If you want to launch a bestselling book on Amazon it’s time to invest in building a stellar book launch team. Your team will receive an early bird copy of the book, read through it, and write an honest review to be posted when the book is live. But a launch team can be much more effective in ways we will look at in this post.
I will walk you through the steps for building, guiding, and managing your book launch team. If you follow this system, you will be investing in the most critical part of your book launch: setting your book up for the long-term success it deserves.
Launch team: what you will learn
- What does it mean to be on a book launch team?
- How many people should be on your book launch team?
- How to create a launch team for your book?
- What is involved in a book launch?
- 6 Common mistakes to avoid
- Master checklist
What does it mean to be on a book launch team?
Joining a launch team means joining a group of people who set an author up for success when their book launches. Understanding what it means to be on a launch team is crucial, as it helps you, the author, know how to best communicate with your team.
Your launch team can be fans of your previous work, readers of your blog, friends who want to support you, or the members in your mastermind group. Ideally, they are a combination of the above.
The launch team has a massive impact on not only the success of your launch but the long-term success of the book. They are a group of people who are passionate about your book, your brand, and they want you to succeed as much as you do.
Your job as the author is to guide your team to take action both before the book is launched and then during the launch window.
Why do you need a launch team?
Launch team members will help ensure you have a strong launch. They give reviews during the launch and help you get downloads for your book. If you have a weak launch, you have weak book sales and you’ll forever struggle to drive traffic toward your book.
Your launch team will read the book before anyone else and prepare an honest review, which they will post during launch week. Amazon favors books with review activity. The more reviews you get, the higher your book moves in the rankings, and the faster Amazon will promote it under the “books you also might like” section.
Reviews also sell books. If you manage to get twenty to thirty reviews in the first week, this creates serious momentum for your book rankings. Reviews act as the best type of social proof. They show that people are reading and interested in your content.
The bottom line: Reviews convince browsers to buy. The more readers who buy, the better your chances of joining self-publishing success stories.
How many people should be on your book launch team?
When it comes to launch team members joining your team, it isn’t about the numbers. It is the quality of the team. It is much better to have forty people who are committed than 200 that just sign up and don’t do anything.
I suggest you make a list of twenty to thirty people you can contact directly. These can be business contacts, online relationships, or subscribers to your email list. This list functions as your core team, what I call your level 1 launch team.
This level is made up of those who are the most committed to your launch. Perhaps they joined a previous launch you had and now they want to sign up for this one as well. (If you don’t have an email list yet, learn how to build an author website and start your list today.)
How to create a launch team for your book?
There are four strategies you can follow to build a quality team that is committed to launching your book to bestseller status. Like Amy Porterfield, you want your launch team to be involved and take action.
To ensure they do so, try implementing these tactics.
- Reach out to people personally. By contacting people you know on a personal basis you gain a solid commitment and can collect their personal email.
- Create an application form process. This creates a barrier to entry. The people who are serious players will fill out and commit. In the application process, let the potential member know what is expected and what they will be responsible for. The application process creates accountability and exclusive access to the launch team material.
- Invite people you previously worked with and trust, such as podcasters, bloggers and influencers, to help you with the launch.
- Create a team of committed reviewers and promoters to set the launch on fire when it takes off.
Knowing where to reach out can be a challenge if you don’t have much of a following or have never launched a book before. Let’s assume that this is your first launch and you are looking for people to join your launch team. Here are some starting points.
Post to your Facebook/social media platforms/mastermind groups
This is where you can gather a lot of your level 2 launch team members. If you are going for a large launch team, this would be the next phase. If you want to keep it more personal and limit the number of people, just follow through with the first step and leave it at that.
Keep in mind, with your level 2 team, you could get anywhere from twenty to 200 people sign up. The reason we call it level 2 is that many of the people joining may not know you personally. They simply have an interest in your book.
