Invited Book

November 1, 2019November 1, 2019

How to Lead a Book Launch Team

Why You Need a Launch Team

When I launched my book, my platform was small: I had about five hundred followers on each social media platform, including my email list. I needed help.

My launch team spread the word about my book to their virtual and real life friends and churches. They asked their libraries and local independent bookstores to order my book. They pre-ordered, did giveaways of my book on their blogs (I offered twenty-five of my author copies to them for this purpose), and they recommended me to podcasts.

But more than all that, they rallied around me and reminded me I was not alone in launching my book into the world. They gave me confidence, encouragement, and believed my book would and could make a difference in neighborhoods and communities. They were my people.

This was not the only thing I did to launch my book (you can see the rest of my book launch plan here), but I do think the team was an essential component during the weeks leading up to my book release and after.

I have only launched one book into the world (so far), but I’ve been a member of at least a dozen teams. Here is everything I know about launch teams to get you started on this new endeavor. Best of luck!

Launch Team Tips:

Ask an enthusiastic friend to help you lead it. My friend Annie Rim did this for me and was amazing. Some people, like Anna LeBaron and Amy Oden, do this for pay. If you can, find a friend who is savvy on social media and not afraid to lead a group, and ask them to spearhead your group for you. This way it doesn’t feel so smarmy and like you as the author is constantly asking people to share about you.

Begin early. I started my team eight weeks before my book launched. I was afraid my group would lose momentum, but since I only had digital copies available, it took awhile to work out some of the kinks in downloading my book. And by the time my book released, they had plastered it all over social media for weeks and weeks.

Focus on Goodreads. Encourage your team to share their reviews on Goodreads as soon as they complete the book. This makes it very easy for them to copy and paste the reviews on Amazon on launch day.

Create forms for people to sign up for your launch team using Google Forms. It’s free and easy. Don’t forget to collect email addresses and add them to your mailing list (you can upload them from the spreadsheet you generate from your google form).

Do weekly Facebook Lives. Even if you hate yourself on video (which is ME–I loathe myself on video), do a weekly Facebook live. These weekly FB lives were always a technological disaster for me, but I think they helped me and my launch team to bond over the weeks. I usually asked them if they had questions ahead of time, but also had a mini-agenda.

Find fans, not other writer friends. I recruited my launch team from Instagram, Facebook, the writing groups I’m a part of, other Facebook groups (i.e. Sorta Awesome hangout), Twitter, and my email list. I didn’t require them to purchase the book or have a certain number of followers. Anyone could join. I had 206 sign up and about 160 ended up joining the Facebook group.

Think about doing a pre-order bonus. I did this, but I’m still not sure how effective it was. I figured it couldn’t hurt! I also added these emails to my newsletter list, so it helped my list to grow.

Offer the launch team tasks via email AND Facebook. I emailed my group every Monday with some specific tasks (below). Annie shared them in the Facebook group.

Make sharing easy for your team. Provide images, memes, and lots of photos of your book for them to share. These can also be stored in the “files” or “photos” section of your FB group.

Be sure to foster community within your group. I asked my group to share about themselves and their businesses, books, blogs, podcasts, or artwork as well. And be engaged–reply to your launch team when they ask you questions! Facebook favors engagement.

Have your group follow your book’s hashtag. This seemed to be the most useful on Instagram, but if they followed the #InvitedBook hashtag, then it was easy for them to like and comment on one another’s posts about the book.

Launch Team Checklist

This is a list we shared with my launch team and kept it handy in the “files” section. I also emailed it out and posted it within the Facebook group.

DOWNLOAD: Download/read the book
JOIN: Join the Facebook group and introduce yourself! (Set notifications to “all posts” and check out the “files” section for lots of useful info.)
PRE-ORDER: Pre-order the book. Here are some reasons why:

Pre-orders help with Amazon algorithms and will put the book in front of more eyes in the days to come.
Pre-ordering a book locks you into the lowest price (you won’t be charged until the book actually ships).
Pre-orders ensure that Amazon will have enough books in stock after the book releases.
Pre-orders convince bookstores that enough people are interested in the book to make it worth their while to purchase it.
You will be eligible for some bonuses only available to those who pre-order the book.
If you’re a blogger, consider using the pre-order as a giveaway on your blog or on social media to grow your email list or blog subscribers. For the rest of you, you’ll have a copy to share with your friends, family, or church who might be interested in discussing the book. Leslie won’t be offended if you want to give away her book;-) Here’s a useful article that explains more about why pre-orders are important.

