Why It's Never Too Late To Promote

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

As an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing, I've worked with many different authors on launching and promoting their books. As a reader, I've been on a number of launch teams, received, read and reviewed advance reader copies (ARCs) of many books. As a writer, I've taken classes on launch plans, seen the checklists from others and much more. While I've written more than 60 books for traditional publishers, it's been a few years since I launched a new book.

Last spring, I finished my manuscript for 10 Publishing Myths, gathered a foreword from New York Times bestselling author and long-time friend Jerry B. Jenkins and endorsements from 18 authors, editors, agents and publicity experts. The Morgan James team designed a beautiful cover and I had some advanced copies to take to a couple of conferences. While everything looked to be moving forward, suddenly there were some glitches.

First as a part of the process, Morgan James showed my cover to the sales team. Normally they get little feedback but in my case, the sales team suggested changes. It was a good thing in some ways to have their engagement and interest.  The feedback changed some significant details on my book cover. 

I took my book to a couple of conferences and sold a few advanced copies. One reader asked if I would like some feedback. I responded yes I'd love your feedback. It turned out she was a proofreader and sent a lengthy list of over 50 errors (missing words, wrong words, typos, etc.). Grateful for such detailed feedback, I worked through each suggestion and made all these changes before it released to the bookstores (print and ebook).

Also I worked with Misty Taggart from Trailer to the Stars on a one-minute book trailer and I ordered business cards with my first cover. Yet now my book trailer and business cards needed to be changed for everything to match and work properly. Also I built my book website but the clock has continued moving and my December 17^th  launch date arrived--and I was not ready and only did a small percentage of my launch plans.
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I've learned several lessons from this experience:

1. It is never too late to promote or tell others about your book. If you missed launching your book, begin today to tell others. 

2. Take the long view of your book and make a personal commitment to continually look for new ways to tell others about your book. There are over 4,500 new books published every day (includes the self-published books). The book trailer for my Billy Graham biography has been viewed over 11,000 times in the last five years.  

3. Your passion for your book and topic will last much longer than anyone else. Understand that you will drive the promotion and continued sales of your own work—no matter how you have published.

4. Ask others to help you in the promotion process. Ask others but in your asking make it easy for them to say yes. Just look at this page I wrote and prepared for my new book, 1o Publishing Myths. This page has links to the exact pages on Amazon, Goodreads and Barnes & Noble where I need reviews. Also I included a link to a two page PDF where they can fill in the blanks and write their review. Also this promotion page includes several ClickToTweet posts they can share about the book on social media (whether they have read my book or not).

5. Create an interesting and inviting giveaway with your book. When I was gathering endorsements for 10 Publishing Myths, Alice Crider told me I was missing the 11th Publishing Myth. I listened and decided to write this chapter. It is designed exactly like the rest of my book but not inside the book. You can get it right away at this link. What type of inviting giveaway can you create for your book?

No matter what happens with the launch of your book my simple advice is: keep moving forward.

What glitches or challenges have you found in launching a book? Let me know in the comments below.

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How to Recover from a Launch Disaster

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

How do you recover from a book launch disaster? Over 4,500 new books are published every day.  As someone who has been in publishing for years, I understand without the author's active role, little happens.

In recent years, I've watched authors launch books and participate in their launch teams. I've gotten advance reading copies of the book, read it then posted my reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes & Noble. I've taken online courses on launching books. As an acquisitions editor for a New York publisher, Morgan James Publishing, I've watched many other authors launch their books. Like many things in publishing, I've found not everything will go according to your plans.

While I've written more than 60 books, I haven't published a new book in several years. My newest book, 10 Publishing Myths released to the bookstores on December 17th. Last year, I asked New York Times bestselling author, Jerry B. Jenkins to write my foreword. Also I gathered 18 endorsements from other bestselling authors, publishers, editors, literary agents and publicity experts. 

When editor and writing coach Alice Crider sent her endorsement, she told me I was missing the 11th publishing myth: “If I send my book to Oprah, she will book me on her show.” I laughed then I decided to write this chapter and have it designed exactly like the rest of the book. You can get it immediately at this link. 

