Finding Champions for Your Book

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A winning team has dedicated fans. A successful candidate has loyal supporters. Artists and museums have influential patrons. No one flourishes alone. You and your book will not be exceptions to this rule. You will need champions who will promote your book within their circle of influence, open doors for interviews and speaking engagements, and remain loyal fans when you release your next book.

Let’s consider some of the qualities that make an ideal champion:

Dedicated: You will find a great champion for your book in a person who is dedicated. Publishing and marketing a book is a long process. Six months before the book is available, Amazon and other bookstores with an online presence will make the book available for pre-release order. A dedicated champion is someone whose interest in your book will last from reading an early manuscript to attending a book release party. It’s great to have all kinds of people interested in your book, even those who will only join you for part of the publishing journey. However, your inner circle as an author should be populated with people who have a reputation for following through on their commitments, finishing the projects they start, and sustaining interest in your topic for many years.

Loyal: Writing a book is an exciting process. Many people will enjoy knowing someone who is a published author. Who knows if they will appear in the book dedication, inspire a character within the story, or benefit in their chosen career from knowing an expert on the subject of your book (you)? Again, it’s great to have all kinds of people interested in your book, even those whose interest in your book may arise from dubious motivations. However, if you are to succeed as an author, you will need to sort out the loyal champions of your book from those who will be quick to jump to the next project that promises more rewards. Include everyone in your publishing process if you can, but invest in those who have demonstrated loyalty to you in the past.

Influential: A dedicated and loyal friend is a priceless treasure. However, when you search for potential champions for your book, you will need to look for someone who is influential as well. Influencers exist in many different spheres, and a person influential in one setting may not be influential in others. A person influential within his or her field who knows top leaders within an organization may lack an online presence. A person in the early stages of his or her career may have gathered a great social media following. Both the senior leader with contacts in the field but a negligible online presence and the upcoming leader with the great social media following are influencers. You need all kinds of influencers. Look for potential champions for your book at various stages of career development. Show appreciation for the young blogger along with the radio host, the conference organizer, and the bookstore owner.

How do you spot a potential champion for your book?

Seven Reasons to Build a Launch Team

Image/WordsthatChangeEverything_quote09When I first considered building a Facebook Launch Team for my Words That Change Everything book launch, I had hoped to enlist a few other writers or bloggers. And after participating in several other launch teams, I had many great ideas from thos experiences.

Although several seasoned writer and blogger friends volunteered to help, some non-writer friends and relatives asked to joined my book launch team.

I received them with open arms. And they have been a tremendous blessing during the book launch process.

You may ask, “Can people with little or no clout online be an asset to my launch team?”BookCover/WordsThatChangeEverything

Yes! You bet! Below I’ve listed seven reasons why I believe my Words That Change Everything Launch Team worked.

  1. Everyone has a tribe. Even my youngest grandson Ben has his tribe of young friends. And although Ben isn’t online yet, when Ben talks, people listen!
  2. Friends and Family. Your friends and family care about your success. And if they volunteer, they will be passionate about supporting your project.
  3. BookCover/RESTNotesGiveaways. Freebies go a long way! For my book launch, I offered RESTNotes: 15-Day Devotional Guide to Words That Change Everything. My tribe embraced this eBook with excitement and gratitude.
  4. Shareable images also proved to be a hit. The marketing team at Leafwood publishing provided awesome shareable images with quotes from my book. And I also made a few images to share with readers, using some of my own photos.
  5. Free books! I also expressed my appreciation to my launch team by sending them a gift of my book, Words That Change Everything.
  6. Facebook posts. My team was thrilled with their signed copy of my book. And many of them posted pictures of my book cover on their social networks, stirring some interest with their online friends.
  7. Prayers. Some of the most valuable resources of my launch team proved to be their prayer support, encouraging words, and honest feedback.

Do you have a book launch coming up? I hope you’ll consider building a launch team on Facebook. It worked for me!

What strategies have worked for you in your book launches?
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