Tag: launch team

Categories
Writers Chat

Writers Chat Recap: February Part 1

Writers Chat Recap

Writers Chat, hosted by Jean Wise, Johnnie Alexander, and Brandy Brow, is the show where we talk about all things writing, by writers and for writers!

“Because talking about writing is more fun than actually doing it.”

Ask an Agent Q&A with Bethany Jett

Literary agent Bethany Jett answers our questions about proposals, pitches, and the decision-making process. This behind-the-scenes peek into the submission process provides insight into how one agent evaluates proposals and makes decisions about representation.

Other aspects of the writing industry are also discussed such as writing under a pseudonym, marketing and platform, and proposing a series. Bethany also talks about Twitter Pitch Parties and Query Tracker/QueryManager.

Watch the January 31st replay.

Bethany Jett is an associate literary agent with the C.Y.L.E. agency, as well as a multi-award-winning author, and a marketing strategist who earned top honors in her master’s program, where she earned her MFA in Communications focusing on Marketing and PR. Her motto is “Teach as you go,” which she lives out as the co-owner of Serious Writer, a company that teaches and empowers writers and authors. Bethany is married to her college sweetheart, and together they’re raising 3 teen/tween sons and their Pomeranian Sadie.

Launch Party Lessons

In this episode of Writers Chat, author, M.N. Stroh, and the members of her launch party team: Brandy Brow, Josephine (Jo) Massaro, and Norma Poore, share their experiences planning and participating in the Tale of the Clans Launch Party. From the roles each played to the lessons learned, they offer practical takeaways and best practices for those planning their first book launch party.

Watch the February 7th replay.

The Heart of Writing with Larry J. Leech II

Instead of Samuel L. Jackson asking you “What’s in your wallet?”, what if he asked, “What’s in your heart?” What would you tell him? Your simple answer should explain why you write and why you write what you write. In this Valentine’s Day episode of Writers Chat, veteran editor and writing coach, Larry J. Leech II, plays cardiologist and discusses the importance of a regular heart checkup while on your writing journey.

Watch the February 14th replay.

Writing coach of award-winning authors, Larry J. Leech II has spent more than 40 years working with words. After a journalism career that included 2,300 published articles, Larry started freelance writing and editing in 2004. He has ghostwritten 30 books, edited over 400 manuscripts, and taught at numerous conferences nationwide.

Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET
on Zoom. The permanent Zoom room link is: http://zoom.us/j/4074198133

Categories
Platform and Branding

Creating Your Launch Team: Tactics to Help You and Other Writers

Platform and Branding

Marketing your book can be as difficult as writing it, but equally as important. If you don’t write the book you won’t have readers, and if people don’t know about it, you won’t have readers. A book launch team is a great way to help get your book off the ground and also give back to the other writers helping you. Incorporating a few easy tactics can help your book succeed, while taking your launch team to a whole new level.

Invest in Social Media Ads

Create a short application process, target ads to those you want to help promote your book, and wait for the applications to come in. Side note, make joining your launch team free. You’re asking people to promote you, so it’s probably best not to ask them to pay to do so.

Offer Tiers of Investment

Tiers will help your members know what they’re signing up for as well as what they’ll get in return. For instance, if members join tier level one let’s say they commit to do seven activities to launch your book, and you give them the standard level of free content such as going live within the Facebook launch group, or sending them a free PDF of free book study questions.

Level two requires a bit more investment from members, but with their added investment, you provide additional free content: PDF’s that will help them on their own book, a workshop maybe you usually sell but provide for free, etc.

Tier three members get an all-access pass. Along with the benefits of tier one and two, tier three members could also benefit from special live Q&A sessions with you, exclusive content about your book, free gifts like t-shirts or bookmarks, and anything else you think would benefit them. But, to have this exclusive membership they also invest in you and your book with pre-orders, reviews, and social media promos. The more they help you, the more they get out of it.

Once your book is launched you can still use your launch group to give back to the writers within it:

  • Change the group description and create a writing community for these writers to connect, network, and perhaps promote their own books. (You can make it private or public, depending on the goals you have for the group. If you do decide to keep the group going, don’t forget to have someone monitor the page.)
  • Host monthly interviews with other writers through a giveaway that involves members following each other and posting about your book on their social media (you can track posts by asking them to use a specific hashtag).
  • Run a poll asking members what would be most helpful to them, and go from there.