Plans were moving forward. The cover was designed and went to the sales team. Often they never respond but for my book, they suggested some changes to my cover. Simultaneously I worked with a former Hollywood screenwriter to create a one-minute book trailer (watch it here) and printed business cards (with my first book cover).  

Months ago,  I had Advanced Reader Copies. took them to a couple of writers' conferences and sold a few books. A reader emailed asking if I wanted feedback. I said of course. This reader turned out to be a proofreader and sent a detailed email with over 50 typos, missing words, wrong words and other errors. I fixed everything—thankfully before the print or ebooks were released in the bookstores.

My book launch didn't happen as planned. Maybe your published book isn't selling as you expected. I've got good news: it is never too late to promote your book. 

Here's some things you can do for your book—no matter when it releases:

1. Do what you can every day to tell more people about your book. It doesn't have to be a lot but be consistent in your efforts.

2. Gather your own resources and use them. They can be simple like use your email list, write a  blog, write a guest blog posts, or ask friends to read and review your book. 

3. Make your own promotion page. For 10 Publishing Myths, I created a page to help others promote my book. Look at the diversity and see if you can do something similar.

4. Make an excellent and short book trailer. People need to hear about your book over and over before they buy it. A good good trailer helps in this effort. Follow this link to see my one-minute trailer.

Your passion for your topic and book will carry beyond a launch date.  You can continue no matter what happens—part of being a writer is to have such persistence and perseverance. In spite of any glitches along the way, you can keep going.

Have you had a similar experience? Or even different with a book launch? Let me know in the comments below.

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Get A Realistic Publishing Perspective

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

I've spoken with many authors about their plans and ambitions for their published book. Authors pour a lot of energy into writing their manuscript and creating a book proposal or careful pitch of their book for editors or literary agents. These authors make statements to me like:

“My book will be a bestseller.”

“My book will make a lot of money.” 

“My book will sell ____ copies.”

Also over many years in publishing, I've had publishers tell me that my book would be in airport bookstores and they had plans to market and sell many copies of the book. Conventional wisdom in publishing says the larger the advance, the greater the publisher investment and the greater they will have to invest in marketing to get this investment back and more. I've been blessed to get a couple of six-figure advances—but I have lengthy stories (not good ones) about how each of these books turned out in the market.

From my years in publishing, I know and understand that much can go off course (wrong) in the publishing and marketing process. A great deal goes into publishing a book and then selling that book to readers, getting their enthusiasm about the book and telling others for even more sales. Many of the details of this process are outside of anything the author can control or do about it—a reality.

On December 17th, my next book, 10 Publishing Myths, Insights Every Author Needs to Succeed will release to bookstores nationwide. I wrote the book to give authors practical action steps they can take with their book to get it into the market.

Let me encourage you to watch the one-minute book trailer here:


Also when I was gathering 18 endorsements for this book from editors, literary agents, bestselling authors, PR experts and others, Alice Crider told me I was missing the 11th Myth: If I send my book to Oprah, she will book me on her show.  When I heard this myth I laughed but then I decided to write this chapter. It is designed like the rest of my book and you can get it free here (follow this link). You will get this PDF immediately and it will have the foreword by New York Times bestselling author Jerry B. Jenkins, the various endorsements and the chapter with the 11th myth.

Help Me Promote 10 Publishing Myths

I hope you will order my book through one of the four options on my website—but even if you don't order the book, I would encourage you to tell others about it using my ClickToTweet links on this page.

As you need gifts for the writers in your life, I want to encourage you to buy a copy of 10 Publishing Myths and give it to a friend who needs the encouragement and practical advice.

I'm excited about how 10 Publishing Myths is going to help authors all over the world—whether you have a new book or want to put more life and sales back into a book that has been in the market for a while. As long as you have enthusiasm for telling others about your book, there is hope for you in the market.

Do you have a realistic publishing perspective? What myths have you fallen for? Let me know in the comments below.

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