The question is, how committed are they to following through? It is just a fact that not everyone on your team is going to follow through. Maybe they didn’t like the book, they had no time to read it, or, they were uncertain what to do during the launch. There is the possibility that they won’t leave a review for whatever reasons.
This is why we have to be clear with our team as to:
- What actions to take
- When to take the action
- How to implement the action plan
The best you can do is encourage people throughout the launch and keep the momentum going. This is where team incentives and providing value will deliver in the end. When people feel as if they are a part of something important, they are more likely to follow through.
Team incentives: what to offer?
By adding incentives you can give to your launch team, you increase the commitment of your team. Decide what incentives will make them feel like a valued member of the team.
For example, Kevin Kruse offered up a bundle of incentives to his launch team when he published 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management. Some of these perks included membership into a mastermind group on Facebook and an exclusive “ask me anything” webinar before the launch.
Likewise, Michael Hyatt, when he launched Living Forward, offered launch members an exclusive look into how the book launch was structured as well as access to a special thirty-minute group phone session with him prior to launching the book.
So, consider offering your team:
- The digital version of the book way before anyone else sees it. This can be in PDF or Mobi file. For creating a PDF or mobi file of the book, check out the free calibre software.
- A free hardcopy of the book delivered right to their door.
- A free webinar or a facebook Live Q&A session: you can engage with your team by hosting a live webinar where you talk about the book, get into behind-the-scenes strategies of the launch, and share insider tactics.
- Exclusive access to a private Facebook group. Here you can post videos, share posts, and converse with your team in real time.
- Free training videos based on the content of your book.
- Additional freebies that you want to share with your team.
- An advance copy of a workbook that you will offer to subscribers.
- Early access to course material that won’t be available until the book is launched.
The goal is to provide your team with value so they know they are part of something important. This will increase the level of commitment during launch week.
What is involved in a book launch?
Reading and reviewing your book are crucial components to a successful launch. However, there is also something I call “the big ask” that is a vital element as well.
The big ask is when you are upfront with the team about what is expected during the launch. What actions are you asking them to do? On what days will they take these actions?
Remember: The success of your launch plan is critical, and the launch team is the all-important component to making it happen.
Step one: What to ask of your team
Expectations should be made clear from the beginning. When you put up a post for early bird readers, let them know that taking action is a must. This is the big ask and what you will expect from the team if they are selected to join your launch.
Here is what you could ask of your launch team:
- Read the book before the launch day. Provide feedback if they pick up on such as formatting problems, misspellings, etc…
- Write up an honest review of the book and post it during launch week.
- Share word of the launch through your social platforms, mentioning the book in a weekly blog post, and starting a discussion about the book in chat forums. This could also include posts on X, Facebook, or even posting the cover to Pinterest and Instagram.
- Share promotional ideas within the launch group. This is where a Facebook group would come in. Members can easily post ideas and swap strategies for promoting the book.
- Take a photo of you holding up a copy of the paperback. This would require that the paperback be ready in advance to send to select team members so they have time to take the photo before launch.
Provide your team with a list of action strategies they can take during launch week. Let them choose what strategies they like and fit into their schedule.
You can encourage the team by adding a points system. The members who take action and complete each promotional strategy earn a number of points. This could lead to receiving even more freebies.
Step two: Organizing your team communication portals
Now that you have your team together with emails, you have set the expectations, and outlined the launch plan, you have to decide how you will communicate with your team. People need to feel connected to you during the launch or else they lose interest. Set up your method of communication and invite everyone in.
Email Campaign
Set up at least six to ten emails to be delivered throughout the launch. You can add your team emails to a campaign in your email service provider such as Mailchimp, Mailerlite, Flodesk, or Convert Kit. You can set up email autoresponders to go out on certain dates, or customize your emails as you go.
One question that comes up often is, “How many emails do I send out, how often and what should the content look like?” Once again, if you are running a Facebook group and using that as your main source of communication, I still recommend you have a set of emails set up to be delivered throughout the launch.
