time and effort they put into marketing, the quality of the actual book itself, where it fits in the market, how saturated the market is, and things like that. But when you think about it, buying a book isn’t really going to be on many people’s lists of priorities. It’s super easy for even the most well-meaning person to say they’re going to buy and read your book only to forget about it five minutes later because life gets in the way.

So, what does this mean in terms of marketing your book? Well, I read a marketing statistic once that said it takes about 8 touchpoints to convert a lead into a sale (in this case, a potential reader into someone who actually buys your book). And this kind of ties back to what I said earlier about how I ended up feeling like a pest throughout my book launch because I really went hard with my marketing efforts. I emailed my list multiple items a week for about 4-5 weeks, which is a lot. I showed up on social media multiple times a day, which is also a lot. I went on podcasts, recorded YouTube videos and did whatever I could to talk about my book as much as possible. And guess what? It worked! I hit my sales goal and my publisher was thrilled! So yes, even though I said books can be really hard to sell, it’s totally possible to sell them—it just takes a lot of hard work, determination, and lots and lots of planning.

Lesson #8: You’ll be equally surprised by those who show up for you during your book launch—as well as those who don’t. 

This is one I didn’t see coming. To be honest, I was more surprised by those who didn’t show up for me during my book launch than those who did. And I know this sounds sad and negative, but stick with me for a second. During my book launch, there were several people who promised to share my book or talk about it on social media or have me on their podcast or whatever it was that just didn’t follow through. Some of these people told me what happened—they got busy or someone in the family got COVID or they just forgot. And all of that’s fine. I get it, life happens. But other people completely ghosted me, which kind of hurt my feelings. And I hate saying it hurt my feelings because my book launch actually went really well. But I’m human and I have feelings, so I’m sharing it anyway. 

Now, on the flip side of this, other people showed up for me in ways I never would have expected—people that I never asked for anything or expected anything from—and that was just incredible. There were many times throughout the book launch that I felt an immense sense of gratitude and love and appreciation from friends, family, past clients and students, and even random strangers on the internet. So, in the end, it was all fine. As I said, my book launch went really well. But I do think this is an important lesson that I can take with me into my next book launch, and you can, too.

Lesson #9: If you’re not self-publishing, prepare for many things to feel out of your control. Instead, go with the flow!

I don’t love when things are out of my control. Part of it is just my personality. Part of it is that I’ve been running my own business for almost a decade, and I’m just used to being in charge of things (as much as one can be in charge of things, that is). But because Story Grid was my publisher, there were a lot of things I didn’t have my hands in—like setting the book up on Amazon or choosing the book cover and things like that. 

We also had some delays with Amazon—things that were outside both my control and Story Grid’s control. For example, on the actual publish day, the paperback version of my book was marked “Sold Out” for most of the day. We still don’t really know what happened, but I have seen this same exact thing happen to other authors whose book is print on demand, so I know it wasn’t just something with my book.

Now, what’s funny is that in my book launch master plan, I did add some padding into the schedule. I had about two weeks total of padding between some of the key tasks in my marketing plan. For example, around the date I was supposed to get the digital galleys to send to ARC readers, I gave myself a few days in between when I was supposed to get the digital galleys and when I was supposed to send them out to ARC readers. But long story short, I didn’t have enough “padding” in the schedule. I will be much better about this with the next book I publish, so please learn from my mistakes. Plan in some padding and then maybe even double it because you just never know what’s going to happen. 

Lesson #10: You deserve to celebrate the fact that you wrote, edited, and published a BOOK! 

Okay, the last lesson I want to share with you is that it’s so important to celebrate yourself when you publish a book! This is something I almost didn’t do because I actually really hate being the center of attention, but then one of the writers I work with said to me one day, “Savannah, you always tell people to celebrate their wins no matter how big or small and you’re about to publish a book. How are you not going to celebrate yourself when you always tell other people to celebrate??” And she was so right! Even though it still doesn’t feel 100% real, I did write a book. And I published that book. Now people all over the world are reading it! Like, how cool is that?! 

So, yes, even though I don’t love being the center of attention, I do think it’s important to celebrate yourself. I just had to figure out what this looked like for me. So, my partner, Nathan, and I went to dinner the day before my book’s release day. The next morning we took the dogs to the beach, and then later that night, Abigail and I hosted our own virtual book launch party that was actually super fun. 

And every time I got a text message or a voicemail or a DM on Instagram, I made sure to sit with those messages for a second and internalize the kind words people were sharing with me. Because, like Feris Bueller says, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” And I did not want to speed through my book launch and miss it.

So, I guess the point here is to make sure you celebrate yourself because it’s important to recognize your hard work, and you deserve to be celebrated! 

Final Thoughts

So, there you have it! Those are the ten surprising lessons I learned from launching my first book. I hope this behind-the-scenes look into what worked, what didn’t work, and what I would do differently next time was helpful!

If you haven’t gotten a copy of my book, The Story Grid Masterwork Analysis Guide to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, you can purchase one (and claim your bonuses!) here. If you have purchased a copy, thank you so much! If you’d be so kind as to leave an honest review on Amazon, I would very much appreciate it.