A Cautionary Tale

Book publishing is filled with possible pitfalls and errors.  I witnessed another one today.

One of my best-selling author friends has a new book releasing. This new book was from a major well-known publisher. The book was designed well and edited and included endorsements and practical information. I've supported this author in the past so I was on the list of people who got a pre-release of the book. This pre-release included a personal handwritten note from the author and information about the date of the book release.

It was a push for my schedule but I managed to quickly write a review and be ready to post it on the launch date. Then I noticed the page on Amazon. It was not the typical pre-release page but the book had already released a couple of days ahead of the launch date. The book had zero Amazon reviews on the page. 

How did this happen? Someone at the publishing house set up the wrong Amazon date for releasing the book (my guess). This author has a launch team and other elements in place to promote her book. I was not surprised to learn this team wasd in place since she is an experienced author and knows the elements to launch a new book. It is important to have a launch team because there are over 4,500 new books releasing every day. Also most publishers are selling about 50% of their books through Amazon. Now that leaves another 50% for brick and mortar, other online retailers, and other places. Still 50% is a large number at Amazon for the book sales.

I'm writing these details about this story which contains a number of lessons:

1. Details matter. The release date of your book should match up on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other places. As an author, you can check some of these details but depending on how you publish, they are mostly handled internally inside the publishing house.

2. With a launch or book. things can go wrong. When this happens to you, acknowledge it and keep moving forward.

3. Nothing is fatal in this process—unless you quit. Even when something goes off or doesn't happen, you can still recover from it and sell books. The only way for you to be stopped is when you give up and stop. Almost anything can be overcome with action.

4. Marketing is an ongoing process for every book. Last week one of my books got a new review. I was interested to read it. When I looked it was a one star review with hardly any information. I was disappointed but it was from a real person and when you get a one star review, it validates all the other reviews for the book. In other words, nothing to do about it but keep moving forward. I encourage you to do the same.

I wrote this article to help and encourage you with your own marketing efforts for your book. It is not easy for anyone—even people with a lot of experience in this area. The key is to keep going and keep moving forward no matter what happens. 

Tell me that steps you are taking to move forward no matter what happens in the comments below.

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