| No one launches a book in isolation. Not well, anyway. Launching a book is a team effort even more than producing it requires the help of others (beta readers, critiques, and a few rounds of careful editing). One of the essential parts of a successful book launch is a street team - a dedicated group of loyal supporters who are eager to tell their friends to buy your book. With this team of loyal message-spreaders, the news and importance of your book will spread farther than it ever could if you were just talking about it on your own. So how does one exactly GET people to actually DO that? |  |
I go into more detail in my Book Launch Method course, but here's pretty much what you need to know to put together your own Book Launch Street Team:
Who Will My Street Team, Be?
When you're ready to fling your newly published book out into the ether, hoping it lands in the hands of many adoring fans, here's what happens. You look up from the laptop, hoping to see that crowd of waiting throngs, only to see an emptier world than you have ever seen before.
Terror strikes your heart, and a deeper lonleiness than you've ever known seize you. Suddenly you're certain no one will ever know about your book and you will die an unknown, obscure writer.
Don't worry, it happens to us all.
But then you remember something. Out there, in the real world, beyond your stack of books and laptop keys, you DO know real humans. They know you and they like how you think and they care about the story you have to tell.
They care because it impacts them. It matters to them. It helps THEM.
And THESE are the people who will want to help you.
Because your story has helped them.
And they would love to bring that impact into the lives of people THEY know, too.
These real life people with whom you already have a relationship, these are the ones who will make up your street team, proudly telling others about the person and the message they already believe in; yours.
When to Assemble Your Team
Once your book is published, you're ready to assemble your book launch team.
If you're wondering why not sooner, we need to rabbit trail for a second here.
The process of bringing a manuscript to publication is much, much muuuuch longer than most authors think.
Even when the writing is done and the editing is done, there is still the illustrator, cover designer, and final formatting to do. Then there is the printer or, if you're uploading to Amazon yourself, there are a NUMBER of technological hang ups that can delay you by days or weeks. Even after all that, you may have ordered your own sample hard copy of your book from Amazon where you successfully uploaded it, only to discover that the book has a page missing or the title misspelled, or the printing layout caused the words on every right page to shift right to the edge of the paper.
Weird things happen.
Lots of them.
So don't make the mistake of assuming they won't happen to you. Get ALL your ducks lined up first. Finish the book. Publish the book. Hold that hard copy in your hand to confirm all is as it should be.
Once you've confirmed all is well, you're ready to start actively promoting it. Which means you're ready to gather your street team.
How to Assemble Your Team
Since your Book Launch Team will be made up of existing fans, scour your contacts - online and off - and list the names of those people and organizations who you know appreciate your story. Who has read your work? Been encouraged by your story? Thanked you for being you this way? Write their names down.
Then, before contacting them, consider what you want them to do, and what you're offering in return. Outline these expectations, complete with timelines,
What Your Team Will Do
You can host your team in different places and conduct their activity in different ways. We go into more detail in the course, but here are some options to get you started.
Your team can be assembled in a private Facebook group or you can connect with them individually through emails. Either way, what you're NOT forming is a community. Don't expect conversation to blossom between your fans. The point of this is to line them all up and send them out to their own friends, not for them to fashion new friendships.
What they'll do is something you can customize according to your needs and their availability, but here are some ideas:
Share pre-made social media posts you have created
You can ask your team to share your social media posts. There are a few good reasons to prepare posts - you get control over the message and consistency in the branding, plus it's easier for people click share than it is to come up with something clever to say, for starters. Plus, if they're sharing from your book or writer page, you get increased visibility and reach, which Facebook will reward you for by bumping your posts higher in your readers' feeds. It's an algorithm thing.
Take and share a pic of them with your book
Another social media option is to have your fans share a pic of them enjoying your book, and tell their readers why they would like it too. Remind them to include the Amazon link!
Leave a Review
If your fans only do ONE thing, make sure it's this one. To leave a legitimate Amazon review, they need to purchase the book through Amazon. They're fans, so they will gladly do this. Then, once they've read it (give them a time frame in which to do this), they can leave a review. These reviews are something you can celebrate out loud with your readers, to help convince them to buy the book too.