Launch teams can help with presales and influence the success of your book. But they’re also a great way to invest in those who invest in you—have fun with it!

Sarah Rexford is a Marketing Content Creator and writer. She helps authors build their platform through branding and copywriting. With a BA in Strategic Communications, Sarah equips writers to learn how to communicate their message through personal branding. She writes fiction and nonfiction and offers writers behind-the-scenes tips on the publishing industry through her blog itssarahrexford.com. She is represented by the C.Y.L.E Young Agency.

Instagram: @sarahjrexford
Twitter: @sarahjrexford
Web: itssarahrexford.com

Categories
Writing for YA

Do’s and Don’ts When Forming Your Launch Team

Congratulations, your book baby is now ready for release! What comes next? It’s time to celebrate your book release with friends who are ready to shout out your book news on social media.

As a blogger, writer, and voracious reader, so far, I have been on nearly twenty launch teams. I’ve gathered some wonderful ideas and went through some “growing pains” with friends as they crafted their release teams.

Take a deep breath, and exhale. We’re here to make sure your launch team is everything you hoped it would be… and so much more.

What Not to Do

Any timeline suggested is a guideline, not written in stone dates to adhere to. If you are early, start working on what you can. If you’ve passed a “deadline” you can probably catch up (although some scrambling might take place).

Don’t #1 Where’s my tribe? Two or three months before your launch, place an all-call on your social media, website, author blog, and newsletter asking for launch team members. Give them details of what they will need to do if they become part of your team. Not everyone will be able to do what you require.

Don’t #2 No spending limit! You’ll want to have a budget that fits your financial needs for contest prizes both within your launch team and on social media at large: books, branded author items, possible postage, etc. We all love those cute paperclips or notepads, or any office supplies in general, so please remember to keep an eye on your wallet and get creative about your prizes.

Don’t #3 Accept everyone (more accurately, choose wisely). Are the interested persons tech savvy? Do they have all the large social media outlets in regular rotation on their computers and/or phones? Have they written reviews before, created memes, recommended books to friends? The more your team is promotions oriented, the better the reach will be to interested persons. AKA, your readers.

Don’t #4 No GPS? We’re ready for a party. But where is it located? This is a huge event in your writing life, celebrate with your new and longtime friends on Facebook by creating a group. Helpful hint-have several trusted and knowledgeable author/writer friends serve as administrators or moderators on the page along with you. You’ll have “more eyes” on the page when questions or comments arise from launch team members.

Don’t #5 No Guidance. For some of your group members this might be their first time on a launch team. It’s okay to have newbies, sometimes they are the most enthusiastic! But you’ll want to set parameters for the launch team such as participation expectations, how to post reviews to booksellers websites, where they can post, and when to name a few.

The Fun Stuff

Okay, you know what not to do, now what about the things you Do need to take care of?

DO #1 Create a fun atmosphere for your group. Your team is part of a community. Create a fun, vibrant, place for them to visit and chat. Let them get to know you and each other better through this group.

DO #2 Prizes. Everyone loves prizes! Have meme or video creation contests centered around your book, photo scavenger hunts for objects, colors, something that appears in your novel, and even your website. Remember, the prizes don’t have to be pricey. Get creative.

DO #3 Show your appreciation for them being part of your group. Tucking some bookmarks in the ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) you send to them and writing a “thank you” note are simple things you can do to build the team relationship further. Other things that can be done are sending some chocolates, a few “while you’re reading” tea bags, or an author branded item. Even is they are reading your ARC digitally, you can still send some of these goodies to them.

Do #4 Keep the sizzle in social media. Your 10-day countdown Ask your top ten performers to create a meme to post on their assigned day so all the launch team members can share it on their social media. You can tweak the posting timeline to suit your needs. It is an exciting way to celebrate your upcoming release, whether it is a 10-day countdown, or 3 or 4-day countdown. It is totally up to you.

Do #5 Have a release day party on Facebook with your team members. Let them know how much their participation means to you. All of you deserve to celebrate on this special day, and it’s a great way to thank them for the work they’ve done to promote your book.