I send out an email every second day. Here is a breakdown of what these emails would look like:
- Email #1: A welcome email that includes an intro to the team and the PDF of the book.
- Email #2: How is the book reading? General overview of the launch plan.
- Email #3: 5 days before launch, include a video of how to leave a review on Amazon
- Email #4: The day before launch—are you ready?
- Email #5: LAUNCH DAY! It is time to take action.
- Email #6: Review reminder and an update on book status and current ranking.
- Email #7: Final reminder. Leave a review and FREE paperback giveaway reminder.
- Email #8: Final email. Thank you for joining the launch team.
What you want to do is take time to customize your own emails. You can space the emails out accordingly. I like to keep them balanced so that the team is getting the support they need without feeling too overwhelmed.
Facebook Group
A Facebook group is simply a group you can add members to for easy access and communication. You can post regularly, easily add videos, and communicate with regular updates. Members can, as we mentioned, share ideas for promoting the book during the launch day as well.
Even if you do a Facebook group, I recommend sending out regular emails as well. Not everyone will join a Facebook group, so communicating with regular emails set up to be delivered on select dates will cover all the bases.
Step three: Sending out your book
There are three ways you can get the advance copy (AKA the book galley) to your team.
First, try a PDF form. Attach the PDF to the welcome email if you are delivering it this way. For larger files, you can drop the book in Dropbox and share the link with your team. Dropbox allows people to download the book without having to sign up for an account.
Second, bookfunnel is a great way to deliver your book. Bookfunnel has a yearly subscription fee but it’s worth it if you launch regularly. The basic price is $20 a month for one pen name and 500 downloads per month. You can check out the features of bookfunnel right here.
Finally, the pigeonhole. I’ve used the pigeonhole before and I really liked it. You upload your book in PDF form to the team at Pigeonhole. You provide them with your launch team emails and then, Pigeonhole posts a chapter a day of your book on their site. Members read right online and can comment on the book as they work through it.
This is a great platform for improving the quality of the book as well. Early readers catch the small mistakes that were missed and you can fix everything up before launching.
6 Common mistakes to avoid
To ensure the highest success of your book’s launch, take care to avoid these six mistakes.
Sending out emails with long gaps in between
You want to be consistent in communicating with your launch team. Long gaps in between emails will result in people losing interest and not following through when they should. I average an email every two to three days. For a Facebook group, you could post something everyday, even if it is just a short blurb.
Failing to set expectations
Remember the list of expectations we looked at in the beginning? By not setting your expectations you are leaving the launch wide open to chaos. Be sure people know what they need to do and when they need to do it.
Don’t assume people will take action. They need you, the author, to lead them. Be upfront and let them know they are with you until the end to take action.
Setting your initial price point too high
You want to launch your book right away at the lowest price point possible. That would be $0.99, and then possibly free after you’ve set set your promo up in the KDP dashboard.
If your price is upwards of $5 to $10, people may not download. You want your price to be low so the launch team especially can download it to leave a verified purchase.
When it comes to Amazon rankings, a book that has the verified purchase tag weighs more than a non-verified review. Make it easy for people to download. Set your price low and get the rankings moving. You can increase your price point after the launch.
Directions that are unclear
You want everything to be so easy for your team that it can literally run itself. What this means is you set up all the steps so that people know exactly what to so. Some of the questions I have had from team members were:
- Where do I leave review?
- How do I leave a review?
- Where is the link for the book?
- What is this Goodreads website?
Eliminate confusion and wasting time answering basic questions by setting up the steps so it is like paint-by-number. For example, shoot a short video of how to set up a review. Walk people through the process.
Video is a fantastic way to visually teach the steps. You can then post it in the Facebook feed or embed the link in an email to be downloaded from Dropbox or Vimeo.
It all comes down to planning ahead. By foreseeing possible problems that can slow the success of your launch, you prepare ahead of time and set your team up to win.
