Five Thoughts on Launching Fiction

Patience is a Virtue

You’ve just published your book on Amazon and you’re getting nervous. You’ve read all the tips from the self-help gurus. You need to be out there connecting with your audience. Promoting, selling, and marketing. You’ve sent off an announcement to your list of 250 friends and associates. Posted on Facebook. Asked friends to share the link. You’ve heard most books barely break 250 in sales. Heck – at this moment in time – you’d do a jig if you could get to 250.

Don’t Give Up

Hey – you’re finally on your way. You’ve done the really hard work. Remember when you’d walk into a library and look around at all the books. Or when you cruised through Barnes & Noble and thought it was all so hopeless. Well it isn’t. You did it. And even though you still feel stressed about getting the book out there, there is good news. You did do it. Yeah for you.

So, as you face the next few months, remember this:

1. There is no deadline for marketing. As long as the book is available in print, and you remain alive, that’s how long you have to get that book in front of a reading audience. Don’t feel pressured by all the gurus circling asking for money to promote your baby. Instead, take a calm, thoughtful approach. You didn’t write the book in a day – you won’t be selling it in a day. Hire only true experts to help you. If you’re unsure of who is legit, ask your writer friends for recommendations. And understand that what might work for one person, might not work for you. Trial and error is the key.

2. Social media is a great way to build an audience, but it takes time. It can be frustrating to spend time on social media in an effort to build an audience that seems impossible to find. How can you know what to offer readers when you don’t know who your readers are? Take a pause. Experts say it can take up to three years to build an audience. You will find them. Just like that book that you’ve just written took time to develop, understand that social media requires the same steady commitment. You will connect with your audience. It just takes tenacity and persistence.

3. Work on writing your next book. This probably seems like an awful lot of pressure, but it will help calm you to stick to a regular writing schedule. Avoid, at all costs, flipping back and forth between social media, your emails, and writing your next book. It’s terribly distracting and will ruin your concentration. Instead, divide up the day into a reasonable schedule that allows you to focus on one thing at a time.

4. Breathe and enjoy the moment. It’s hard to be in the moment when you feel pressed about the future – and what you need to accomplish tomorrow. Try not to miss the time that you have with your new book. Enjoy the excitement of the launch. The time is brief and to be savored.

5. Be realistic. Not everyone is going to like your book. And even negative feedback is good feedback. Listen and be able to separate judgement from constructive criticism. Judgement – dismiss. Constructive comments – think about. It’s probably the best feedback to improving at your craft.