For a self-published author, the period leading up to a book’s release is a prime opportunity to create awareness and drive momentum for your book. Establishing a launch team is a crucial element during this important phase. Your launch team, also known as a review team, street team or launch squad, is with you in the months and weeks leading up to the launch of your book. This team will support you by reading the Advanced Reader Copies and leaving reviews early. To get a better understanding of why a launch team is important, check out this article.
How to Build Your Launch Team
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll guide you through the steps of creating a winning launch team that will give your book the best opportunity for success.
And guess what? You’ve got an ally by your side. Booksprout’s review service is here to lend a helping hand throughout the journey. So, let’s get started!
Step 1: Defining Your Genre and Launch Goals
Before assembling your dream team, it’s important to have a clear understanding of your book’s genre. Your genre defines the type of book you are writing, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction. Are you crafting a captivating memoir, a thrilling historical romance, or an enchanting epic fantasy? Knowing your genre allows you to align your book with the right audience and identify successful authors and books in that genre. Additionally, as you build your launch team, your book cover should effectively convey the genre to your potential readers, sparking their interest and setting the right expectations.
With your genre defined you can move on to establishing your launch goals, and these launch goals will depend entirely on your genre.
You can set your launch goals by asking yourself what it is you want to achieve with your book launch. Is it increased sales, wider exposure, or building a loyal fan base? Are you looking to establish yourself as an authority in your field, or are you only focused on making a profit from your book sales?
Having a clear vision of these goals will guide you in where to find your ideal launch team members and how to approach them so that they join your team. With a more targeted launch team, you’ll be sure to get better engagement for your book.
Step 2: Identify Your Ideal Launch Team Members
Now that you know what you want to achieve, it’s time to find the perfect people to join your launch team. Your launch team members should look like your target audience for your book. They are people who enjoy reading books like yours. They are passionate about your genre, active in the book community, and genuinely eager to support your journey.
Get to know your target audience by searching for Facebook groups that discuss books like yours. Read the reviews of best-selling books in your genre and visit Instagram and TikTok for posts and comments from readers of similar books. Knowing your audience will help you shape how you speak to them on your different social media channels and in your newsletter.
Using Booksprout, you can easily create a Review Team and share that link to start building your team. When you launch review campaigns, your books will be listed in our Reader Area where our amazing group of thousands of readers will get to review them. You can then invite those reviewers that you love and trust to join your Booksprout Review Team so they have access to all your review copies. Readers will also be able to follow your pen names and get alerts whenever you release a new review copy.
Step 3: Create a Sense of Community
Building a launch team isn’t just about assembling a group of individuals; it’s about fostering a sense of community.
Encourage open communication by creating a dedicated space for team discussions, answering questions, sharing cover reveals and other exciting news about your book. Facebook or Discord groups work well for authors to provide regular updates about their books while keeping everyone engaged and excited. And once your book has launched, you can keep the momentum going by sharing news about your next project.
Step 4: Empower Your Launch Team
Your launch team is your greatest asset, so make sure they feel empowered and valued. Provide them with all the resources to help you succeed.
Authors with successful launch teams provide advance reader copies (ARCs) with plenty of time for the reviewers to read the book. They share exclusive content, like deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes insights. They also create pre-made social media posts that make it easy for readers to share.
Booksprout’s review service simplifies distributing ARCs to your launch team, with timely notifications and all the links where they can leave reviews. This makes leaving reviews and feedback easy for your launch team.
Step 5: Activate the Launch
It’s go time! Activate your launch team by setting a specific launch date and telling your team all about it. When setting up your book with Booksprout, you’ll be able to set the campaign date so that reviews are delivered by the time your book is released.
Through your own newsletter, reach out to your launch team and provide them with all the necessary information about your launch. Share the launch date, any special promotions or events surrounding the launch, and most importantly, express your gratitude for their support.
Encourage your team members to leave honest reviews within the first few days of your launch. Ask them to share their excitement on social media, and spread the word about your book.
Step 6: Thank your launch team
Make sure to thank your launch team for their help and support. Send a personal message or offer a shoutout on social media. Share individual reviews in newsletters and social posts.
This will help build a community of loyal readers and fans who will continue to support your work in the future. Remember, your launch team is your dedicated group of supporters who believe in your book and want to see it succeed. Activate their enthusiasm and harness their collective power to create a ripple effect of buzz and excitement around your launch. And throughout this process, don’t forget to utilize Booksprout’s review service to facilitate the gathering of honest reviews and engage with your launch team effectively. Together, you can make your book launch a resounding success.
Final Note
Congratulations! You now have the insider knowledge to create a successful book launch team. By defining your goals, identifying your target audience, creating a list of potential launch team members, providing resources and incentives, and encouraging reviews, you can build a team of loyal readers who will help promote your book and increase your sales. And by following these six steps and leveraging the power of Booksprout’s review service, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your publishing dreams.
Remember, building a launch team is not just about promoting your book; it’s about forming meaningful connections and creating a supportive network that will propel your self-publishing journey.
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