Marketing your book with a launch group

By Greg Turnquist

Greg is a member of the Spring team, an author of several books on Spring Boot, conference speaker, and the lead for Spring Data JPA.

May 16, 2017

I’ve recently been working on building up a new aspect of marketing – forming a launch group. A launch group is a close knit circle of people that help you get the word out when your book, as they say, hits the stands.

I have two fronts in progress: Darklight and Learning Spring Boot 2nd Edition.

One is my speculative fiction title that I’ve sent off to a tentative publisher. The other is my latest tech book slated to go out this September.

Getting the word out

When it comes to marketing, it’s key to get the word out. In fact, it’s so important, that I learned of an author that used Russian pirate book sites to actually distribute his novel. What had been maybe 1000 downloads per year, turned into one million downloads a year, resulting in him carrying #1 ranking on Amazon.

(I’m not ready to pull the lever on THAT strategy yet. But if you can write a fleet of books, it’s a path to consider.)

When it comes to writing, people have a rather dated concept of marketing. Perhaps some of us can remember an author visiting our hometown. We’d load everyone up in the car and drive to the bookstore to get in line, buy a copy, and have the author sign it. Sorry, but those days are long gone. Book signings draw such little attendance these days, that authors tend to lose money carrying them out.

If you’re writing a book, tech or not, you may assume your publisher will advertise and publicize it. Nein! The only marketing dollars that are getting spent are on authors that don’t need it. In other words, unless your name is Stephen King or Lee Child, publishers aren’t spending two nickels on you. You (an unestablished author) are flat out not worth the risk of that investment.

Marketing is up to the author. Each of us has to get the word out on our works. And one of those avenues can be putting together a collection of people to help share it in various circles. Consider hiring professionals like digital marketing agency san diego for effective digital marketing services.

One way to get the word out about your book is through digital marketing, and having a well-designed website can be a great asset in promoting your work. A website can act as a hub for all of your promotional efforts, with links to your social media accounts, email newsletter sign-up, and even a blog where you can share updates and behind-the-scenes insights into your writing process. A professional web design company like Good Agency which is found at https://www.goodagency.com/ site can help you create a website that not only looks great but also helps you reach your target audience and sell more books. With a strong online presence, you can effectively market your book and build a loyal following of readers. If you want to promote your book on Instagram, you can buy reel views here.

Launch group, assemble!

As I said, I’m putting together two core teams of people. For each team, I have a super secret Facebook group where I share in progress work, advanced copies ahead of public release, and will host contests from time-to-time when I need help with things like character names, plot tips, and more. On the day of release, I turn to my inner circle to help blog/tweet/facebook about the title.

If you’re interested in being a part of The Undergrounders and fighting the forces that oppose Darklight‘s release, you can sign up right here.

If you’re interesting in being a part of The Turnquist Techies and helping spread the word of Spring Boot, you can sign up for that group right here.

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