When to Shift from Promoting One Book to the Next
Avoiding Tug of War Between Two Book Campaigns
On Friday, November 30 from 5-7pm at the Rail Pub, I’ll be doing a book signing and passing out paperbacks to my Kickstarter backers (plus have some extras on hand for anyone interested in purchasing a signed copy). We’re also going to recreate the pub crawl(s) that the characters go on, dropping off books to the restaurants and bars mentioned along the way before returning to The Rail for end-of-night shenanigans.
This belated book launch party is bittersweet because it marks the end of the “big push” for Couple Friends. I’ll be shifting my focus to my next book in December. While I won’t ever abandon Couple Friends entirely, it will no longer be my primary focus. The hope, of course, is that as I’m spreading the word about my next book, people will go check out my previous work and Couple Friends will receive some love that way. Yet, my next book is going to be a nonfiction title about social media, so it will not be attracting the same target audience (of course, I’ll have my fingers crossed for overlap!). Plus, I’ll be editing away at Keepsakes (another women’s fiction title) and hope to have it out in early 2013.
I’ve basically been promoting this book since May 1 when I launched my Kickstarter campaign and had to send out nearly daily messages through one channel or another to ensure I reached my funding goal. Six months of promotion has taught me A LOT, and I am ready to fix some of the mistakes I made during my next book’s campaign. Biggest one? Having testimonials and reviews available to the public BEFORE publishing.
It’s actually pretty fitting that November 30 is the last day of my “official” promotion period for Couple Friends because I wrote the novel version during last year’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month held worldwide every November). It’s been a CRAZY year in mostly good ways, and I am excited to work on novel #3 during this year’s NaNoWriMo. (Anyone else joining along?).
While I wish I could continue to shout from the rooftops about my first book, it’s time to let go a little and let it fly, much like a mother has to stop hovering when their teenager reaches a certain age. You have to trust that you’ve built a strong enough foundation that they’ll make you proud.
