by Blythe Daniel @ByltheDaniel
Will you join my launch team? We hear this phrase and we ask it ourselves. It can feel like we’re asking something very weighted and vulnerable.. and yet, it can be hard to ask others to help us promote our book when it’s go time.
Here’s what I’ve learned as both an author and a literary agent encouraging others to gather support for launch.
People may see what you’re doing but they don’t feel a part until you ask them to engage. So let’s ask!
To me, it’s like getting an invitation in your Inbox to attend a party rather than just hearing about it or seeing that someone is planning a gathering. A “save the date” card but related to a book launch!
Beyond the question of asking to join a launch team, there are several follow-up responses:
- Would you consider including my book in an upcoming e-mail to your subscribers? I could even create an interview with you with my top questions and answers! Or excerpt a portion of my book to share with your subscribers.
- How do you feel about doing a giveaway on social media? I can provide a few copies for you if you’d like to do so!
- If I were to offer some freebies to your audience (on social media, your blog/website, or podcast), would you be interested in sharing my book?
- Would you be willing to link to my social media if I provide graphics I know your audience likes that includes my book?
- Do you feel like you could leave a retailer review for the book?
There are a number of ways to get creative and ask your friends to help support you during the launch of your book.
The problem is that many of us don’t like to ask. We feel that we are asking too much to an already busy person, adding more to someone’s Inbox, or that the person probably isn’t interested. It’s almost like hoping you get to attend a fun party but then saying, “I don’t really want to go.”
Why do we do this to ourselves? We may be afraid of rejection. Or we may genuinely feel like “You don’t really want to help, do you?” thereby already making up the person’s mind for them that they don’t really want to help!
Just remember: these are friends that will likely ask you to support them and you’re going to want to say “yes” because you know what it feels like to ask for help.
So let’s be bold, brave and ask – and then return the favor of launching their book when it’s time!
This is a “give and give” relationship, not a “give or take.” Let’s remember that we all need a boost when it comes to promoting our books. And we genuinely want to be there for each other in some way. We’ve just got to get over whatever we feel is holding us back from asking.
I’ve found that people genuinely do want to offer something even if it’s not to be on your launch team. But in some way participate in a launch function. This is where your creativity comes into play. If a person wants to offer something but they’re launching their own book or are just really busy, you can ask if they would do one of the lower committed areas and then say, “I’d be glad for you to go ahead and sign me up to do this for you.”
When a person’s launch comes before or right at the same time as yours, you may feel that they will get the better end of the deal because of the timing. But there is room for all of the books because they have different authors and different, distinguishing messages.
There is always room at the table of promotion. One place setting might look like contemporary women’s fiction. Another place setting might be a devotional. And another still might be a Christian Living book. All offer something different for those who pull up a chair, and we come together at the table to sit, enjoy each other, and celebrate the hard work we’ve put into our books.
Who will you invite to your table? How will you help them launch in return? May we learn to invest well in others and genuinely learn to ask and expect others to help us. After all, we belong to a writer’s community and it’s our job to commune. So what are we waiting for? Let’s get our invitations ready to go!
Blythe Daniel is a literary agent and marketer and has been in publishing for over 20 years. She has written for Proverbs 31 Ministries, Focus on the Family, Ann Voskamp, and Christian Retailing. She and her mother Dr. Helen McIntosh are the authors of Mended: Restoring the Hearts of Mothers and Daughters (Harvest House Publishers).
No Comments