When book launch time arises for you, have fun, remember to breathe, and celebrate because you did it! Congratulations! All the best to you and your future book launching teams as you bring your book babies out into the world, one confident step at a time.

Stacy T. Simmons helps writers of Christian fiction in her role as president of ACFW-DFW and at her blog, Fueled by Faith and Caffeine.

Stacy writes uplifting fiction that delights the reader’s romantic sensibilities. Thirty-three years of marital bliss is a great contributor. By day, she is an office manager for an insurance agent. By night, she is happily working on her manuscript, or her blog, Fueled by Faith and Caffeine. Her home is filled with family and a menagerie of pets she likes to call “Noah’s Ark.” Connect with Stacy on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. She loves to interact with her readers.

Categories
Devotional/Christian Living

Spreadsheets: Organizing Wisdom from Author Karen Whiting

I am one of those writers who sits among piles of stuff. That piece of information I need? I know I have it written on a piece of paper…somewhere. When it comes to writing, organizing one small devotion is not hard. Hook, Bible point, application. But now that I am writing devotional books, I’ve been wondering how to organize my writing. How can I be sure that my topics aren’t repetitive? How can I see my writing progress without having to scroll through a long Word document? Where can I jot ideas down so they don’t get lost?

With these questions simmering in the back of my mind, I attended Karen Whiting’s class at Montrose Christian Writer’s Conference in Montrose, PA. Karen Whiting is the award winning author of 26 books including The One Year My Princess Devotions, 52 Weekly Devotions for Families Called to Serve, and The Gift of Bread. Although the title of Karen’s class was Marketing Your Book, she generously shared additional ideas pertaining to organizing all aspects of being a writer. What is her secret?

Spreadsheets.

It sounds like a simple thing, but the idea has changed my writing life. Here’s how Karen uses spreadsheets:

Spreadsheets to Outline a Devotional Book

Rather than a traditional outline, Karen organizes her devotional book writing on a spreadsheet so she can see all the elements of the book at a glance. On her spreadsheet she includes a column for each element in the devotion including the title of each devotion, scripture passage, key verse, quote, and (most importantly) the need of the reader each particular devotion meets. For her upcoming devotional book for moms, she included needs like affirmation, love, and assurance. This way she can make sure that the book as a whole is meeting a range of the spiritual and emotional needs of the reader. She can also see that she does not write towards one need too often while ignoring others. She also uses spreadsheets to outline her parenting, craft, and Christian life books.

Spreadsheets to Organize the Marketing Plan

When I create a marketing plan for a book proposal, I use a bullet point list to brainstorm my marketing ideas. Karen uses a spreadsheet and groups similar marketing together. One section for radio interviews, one for television interviews, one for social media marketing, another for blog post and article ideas. She includes contact information for each radio station or magazine publisher. Then when she is ready to market, she has all the information she needs in one place. She can just go down the spreadsheet like a to-do list and make notes on her progress for each task. When an interview or article is complete, she adds the link on her spreadsheet.

Spreadsheets for the Launch Team

Leading up to the book release, the launch team will read advance copies of the book and generate excitement on social media and other places. Karen said it’s wise to have about 30-40 people on the launch team, but be prepared to see only 20-25% follow through. She uses a spreadsheet to keep track of members of her launch team, their addresses, and ideas for the gifts she will send to them. During the marketing class, Karen offered personalized suggestions to each author in the room by giving ideas for gifts for our launch team members. I was amazed at how creative Karen is on the spot! For my upcoming book Take It to Heart: 30 Days through Revelation, a Devotional Workbook, Karen gave ideas like squishy stress ball hearts and heart shaped candy. Yum! She also encouraged me to create speaking topics about truth since I encourage Christians to find simple truth in Scripture. Such helpful ideas!

I’m so grateful to Karen Whiting for sharing her wisdom with us at Montrose Christian Writer’s Conference. I came home energized and equipped to organize my devotional writing in an effective way.

Do you have any tips for organizing your writing life? Do you use spreadsheets? Comment below!

Rachel Schmoyer is a pastor’s wife who is loving her church life. She writes about the hard parts of Scripture at readthehardparts.com. She has had devotionals published in the past, but now she is looking forward to getting her first Christian Living book published. You can connect with Rachel on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.