5 Things I Learned from My Book Launch
5 Lessons I Learned From My Book Launch
Self-publishing a book is a daunting but fulfilling project for anyone to undertake. I recently launched my young adult science fiction book, Vicious Circle, back in October 2023, and there’s a few things I’ve learned along the way that I hope will be helpful for someone on their journey to publishing.
Take your time: You’ll need more of it than you think!
This might sound counterintuitive to some, since isn’t the point of wanting to publish a book to hurry up, write the book and get it published? Well, I had an 18-month plan to gradually promote the book, but the backend stuff proved to be a little more involved than expected.
I had a bad experience with an editor which set me back a whole two months. Formatting the book took about 3 months. Using Ingramspark meant it took a 3 more weeks for the proof copies to come in and then I realized I had a few typos and formatting mishaps that required more time (and money) to fix.
If I could do it all over, I wish I had done all of the editing and formatting and stuff BEFORE setting a date in mind that was a year out in advance.
Save up more than you think you need.
Here’s a breakdown of the expenses related to launching the book:
setting up an LLC and business bank account and maintaining it over the years leading up to the book launch cost about $1500
I have 3 websites associated with my creative projects and the book: author website, book website and company website (because eventually I’d like to provide publishing and filmmaking services to aspirational authors) and every year the domains and website hosting, which comes with e-commerce and marketing features costs about $1000
Hiring an editor and beta readers cost about $1000
Graphic design cost about $700 (although she did a phenomenal job and there were several iterations of the book cover so I wish I could have paid her more)
The ISBNs cost about $300 for a pack of 10 (which means I have enough for 2 other books to be published in ebook, paperback and hardback before I have to buy another pack)
Setting up the books in Ingramspark and buying proof copies for the paperback and hardback versions for me and a friend who helped proofread cost $200
Buying copies for the book launch cost $300 (I did run a pre-order campaign which helped, but I only had enough for those who pre-ordered through me and lost potential sales because of it)
I was very lucky in that I didn’t have to pay anything for the venue or food for the book launch because those were donated by my coworkers. I did pay another $75 or so for decorations.
So, as you can see, I haven’t broken even yet on the book. I calculated it and it will take about 15,000 copies sold to break even. When the average number of books sold in a self-published book’s lifetime is 300 copies, this doesn’t necessarily bode well. But, most self-published authors only sell to their immediate community and I have a few more takeaways that are the reason I have optimism that the Vicious Circle series will still generate income for me.
Your circle of influence is probably bigger than you think
I didn’t talk about Vicious Circle nearly enough in the months leading up to the actual book launch. It felt selfish and I felt like a broken record, afraid I would annoy people who followed me on social media by talking about it too much. Well, in the weeks that followed, I had lots of people approach me or message me saying “I didn’t know you wrote a book! Where can I get one?”.
I realized that just because I posted about it, didn’t mean everyone saw it.
So a month later, I had about 100 copies of Vicious Circle sold because of people asking for it after the fact! I’m already 1/3 of the way to beating the odds and I have barely spent any advertising dollars (which I will eventually need to, but I’ll post about my digital marketing strategy in a later post).
Publishing the book is the beginning, not the end
I have said it for years: being an author means becoming an entrepreneur. Publishing the book is the beginning of the journey, not the end. You have a lifetime to support that brainchild of yours which may grow into something much bigger than yourself.
You have to have a long-term mindset to be successful as a career writer. Every step forward is progress. Every story can build upon the last. Perfection isn’t necessarily the goal, quality is. Marketability, sure. Artistic expression, of course. The work can find it’s audience if you help it find its’ audience.
Take time to enjoy the moment!
More than anything, make sure you take time to enjoy this milestone in your life! . A book launch is like a baby shower for your brainchild. You’ve spent years dedicated to writing this story and you rightfully should feel proud about it! Soak it up, celebrate the accomplishment!
I hope these lessons I’ve learned are somewhat encouraging or at the very least provide some insight. Where are you on your publishing journey? Is there anything you’d be interested in learning more about?
Until Next Time,
Rochele