Unlocking the Potential of Booksprout’s Free Plan

For many of us venturing into a new genre, debuting under a new pen name or writing our first book ever, finding early readers to review your book is a key early step. Successful authors say that the key to success lies in assembling review teams well before our book’s launch. 

Now consider the interim – that period when your book is still in the editing phase or undergoing formatting. This time shouldn’t be underestimated, as it offers a golden opportunity to find those early reviewers. It’s here that Booksprout’s free plan can help self-published authors get ahead. Let’s explore how this plan can turn the ‘waiting time’ into ‘preparing time.’

Laying the Groundwork

First, the free plan on Booksprout isn’t designed to gather reviews directly, as there’s no way to run a review campaign. This plan is only designed to get you ready to launch a review campaign or maintain your account in between releases. And in this way, the free plan offers you a valuable learning opportunity. By familiarizing yourself with the necessary setup for a review campaign ahead of time, you’re empowered to make well-informed decisions. This no-cost phase allows you to navigate into the platform’s features, so that you can plan your future campaigns. As you explore the options, take this time to learn and strategize.

Key Features of the Free Plan

These are the four simple, but helpful things you can do with the Booksprout plan before launching your new book: 

1. Setting up your Account and Creating a Pen Name 
2. Creating a Book
3. Building a Following
4. Linking to Multiple Review Platforms 

Knowing that reviews provide social proof, influence reader decisions, and can affect your book’s visibility on various platforms, it’s crucial to plan how you’re going to get reviews well before you’re ready to collect them. 

Let’s take a closer look at each of the four key initiatives you can accomplish through the free plan: 

Step 1: Setting up your Account and Creating a Pen Name 

This first step is pretty straightforward, but depending on where you are in your author journey, this could be the very first time you’ve thought about establishing your new pen name. When you publish this new body of work, will you use your name, a name other than your own, or create a brand-new pen name because you’re writing in a new genre? Authors have multiple reasons for using pen names. Many times when authors set up a new pen name with Booksprout, it is the very first online account they have with the new pen name. This is how you begin to build the identity you need to grow your author brand.

Step 2: Creating a Book

On the free plan, you can input all the information about your new book and even upload the files if they’re ready. This is where you’ll input the title, description, upload the cover image, set the release date, identify if it’s in a series or not, establish the genre, upload the book files, etc.

Although all of this may seem simple, setting each element up so it’s ready to go when you’re launching isn’t. It’s better to know what is needed with plenty of time ahead of you. Planning ahead is especially useful if something needs to be edited, adapted or reformatted.

Step 3: Building a Following

This is the biggest and most useful step from Booksprout’s free plan, which is to build a following. Once you’ve created your pen name, share it with your readers! Pen name followers get notified by email whenever you launch a review campaign, which is the best way to get people to pick up your book.

Here’s a quick look at just of the few authors that have built a large pen name following on Booksprout:

Building Your Following Before Your Book Is Even Edited

One of the most strategic moves you can make as an indie author is to build your following before your book is complete and ready for the shelves. With the free plan, you’ll generate a link to invite readers to follow your pen name. This is the start of forming a community of engaged readers who are interested in your work and willing to support your journey. 

Social Media and Audience Building

Social media is your friend in this early stage of audience building. You can share your pen name link on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, where you can connect with potential readers. Look for reader groups and hashtags related to books in your genre. And if you’re not used to posting on social media, then just pick one or two platforms that you are the most comfortable being active on. Don’t feel you have to post on them all. This is another way of giving your soon-to-be “fans” a way to stay in touch with you.

By posting updates about your writing process, sharing snippets of your book, or engaging in conversations about your genre, you can pique the interest of readers and draw them into your world. This early engagement not only builds anticipation, but also ensures that you have a group of readers ready to review your book as soon as it launches.

For additional insights on building a robust and supportive launch team, be sure to check out our article: Harnessing the Power of Community: How to Build an Engaged and Supportive Launch Team.

Step 4: Linking to Multiple Review Platforms

Booksprout’s free plan gives you a crystal ball into your publishing strategy because you’ll be able to plan and prepare for where you’ll be publishing your work, including audiobooks! There are so many places where you can self-publish, and the list just keeps on growing. Be sure to make the most of the months before the launch to evaluate all the platforms at your disposal, like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and more. 

For more insight on this, read our detailed guide: Choosing the Right Digital Platform: A Guide to The Big Five in Self-Publishing

Setting Up Preorders

If your book is still with the editor, you won’t be ready to publish just yet. But you can still create the links to your book’s platforms by setting up preorders. Setting up preorders and crafting compelling sales pages is an essential part of the publishing process, and an important step to get right. Preorders not only build anticipation among your potential readers but also give you a clear timeline for your marketing and review strategies. 

With Booksprout, you can start building your review team and plan your review strategy in alignment with your preorder schedule.

Planning Ahead for Success

With these simple, yet effective four steps in the free plan—establishing a pen name, creating your book, building your following and linking to multiple review platforms—you set the stage for a successful launch. This plan not only allows you to manage your resources effectively, but also helps start the process of forming a community around your work. Leveraging the power of early engagement and strategic planning, get ready to transform your ‘waiting time’ into a period of active preparation, setting the foundation for your book to thrive in the competitive world of self-publishing.