What to Do After Your Book Is Released
Recently we were talking about what to do before your book goes live, and how to leverage that pre-launch sweet spot to gain momentum for your book. If you haven’t read that yet, go check it out! There are lots of great ideas in there about how to take advantage of your pre-launch phase to make your book launch a greater success.
Related: How to Utilize a Pre-Launch Strategy
But what happens after launch? If you’ve been here awhile you know that book launch is not the finish line. It can feel like it after months (or years) of writing, editing, rewriting, and then learning the self-publishing ropes. But your launch is actually just the beginning. And, launching a book is a marathon not a sprint. In other words, if you focus too much on launch week you are going to miss out on strategies that increase sales beyond that small window of time.
Think of the weeks and months after launch as your post-launch runway — the time when consistent, strategic actions in attainable bite-sized chunks keeps your book visible.
Here are five things you can do during your post-launch:
1. Gather and Leverage Early Reviews
I know, we talk about book reviews (especially Amazon customer reviews) way too much. But that’s because they are really that important. You’re book’s customer reviews are its social proof, and reassure potential readers that your book is worth their time. Reviews also help the algorithms recommend it to more people.
So getting Amazon customer reviews should be your early launch strategy but should also be something you chip away at every single month.
You can start by reaching out to your early readers, launch team, friends and family, and newsletter subscribers with a simple request to please leave a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Not everyone will follow through, so ask a lot and ask often.
Once those reviews start rolling in, put them to work:
- Add short quotes to your website and social posts.
- Add an editorial review section on Amazon through your Amazon Author Central Account
- Feature them in your Amazon A+ content
- Add them to your media kit
2. Engage Local and Niche Media
A lot of people want to start booking podcast interviews and lining up press before their book goes live, but it’s actually easier to do this during the post launch. Having a published book lends some credibility to your pitch.
While you’re figuring out who to pitch yourself to, don’t overlook your local media. They are the ones most likely to run a press release or agree to an interview about your recently published book. And, once you land that first legitimate interview you can use that to leverage more.
3. Experiment With Promotions
Sales naturally dip after launch. Once all of your book launch team and early fans have purchased a copy, you are bound to see a lull in sales. But now is the time to experiment with promotions, especially if you have customer reviews and sales rankings on your side.
It’s a good idea to have a reasonable budget in mind for promotions, and to keep your expectations in check. Promotions are experimental at best and won’t always lead to sales, or enough sales to cover your costs. But they can generate other things like word of mouth, new reviews, or other opportunities to monetize your book.
Some promotions to consider include:
- Running a limited-time Kindle promotion or BookBub Featured Deal.
- Partnering with another author in your genre for a shared giveaway or newsletter swap.
- Purchasing some ad stacks from Written Word Media
- Lining up a Virtual Book Tour
- Tying your book to seasonal themes or events (“The perfect summer beach read” or “A thoughtful gift for new graduates”).
- Experimenting with Amazon ads
Related: What to do After your Book Goes Live on Amazon
4. Strengthen Your Author Platform
While promotions are usually short-term campaigns whose purpose is to give your book a shot in the arm, platform building is a long game. It’s slow and methodical and should never take a back burner to promotions.
Keep platform building at the forefront of your post-launch strategy. This means:
- Updating your website with press mentions, testimonials, and photos from your launch.
- Refreshing your social media bios to reflect that you’re a published author.
- Adding a lead magnet (like a free chapter or discussion guide) to grow your email list.
- Creating a consistent content plan for your blog, newsletter and social media
5. Write Your Next Book
It is really hard to build a following or have any success as an independent author when you only have one book. Now, some authors truly only have one book in them, and that is fine. But if your goal is to be an author who sells books then one strategy you can’t overlook is to write more books. Make sure your post launch strategy includes writing your next book, and then taking what you learned from your last launch and applying it to your next.
Jot down notes while everything’s still fresh — from ad performance to outreach wins. Your future self (and next book) will thank you.
Remember, book marketing is cumulative. Every book builds your audience, your credibility, and your confidence.