4. SPREAD THE WORD: Share about the pre-order bonuses wherever you are active on social media. Be sure to tag Leslie and use the #InvitedBook hashtag any time you share about the book. If you’ve already started reading and are enjoying the book, then tell your followers that (if you say you like a book, people WILL buy it!)

5. GOODREADS: Log in to Goodreads (or open a free account) and mark the book as “want to read” or “currently reading” (small box below the image of the book). Goodreads has over 65,000,000 members. It’s the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations (so it’s a big deal to have some reviews on there!). Go ahead and writer your review as soon as you finish reading the book (see #12 for more on that)!

6. SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow the author on all social media channels, then “follow” the hashtag #Book on any social media where you hang out (especially Instagram). (add links to social media)

7. READ: Aim to finish reading by ____ if you can so we can start discussing in the FB group!

8. SHARE: Highlight parts of the book you like as you read and share short quotes on social media. Tag the author on social media and use the book’s hashtag. When you see posts related to this hashtag in the future, like, comment, and share them. Check to see if she’s posted anything related to Invited and “like” and share those posts! Feel free to make your own memes at Canva or use some provided in the file on the Facebook page. You can also find premade tweets in both of those places. If you are a blogger, consider writing a review of the book on your site, or sharing one of the posts or interviews in the “files” section of the FB group (coming soon!)

9. REQUEST: Did you know you can ask your local library, church library, and independent bookstores to order books? You can! 😉

10. ORDER: Call or visit your local bookstore or church library and ask them to order the book. Be sure to have the full book title and ISBN # in front of you (Invited: The Power of Hospitality in an Age of Loneliness by Leslie Verner ISBN# 978-1513804330). For your library, all you need to do is fill out an online form and they’ll likely be able to order the book!

11. RECOMMEND: Can you think of any podcasts, newspapers, blogs, church groups, conferences, or other speaking venues you could recommend this book to? Here is the link to Leslie’s speaking page on her website.

12. REVIEW ON GOODREADS AS SOON AS YOU FINISH READING THE BOOK: Here’s how: Log in to Goodreads or start your own free account. Go to Invited in Goodreads. Once you’ve finished the book and are ready to write your review, mark Invited “Read” by using the green pull-down arrow underneath the book cover photo. Select the number of stars. When you do that, Goodreads will open up a popup box where you can write your review. (Pro Tip: write this review in Word or notes and you can use the same one on Amazon, your blog, or on social media later on!)

13. REVIEW ON AMAZON ON _____ : Set a timer on your phone or calendar so you will remember to post. We’re shooting for fifty reviews (there are 200 people in this launch team, so we think this is a realistic goal!). When you write, use the author’s last name or “the author,” not “my college roommate” or “my best friend” 😉 You can copy and paste the same review you used on Goodreads or on your blog. This is a helpful article about writing Amazon reviews.

14. TELL: Tell your friends about the book—word of mouth is still the best way to share about books!

Thank you so much for your help! We’re so grateful for your enthusiasm and support.

Additional Resources:

How to Create a Launch Team (Ep. 157) Create If Writing Podcast. I like how the host of this podcasts advocates for doing two kinds of teams–an ARC team and a launch team. In my writer groups, I asked if anyone would like a copy of my book for review. My publisher allowed me to buy ARCS of my book, so I offered these to my writer friends who I knew couldn’t commit to my launch team.

All About Launch Teams with Anna LeBaron (Ep. 68) Declare Conference Podcast. This was SO HELPFUL. Anyone about to launch a book needs to listen to this!

10x Profit Podcast with Jeni B: How to Create a Thriving Online Community with Tonya Kubo (ep. 26) This podcast was really helpful for me as I began thinking about leading my Facebook group.

Have you led a launch team for your book? What would add to this conversation?

August 30, 2019August 31, 2019

Why Authors Do Book Signings (It’s Not for the Reasons You Might Think)

The bookstore manager, Pam, takes me behind the desk to the backroom of Macdonald Book Shop in Estes Park, Colorado. I plop my bags on a table in a snug break room. One door leads to a bathroom.

“The lock doesn’t work, so be sure to knock first. Then leave the door ajar when you go out so we know it’s available,” Pam tells me.

Another doorway leads to a tiny office with a desk facing a window. The owner, Paula, is an elderly woman with a warm smile and curved upper spine. Later in the afternoon, I’ll see her sitting at this desk and imagine she’s ordering books for customers; or perusing reviews online to determine which books will sell to tourists and her loyal customers.