Forgetting to pre-format your launch copy
Swipe copy is a set of pre-formatted/written emails and/or posts that the launch team can use to share either via email or online. You want this to be as simple as possible so people can copy and paste to their social media platforms, or deliver by email without it taking too much of their time.
The easier it is for your team to deliver, the better. And remember that your social media marketing materials should reflect your author branding.
Create swipe copy for your book launch and make this available to your team via Dropbox or your Facebook group. You should include specific instructions as to how to use the swipe copy. Not everyone has used this before and you will get questions from people if they have difficulty.
I would recommend shooting a short video (you could try ScreenPal) explaining how to set this up on launch day. Show people how easy it is. Encourage them to share where they can and as often as possible.
If each of the people on you team posted on their Facebook page and had an average of 500 friends, that would exponentially share your book with a large community that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to access.
Not setting up a permanent funnel for future books
Once the launch is over, your Facebook group will most likely disband. You could try to keep it going, but without a specific purpose that extends beyond the launch, it’s difficult to keep interest. This is where a long-term strategy for your books could be put into play.
Are you planning to launch another book? Do you want to use some of your core launch members for another book launch? In that case, you could set up a street team of reviewers that are ready to support you not only this launch, but future launches.
Remember: a launch team is more than just getting someone to review your book. You could take the relationship to the next level. Consider setting up a private Facebook group for people who want to stay in touch and support your work.
If they agree to this, it will be far easier to tap into a group that is already in place then recruiting new members. How long does it take to publish a book when you already have a team formed? You will drastically cut back your time as much of your book marketing is already in place!
Master checklist
You know have an in-depth guide to online book publishing. In case you feel a bit overwhelmed, here is a final review of the steps to build your team.
Use this checklist to ensure you see the most success possible:
- Reach out to at least twenty to thirty people directly. Ask for permission to put them on your launch team.
- Expand to social media circles like Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
- Put together an incentive package: free digital copy, paperback, Q&A group call, or behind-the-scenes.
- Choose your method of communication: email, a Facebook group, or both.
- Be clear about your expectations for the launch.
- Create a series of emails to send to your group. You can set these up beforehand or create as you go for a more customized feel.
- Decide the method to deliver emails: gmail template or email server campaign template [recommended]. You can use Mailchimp for free for up to 2000 subscribers.
- Prepare a “welcome to my launch team” video or post.
- Send out your welcome email. This includes the digital copy of the book. In your email outline the expectations for being on the launch team.
- Create a “swipe file” for the team to share. Deliver this to your team the day before launch.
- Keep track of your team emails using an Excel sheet.
- Send out a “review reminder” a week after the launch.
- Final email/posting: Thank your team for their support during the launch. Follow up on any final incentives promised.
- Stay in touch with members of your team. Continue to build relationships with people so that your book launch grows with every new book release.
Keep this handy to help you learn how to make money self-publishing and launch a full-time author career.
Launch team: take your next step today
Now that you have a roadmap for setting up your launch team, it’s time to get to work. Remember that the best time to start building your team is right now.
Work on you relationships with people interested in your material. Connect with other authors and begin to get the word out about your upcoming book launch. It is never too early to start!
Book Launch Team FAQ
What does it mean to be on a book launch team?
Being on a book launch team means supporting an author’s book release by reading an early copy, providing feedback, and promoting the book. This can include writing reviews, sharing on social media, and helping spread the word to potential readers.
How many people should be on your book launch team?
The size of a launch team depends on your following and connections. A team of 20-30 committed people can be very effective. It’s better to have a smaller, dedicated team than a large group with little participation.
How to create a launch team for your book?
To create a launch team, start by reaching out to your existing network, including friends, family, and social media followers. Use application forms to select serious participants, and consider offering incentives like a free copy of the book or exclusive content to encourage commitment.
What is involved in a book launch?
A book launch involves pre-launch activities like sharing early copies, gathering reviews, and planning promotional strategies. During the launch, the focus shifts to generating buzz, encouraging purchases, and gathering more reviews. After the launch, maintaining momentum is key.
