Book Promotion & Launch Teams
WHO?
All Redbuds who are promoting and launching books and all Redbuds who join our
community in order to support one another and the feminine voice in church and culture.
WHAT?
This is a “how to” template and timeline for promoting and creating Launch Teams for
newly releasing book or already released book. It is a worksheet for you to use as a
springboard. It is encouraged you use your own creativity and expand on these ideas.
WHEN?
You may use this guide for an upcoming book launch or for a book that has already released
that you wish to give another “push.” A robust book promotion and/or launch should be
about four weeks, focusing on the week before, launch day, and the weeks following.
WHERE?
Everywhere! Redbud’s can spread the news via social media, our personal websites, blogs,
articles and events in our own communities and churches.
WHY?
The more we amplify our communal Redbud voice, the more each of our voices and work
will create influence. The strength of Redbud is our membership and collective networks.
Promoting one another is win/win and gains individual and communal recognition in the
public with readers and with editors and agents.
How It Works:
The author
It is the author’s job and responsibility to reach out to fellow Buds, form her Launch Team,
manage her timeline, organize Launch Team member tasks, and all details.
The Bud
As a member of Redbud it is an expectation that all Buds will participate in Launch Teams.
Her involvement depends on what she wishes to contribute. A launch team member is
asked to commit to 3-6 items below per week for the four-week launch calendar.
Example Tasks for Launch Teams
 Tweet
 Facebook posts
 Host a guest blog on your site
 Instagram posts
 Participating in #Hashtags on your posts
 Participate in book give-aways
 Write an Amazon review
 Post a picture of yourself with the book
 Write a review of the book on your site
 Host a Link-to-Purchase on your site
 Participate in Twitter Parties
 Pin to Pinterest
 Retweet and repost any “media hits” (interviews, reviews, podcasts, etc)
 Host the author at an event in your community (church, book signing)
Getting Started:
Below is a worksheet/template for authors promoting and launching books. Having
your details organized, your Launch team lined up, your timeline mapped out, your
guest blog posts written (often author Q and A written by the author is an easy “ask”
for a guest blog post), your tweets already written, your memes created, etc… , will
make for a smooth and effective month for your book launch/promotion.
Create Your What:
Thanks for joining the launch team for my book, (title)!
Book details: (Tell about the book. Perhaps tell why you wrote the book. Or give the back
cover copy of the book.)
About the book: (List features of the book [e.g. study questions, helpful charts]. List benefits
of the book [e.g. This book will help readers overcome anger through a 21-day program].
List what your book offers that others like it do not.)
Who the book is for: (Describe who would most benefit from this book.)
Create Your Who:
About me:
Bio:
Website:
Facebook:
Twitter handle:
Instagram:
Pinterest:
Create Your When:
Prelaunch activities begin: (give dates—author highlights dates throughout this document
with a unique color.)
Launch day is: (give date)
Blog tour is: (give dates)
Develop your timeline and what you wish to push and when.
Create your How:
Assemble your Launch Team.
Ask and assign tasks and plug them into your timeline.
Send out free books as you are able to be reviewed and/or as give aways for a blog tour.
Example asks:
Let me know you want to participate in the blog tour and give me a couple of dates during
the blog tour timeframe you are available. I will make sure you get a copy of the book and
let you know the preferred date for your post.
Prelaunch (give dates)
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Post a review on Amazon and Barnes & Noble before launch so that on launch day,
people can find out how the book is received and rated
Post on social media about the coming blog tour (Author provides Twitter and FB
posts for participants to cut and paste.)
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Call bookstores and ask if they stock (title of book) be sure to include ISBN# (author
provides number)
“Like” the book’s FB page and my author page
Launch day (give date): Post on social media about book launch.
Author provides Twitter and FB posts—include hashtag
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about book launch
any special incentives for buying the book this week
quotes from book
book trailer
Blog tour week(s). (Give dates.).
a. Write a blog post and post it on your assigned day.
b. Intro: (Author provides an intro something like: “This post is part of the
____________ blog tour of which I am part of. To learn more click here!”)
c. Ideas for blog posts
 (Author provides writing prompts.)
 (Author provides a question and answer/interview type post for
bloggers to use as an option.)
d. Outro: (Author provides a short bio with head shot and information about
where to get the book.)
e. Artwork: (Author provides pictures of book, blog header, etc.)
f. Schedule tweets and FB posts about your blog post.
Use social media to promote book during launch week.
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Author provides ready-made tweets and posts and images for Twitter, Facebook,
Pinterest, Instagram, etc. Include hashtag for posts.
If you haven’t done an Amazon review yet, please do!