Pam steers me out another door to a room in the bookstore with a worn brown leather chair Pam calls “Grandpa’s chair” in front of a fireplace. A table is next to the chair, with a small poster of my book cover announcing the book signing today from 2 to 4 pm. I’ll sit in Grandpa’s chair between the kid’s book section and the Colorado and Native American book section, which is rather large for a bookstore of this size. Later, another worker, Sally, will tell me she works at the Native American museum in Arizona, and I wonder if she’s responsible for this sizable selection.

I scribble a nametag that I brought for myself: “Local Author Leslie Verner” and stick it to my dress, then hide my pen and post-it notes behind the display. I prop my clipboard with a sign-up for my newsletter on the floor next to the table and wonder if I should sit, stand, or chase down customers to talk about my book (as Pam suggested).

This is my first book signing for my first book. I’m giddy. Writer friends had advised me to avoid scheduling book signings because they’re awkward, not profitable, and are time consuming. But independent bookstores have my heart. If my husband and I travel to a new town, the first thing we do is identify the coffee shops and independent bookstores. We wander to our respective genres: him, to the sci-fi, fantasy, and nature writing aisles; me, to the poetry, essay, and writing sections. If we have our kids with us, we take turns waiting with them in the kid section and rotate after some minutes so we can browse kid-less.

It’s a Friday and overcast, a rarity for the end of August in Colorado. The crowds of tourists have thinned since I stopped by just two weeks before to drop off some posters and copies of my book. Kids have returned to school and summer is quickly melding into fall.

Settling into Grandpa’s chair, I wonder if anyone will stop by at all.

I had contacted the local newspaper to alert them of my signing. Later, Pam will send me a clip of the article—a write up from my Goodreads description of my book, a headshot, and my book cover—vibrant even in newsprint. All three book sales today will result from local residents reading this article and stopping by to meet me and have me sign the book they buy.

What I sacrifice in time and actual sales, I make up for in conversation. I talk to Sally, the employee who volunteers at the museum in Arizona. She’s worked here every summer for over twenty years. I ask her if she reads a ton and she answers, “I try to. But at my age, I’ve decided to only read non-fiction.” I nod, thinking of the truth embedded even in the fiction books I read, but choose not to disagree. I ask her if she’s read any Joan Chittister and tell her I’m reading The Gift of Years, a book on aging. She smiles, “I think I understand aging pretty well.” I wonder how old she is. Seventy? Seventy-five? I have no idea, but I wonder if I’ll be more choosy with my books as I age, knowing my time is limited.

I talk to a mother and daughter for a long time about transition, finding friends, and community—they are dropping her off at college in Boulder. They seem excited about my book until the mother reads the back cover. I wonder if the word “Christian” in the description turns her off.

“How long’d it take you to write it?” another man asks, sauntering by as I sit in Grandpa’s chair, reading my library book in the lull.

I laugh, “Twenty years?” I say. “But from the time I started thinking about writing it to actual publication, about two years.”

A few minutes later, I see a man reading the back cover of my book at the front of the store. I hear Pam tell him the author is here if he’d like to meet her. I see him look up, then stride back to meet me. I stand and he leans down to point at my book on the table, flipping it to the back. “You say here this book is about ‘holy hospitality’ and ‘how hospitality is at the heart of Christian community,’ but when I read about Christians in the news …” he drops off.

I know what he’s going to say. He starts again, “I grew up kind of going to church, but it seems to me the church isn’t doing what it should be doing.” I didn’t disagree. I told him my book was less of a commentary on the church at large, and more of a consideration of small pivots of faith to follow Jesus and love people around us.

Later, Paula writes me a check in the backroom for the five books I had sold–three today and two of the ones on display in the previous weeks–and three more to keep in the shop ($12 total profit for eight books after subtracting what I paid my publisher for the copies). Pam helps me gather the remaining books and we talk about my conversation with this man.

“I kind of overheard it, but didn’t hear all of it,” Pam says. I tell them I had forgotten the word “Christian” was even on the back of my book and was taken off guard.

“I wish the publisher hadn’t used that word,” I say. “It’s such a trigger word for people in our society.” The women agree. Sadly, the word “Christian” often carries a negative connotation for people today.

Afterward, I order a vanilla latte (using nearly half my profit) at Inkwell and Brew, a coffeeshop behind Macdonald Bookshop, and settle into a small booth overlooking the river glimmering through downtown Estes.

I’ve already asked whether the book writing was worth it. But was the two-hour signing worth it?

I had about seven long conversations on friendship, community, isolation, and the state of Christianity in the world. I advertised my book in the local newspaper and had my book on display in the window of an indie bookstore I’ve visited many times over the years. The booksellers handed out my bookmarks to local residents stopping by to pick up the books they had ordered and random tourists buying the latest bestsellers. Pam put up posters with my book cover around town. And in the days to come, if a customer is looking for a book on spirituality, hospitality, or community, my guess is that Sally, Pam, Paula, and the other employees will steer them to my book.