Have you ever had a team or been a part of one?
Challenge to Action: JOIN one! Become a super fan. Stalk the process. Take notes. Write down what you love, what you don't love. Then use that to piece together your own street team.
Who Will My Street Team, Be?
When you're ready to fling your newly published book out into the ether, hoping it lands in the hands of many adoring fans, here's what happens. You look up from the laptop, hoping to see that crowd of waiting throngs, only to see an emptier world than you have ever seen before.
Terror strikes your heart, and a deeper lonleiness than you've ever known seize you. Suddenly you're certain no one will ever know about your book and you will die an unknown, obscure writer.
Don't worry, it happens to us all.
But then you remember something. Out there, in the real world, beyond your stack of books and laptop keys, you DO know real humans. They know you and they like how you think and they care about the story you have to tell.
They care because it impacts them. It matters to them. It helps THEM.
And THESE are the people who will want to help you.
Because your story has helped them.
And they would love to bring that impact into the lives of people THEY know, too.
These real life people with whom you already have a relationship, these are the ones who will make up your street team, proudly telling others about the person and the message they already believe in; yours.
When to Assemble Your Team
Once your book is published, you're ready to assemble your book launch team.
If you're wondering why not sooner, we need to rabbit trail for a second here.
The process of bringing a manuscript to publication is much, much muuuuch longer than most authors think.
Even when the writing is done and the editing is done, there is still the illustrator, cover designer, and final formatting to do. Then there is the printer or, if you're uploading to Amazon yourself, there are a NUMBER of technological hang ups that can delay you by days or weeks. Even after all that, you may have ordered your own sample hard copy of your book from Amazon where you successfully uploaded it, only to discover that the book has a page missing or the title misspelled, or the printing layout caused the words on every right page to shift right to the edge of the paper.
Weird things happen.
Lots of them.
So don't make the mistake of assuming they won't happen to you. Get ALL your ducks lined up first. Finish the book. Publish the book. Hold that hard copy in your hand to confirm all is as it should be.
Once you've confirmed all is well, you're ready to start actively promoting it. Which means you're ready to gather your street team.
How to Assemble Your Team
Since your Book Launch Team will be made up of existing fans, scour your contacts - online and off - and list the names of those people and organizations who you know appreciate your story. Who has read your work? Been encouraged by your story? Thanked you for being you this way? Write their names down.
Then, before contacting them, consider what you want them to do, and what you're offering in return. Outline these expectations, complete with timelines,
What Your Team Will Do
You can host your team in different places and conduct their activity in different ways. We go into more detail in the course, but here are some options to get you started.
Your team can be assembled in a private Facebook group or you can connect with them individually through emails. Either way, what you're NOT forming is a community. Don't expect conversation to blossom between your fans. The point of this is to line them all up and send them out to their own friends, not for them to fashion new friendships.
What they'll do is something you can customize according to your needs and their availability, but here are some ideas:
Share pre-made social media posts you have created
You can ask your team to share your social media posts. There are a few good reasons to prepare posts - you get control over the message and consistency in the branding, plus it's easier for people click share than it is to come up with something clever to say, for starters. Plus, if they're sharing from your book or writer page, you get increased visibility and reach, which Facebook will reward you for by bumping your posts higher in your readers' feeds. It's an algorithm thing.
Take and share a pic of them with your book
Another social media option is to have your fans share a pic of them enjoying your book, and tell their readers why they would like it too. Remind them to include the Amazon link!
Leave a Review
If your fans only do ONE thing, make sure it's this one. To leave a legitimate Amazon review, they need to purchase the book through Amazon. They're fans, so they will gladly do this. Then, once they've read it (give them a time frame in which to do this), they can leave a review. These reviews are something you can celebrate out loud with your readers, to help convince them to buy the book too.
Have you ever had a team or been a part of one?
Challenge to Action: JOIN one! Become a super fan. Stalk the process. Take notes. Write down what you love, what you don't love. Then use that to piece together your own street team.
