What To Do Before Your Book Launch

^[1]Therese here to introduce a book authors have needed for a long time: What To Do Before the Book Launch ^[2] by authors M.J. Rose and Randy Susan Meyers. I was given a copy of this to preview months back, and was thrilled to provide an endorsement:

Dripping with the wisdom authors gain after years of experience but wish they’d had from moment one. If you want to move from book deal to debut in the best of all ways, this book will tell you how to do it—and how not to do it. It is positively packed with essential advice. Highly recommended.
—Therese Walsh, co-founder of Writer Unboxed, author of The Last Will of Moira Leahy

I’m so pleased to have M.J. with us today to tell you more about the book and share an excerpt. Enjoy!

What To Do Before Your Book Launch

What to expect when you’re expecting your book? What’s going to happen first, and second, and third?

Randy Susan Meyers ^[3] (a wonderful novelist and amazing friend) and I have written a book ^[4]. Every thing we’ve learned – most of it the hard way. (Watch the video here.) ^[5]

I’ve had twelve fiction book launches. I have made terrible terrible mistakes with every one. My big takeaway after all these years is I need clones! Short of that – I need a “to do” list.

This book is our to-do list.

Included are chapters on author websites, blogs & author photos, publicity & marketing, book & author positioning book trailers, launch parties & public presentations, manners for authors, consolation for bad reviews, a timeline for the year before publication. worksheets for social media and writers on the craft & business of writing. Plus some other helpful (hopefully) advice and cautionary tales.

Here is an excerpt.

Ultimately, we   all   have   to   realize   this   basic   truth: ^[1]
If   writers   don’t   write,   publishers   have   nothing   to   publish.   And   if   they   don’t   publish,   they   don’t   have   a   business   and   we   don’t   have   a   career.  They   can’t   do   it   without   us,   and   we   can’t   do   it   without   them.

“Without   the   fruits   of   your   labor,   none   of   us   would   have   jobs,”   said   agent   Lisa   Bankoff.   “I’d   have   no   deals   to   commission,   editors   would   have   time   to   do   nothing   but   refine   their   own   prose,   and   the   legion   of   promotion,   marketing,   publicity   and   sales   people   would   be   forced   to   invest   their   energies   in   other   pursuits.”

The   editor   and   the   agent,   Bankoff   said,   are   on   a   shared   quest   and   it’s   one   only   the   writer   can   satisfy.   But   too   often   what   should   be   a   partnership   is   not   treated   as   such. It   begins   with   the   very   way   that   authors   communicate   (or   don’t   communicate)   with   their   publishers:   an   author   deals   with   an   agent   who   deals   with   an   editor.   The   editor   deals   with   the   rest   of   the   house   and   then   reports   back   to   the   agent   with   business   matters   or   the   author   with   editorial   concerns. The channels are not very clear.

Editor John Glusman suggests   that   an   author   rely   on   his   or   her   agent   to   make   this   process   go   more   smoothly. “It’s   a   big   universe   with   a   lot   of   different   players   in   it,”   he   said.   “The   process   itself   is   fairly   simple   but   there   is   a   lot   of   competition   and   every   author   feels   it.   An   author’s   agent   should   be   his   or   her   champion,   run   interference   and   get   involved   when   there   are   issues.”

Amy   Bloom   (Normal:   Transsexual   CEOs,   Crossdressing   Cops,   and   Hermaphrodites  With  Attitude)   suggests   we   not   be   fooled   by   the   nice   stuff   that   precedes   signing   a   contract   and   that   we   should   proceed   through   the   publishing   process   with   the   right   attitude.   “One   can   be   appreciative   without   being   subservient.   Objectively   this   is   a   business   and   publishers   are   not   our   parents   or   our   friends,   we   sell   them   our   goods   and   they   pay   for   them.   We   all   need   to   concentrate   on   doing   business   in   a   positive   and   supportive   way.   In   a   way   that   does   not   cause   pain.

Whoever   you   talk   to,   authors,   publishers   or   agents,   every-one   agrees.   It   all   depends   on   the   agent:   you   must   have   an   agent   you   trust.

Learn more about What To Do Before Your Book Launch–and order–on its dedicated web page here ^[2].