As in all aspects of the creative life, it’s best not to gauge success by dollar signs. Creators deal in a mysterious currency. Did our art act as a conduit for connection, depth, and soul? If so, I call this “success.”

My book Invited: The Power of Hospitality in an Age of Loneliness is now available where all books are sold online, but also in some brick and mortar bookstores–check your local Barnes and Noble, or support your local independent bookstore by ordering it from there! You can also order it from your local library.

SO many ways to get your hands on it! 🙂 Sign up for my newsletter and I’ll send you chapter 1 for free!

Why Authors Do Book Signings (It’s Not for the Reasons You Might Think)

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links

June 21, 2019July 8, 2019

Pre-order Bonuses!

Here’s how this works:

Pre-order Invited: The Power of Hospitality in an Age of Loneliness by Leslie Verner wherever you purchase books.
Click on this form to record the number of copies, receipt order number, and your email address.
You will be emailed a PDF of “Ideas for Inviting”–a list of nearly 100 ideas for practicing hospitality included in the back of your new Invited book.
For each copy you order, you’ll qualify for another entry to win one of five bundles of either ethical gifts or books related to Invited. (Details below.)
Winners will be notified by August 20th.

*only U.S. residents and Canadians are eligible for the giveaways, but you can live anywhere to receive “Ideas for Inviting.”

PRE-ORDER INVITED HERE

(You don’t have to order on Amazon, you can pre-order anywhere you buy books.) Then…

CLAIM YOUR PRE-ORDER BONUS

Pre-ordering a book on Amazon locks you in to the lowest price PLUS you’ll receive your book the day it releases, on August 13th.

Don’t forget to snap a pic of your new book and put it on social media (tag @leslie_verner on Twitter and @scraping_raisins on Instagram and use the hashtag #InvitedBook), and review it on Amazon when you get a chance!

***

I am honored to be partnering with some fabulous ethical gift companies (described below) who have donated items to give away for these pre-order bonuses.

BUNDLES:

Gift Bundle #1

Wristlet from Imagine Goods
Table runner from Dignify
Earrings from Grain of Rice Project
A pound of coffee home-roasted by Adam Verner
Shoe bag from The White Peacock
Mug from Papillion Marketplace
Extending the Table cookbook (I’ve used this for twenty years and this is a NEW edition!)
Napkins from Sari Bari

Gift Bundle #2

Apron from Imagine Goods
Placemats & napkins from Ziyada
Table Runner from Sari Bari
Necklace from Grain of Rice Project
Tea from JusTea
Shoe bag from The White Peacock
Mug from Papillion Marketplace
Extending the Table cookbook

Gift Bundle #3

Table runner from Dignify
Tea from JusTea
Earrings from Grain of Rice Project
Tote from Papillion Market Place
Shoe bag from The White Peacock
Placemats & napkins from Ziyada
Mug from Papillion Marketplace
Extending the Table cookbook

Book Bundle #1

Extending the Table: Recipes and stories from Afghanistan to Zambia in the Spirit of More-with-Less (World Community Cookbook) by Joetta Handrich Schlabach

The God Who Sees: Immigrants, the Bible, and the Journey to Belong by Karen Gonzalez

Loving My Actual Neighbor: 7 Practices to Treasure the People Right in Front of You by Alexandra Kuykendall

One: Unity in a Divided World by Deidra Riggs

We Will Feast: Rethinking Dinner, Worship, and the Kingdom of God by Kendall Vanderslice

The Wisdom of Stability: Rooting Faith in a Mobile Culture by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

Book Bundle #2

Extending the Table: Recipes and stories from Afghanistan to Zambia in the Spirit of More-with-Less (World Community Cookbook) by Joetta Handrich Schlabach

Glorious Weakness: Discovering God in All We Lack by Alia Joy

Hermanas: Deepening Our Identity and Growing Our Influence by Natalia Kohn Rivera, Noemi Vega Quiñones, Kristy Garza Robinson

The Next Worship: Glorifying God in a Diverse World by Sandra Van Opstal

Taste and See: Discovering God Among the Butchers, Bakers, and Fresh Food Makers by Margaret Feinberg

Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate by Matthew Soerens, Jenny Yang, and Leith Anderson

I’m Honored to Partner with These 8 Ethical Gift Companies:

I hope you take the time read some of the stories behind these inspiring companies (I’m usually in tears each year as I research them for my Christmas ethical gift list). Be sure to keep these companies in mind when you do your Christmas shopping this year!