Take a picture of yourself holding the book and post the picture on social media
Create a 1-3 minute video of yourself telling how the book impacted your life. Post
to social media.
Post your own favorite quotes from the book with a hashtag (specify #). (Offer
participant with the most quotes a prize.)]
Book Promotion Ideas
How it Works:
Below are ideas and actions that have worked for other authors as they promoted
and released their books. These are ideas. You may choose to do them all. You may
choose to do only a few. This is not exhaustive and these ideas are to be used to spur
your creativity and effectiveness. Many Buds will have publicists and some of the
below will be covered by the publisher.
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Start with your goals for this launch. Dare to dream big. List specific
occurrences/events/numbers that would mean success in this launch–to you. If it's
your first time, it may be a big win simply to do your first launch. Maybe it's the
number of people you will reach or the sales you'll make, etc. Create a goal; then
you'll know when to celebrate reaching it. Build your plan around these goals.
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Enlist the help of your fellow Redbuds: We exist as Redbuds to support each other,
to be committed to each other’s success as much as we are committed to our own.
The more we succeed and thrive as a professional writing community, helping each
other to fearlessly expand our collective voice, the more our individual voices will
expand right along with that growth. Yet our individual voices will expand
exponentially in comparison to what we would be able to do alone, or within a nonsupportive, non-mutually-committed, non-synergistic community.
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Use the Rule of TENS:
Create Your TENS:
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10 benefits of your book
10 features of your book
10 highlights of those features not found other places in the market (In other
words, how is your book/solution/content different from everything out there?)
Try to get to ten on this one.
10 other resources relevant to this one that you have available to help people
take this topic further
Then, using those lists, create:
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10 tweets
10 Facebook posts
10 interest images
Create 10 different interesting headlines that compel you to read more about
your book, about what problems your book solves, about what life activity your
book portrays (fiction or nonfiction here), about what questions your book
raises, etc.
Here are 10 examples of viral-friendly headlines:
 5 Reasons…
 4 Benefits of…
 3 Easy-peasy ways to…
 7 Questions that [reveal, show, belie, etc.] the most about [your
topic/need/solution]
 What is [something controversial related to your topic/content] Doing to
[something important to your peeps: our families? Our minds? Our
bodies? Our souls? Our marriages? Our sex lives? Our school kids?
Whatever]
 Advice for the First-Time [person who does what you do, but who is,
obvious b/c of the title, a beginner or pre-beginner]
 3 Practical Ways You Can …
 How to [whatever, what you teach, what you write about] in [some time
frame] or Less
 How I…[how you currently do something related to your topic]
 How I came to…[how you came to do what you’re currently doing, etc.]
Using those headlines, write up:
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10 blog posts about your book’s content.
10 Q&A about your book (ask writer friends in similar or same genres to
read your book’s marketing blurb/description what questions they have
about your book, if you need. That’ll give you a place to start.)
10 1-minute videos about your book, perhaps addressing one of the Q&A
topics in each one
Research websites and magazines that might be interested in your topic.
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Where are the people who need your writing hanging out? Where are they
already reading, studying, and –best of all – buying content, both online and
in person? Make a list of these potential traffic sources
Of these sites, find out where potential readers hang out most. Also decide
which of these sites most appeal to you. Where do you want to spend time?
Connect with people on these sites. Are they willing to publish an article?
Have you do a guest post on their blog?
Remember to reciprocate any help you receive.
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Send out press releases to local publications, which most likely will not be included
in your publisher’s marketing plan. Local newspapers and magazines look for such
items. It’s most effective to research who on their editorial staff is responsible for
such news rather than just sending it to a general email address. See an example
from Terri on page 3.
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Gather together a team of “influencers” (preferably spread out in different areas of
the country) who will do some of the following to help promote your book. On
pages 4-5 you will find an example that Terri sent her influencers with a list of
suggestions on what they could do, along with the note she enclosed when she sent
them a copy of the book.
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Come up with a freebie related to your book. Give it away to those who sign up for
your e-newsletter or blog posts as a way to stir interest in your book. Or give it away
as incentive to buy the book.
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Make printables related to your book (bookmarks, memory verse cards, manifestos,
etc.) as giveaways.
Create images/quotes/memes to share online. Here is a fantastic list of the top 20
web apps to create picture quotes and memes.
http://www.colourmyincome.com/2014/top-20-web-apps-to-create-picturequotes-and-meme-posters/
Get endorsements.
Make a video book trailer.
Brainstorm a gift basket with items related to your book to be given away during
launch week.
Organize a blog tour (See Redbud Book Launch Teams Template).
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