# Everything I Know About Launching, I Learned on KBoards (P. 4: Bk 2 Launch!)



## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

First, thanks to all of you for the invaluable education I've gotten here at KBoards. This place is AMAZING.

This thread is an attempt to put together a nearly perfect launch. We want to leave little to chance, so we're to engineer our release as tightly as possible.

Feel free to kick the crap out of the plan, that's why I'm posting. We really do have thick skin.

I'm committed to giving regular updates. I'll even do this with numbers. Though some think that is rather garish, I know a lot of people (including myself) appreciate it.

We've seen a bunch of our colleagues here do amazing launches. I've culled through some of my favorite recent posts, connecting dots, and aligning what I think are best practices. Here are my primary sources (as shout outs and FYIs):
Jazzy (probably the most impressive launch I've seen this year)
Domino Finn's Engineering Thread (http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=228614.0)
JA Cipriano's recent post (http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,230741.msg3240531.html#msg3240531)
T. Ellery Hidges BookBubless Thread (http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,215724.0.html)
Lindsay Buroker's Pen Name Blog Post (http://www.lindsayburoker.com/amazon-kindle-sales/pen-name-launch-first-month-earnings-marketing/)

Very Little About Us:
LE Barbant and I are friends who love stories and creativity. For the most part, this is our first work of fiction. Last year, I wrote a middle grade (mistake) series that was meant to sharpen my skills. It was a warm up, it has sold few copies, and, of course, got zero mailing list downloads. So, basically, we're starting fresh.

We hang out on FB and twitter: @_cmraymond_ and @LEBarbant. But try not to blow our free time on social media

We also just launched The Part-Time Writers Podcast (www.parttimewriters.com) to chronicle our attempt at going full-time in 52 weeks. We think it's a fun show that talks about strategy, craft, collaboration, accountability, and gives updates on what is going on--over drinks!

In ways, it is a "reality show" (in good ways--if there are such a things) that will unfold our experience as we go. LE said we will have a Rose Ceremony at the end.

But I don't know what that means.

*About our book(s):*
We are writing Superhero/Urban Fantasy that is place-based. The plan is to commit to three books, a little email magnet (see below), and at least one novella which is an origin story. The series name is Steel City Heroes (yes, set in Pittsburgh). It's about a group of adjunct faculty (to begin with) who have abilities connected to their disciplines. We have had a blast developing characters and world building.

*Before the Launch:*
We're paying good money for a cover. It's in process and we're working closely with the designer. I'm very excited about this.
We're going to work the blurb over and over ad nauseum (yes, I'll post it in the thread).
We're coming up with the best keywords possible using using Nick Stephenson's method http://www.yourfirst10kreaders.com/

*Release Schedule:*
Book 1: April 20 (Day of our podcast)
Book 2: 3 weeks later (on Annie B's suggestion--I'll do anything she tells me)
Book 3: 4 weeks after book 3
**Book 3 will be tight, but I think we can do this.

*Advanced Review Copies Goals and Strategies:*
Develop 15 personal arcs from people we know will review on launch day (expecting 10 reviews). We will see how many make it through the Amazon gauntlet.
Hungry Author Arc Program: because of our editor's schedule, this will be a tight timeline, but I expect reviews will trickle in, even if they're not ready for release day. Jazzy raves about them.
Goal: 25 reviews for the first week's release.

*Release:*
Release book one at .99 for 5 days on KU. We're considering only 3 days. It seems people are split on this. We're much more interested in getting the book out there than making fat stacks.

*Advertising Book 1 Release:*
It seems that common wisdom says that spending on ads for book one doesn't go too far. Since book two will release three weeks after book one, we're saving most of our ad money for when that book releases.
Budget is around $25 bucks.

Where should we send ads?:
BKnights
Ebooksaurus
Read freely
Discount Books Daily
BookHeaven

Where else?

*Guerrilla Marketing:*
We're creatives and want to try new things out. I want to emphasize the fact that for the first two strategies, the main goal was NOT advertising, but rather to servethe community (the first) or authentically develop our own work (the second). If they result in helping our launch, even better!

*Part-Time Writers Podcast*: If people actually get into the 52 Week Experiment, the hope is that some of them will be interested in checking out our releases.
*City-Data*: Because our book is so place-based, I've spent some time chatting up the concept and asking a bunch of questions on the Pittsburgh City-Data site. It was really helpful and fun. I need to get back to this! The secondary hope is that if some feel a sense of ownership they might just grab a copy. Check it out here: http://bit.ly/21wU9iI
*Posting on Bulletin Boards*: Not on the webz, but real community bulletin boards around the city. Will this work? Who knows. Probably not a great use of time (thinking 80/20). But we're going old school and we'll ave fun doing it, so that's a win.

*List Magnet:*
One of our adjuncts is a wizard and literature professor whose magic is connected to poetry. This was a bit hard as we needed to keep the poems to things in the public domain. LE has been working this and I've been super impressed. We plan on having Willa's journal/moleskine of poems and commentary on them both as literature and as spells. This needs to stay simple (due to time), but fun. If readers sign up for our list, they'll get the spellbook.

Not sure how this will work, but it seems like a fun shot at it.

OK, I'm exhausted already!

We'll keep you up to date as we go. Feel free to kick this around and make it WAY better. We'll try to respond as people give advice, warnings, etc. But thanks in advance for anything you can add.

Now, time to get some words in.

*****

PS: If you're interested in following the podcast, there's some banter over in this thread: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,232517.0.html


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

I've been happy with my experiences with Bargainbooksy and Freebooksy. The rates were reasonable and I felt like I got a good ROI; which was mostly eyes on my books.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

Jim Johnson said:


> I've been happy with my experiences with Bargainbooksy and Freebooksy. The rates were reasonable and I felt like I got a good ROI; which was mostly eyes on my books.


Awesome. Thanks, Jim.

(BTW: Another Alphasmart user here!)


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## andrewdobell (Jan 25, 2016)

Hiya

Sounds good. And I'm watching this kind of thing as I build towards my release. 

Can you provide some links to the Threads you mention in this post

Thanks.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

andrewdobell said:


> Hiya
> 
> Sounds good. And I'm watching this kind of thing as I build towards my release.
> 
> ...


Done! See above. Jazzy has a post on her book two release, but not her book one. Because she rocked it and started posting A LOT in other threads, I ended up stalking her a bit (sorry, Jazzy) trying to find her story throughout other threads. She wrote quite a bit on Domino's thread.


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## msdobing (Dec 8, 2015)

Second bargainbooksy. I'd also throw in Fussy Librarian too. I got some good figures from that one.

Like this post too, good to see a lot of excellent threads pulled together!


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## andrewdobell (Jan 25, 2016)

CM Raymond said:


> Done! See above. Jazzy has a post on her book two release, but not her book one. Because she rocked it and started posting A LOT in other threads, I ended up stalking her a bit (sorry, Jazzy) trying to find her story throughout other threads. She wrote quite a bit on Domino's thread.


Thank you!

I'm currently gearing up for releasing stuff myself. 
I'm basically re-releasing book 1 as I published it in 2013 but didn't do any promoting of it and had no clue that you could make a living off publishing. 
At the start of this year I discovered several podcasts and Kboards and it made me re-evaluate everything and I've written book 2 as of a week ago (Started in early Jan) and I've had book 1 edited (going back through it myself now) and will be basically doing a re-release with new Cover and Blurb etc to try and give it a push. 
So I'm devouring threads on Launching and strategy at the moment as I gear up for my Re-Release. 
Thanks again.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

msdobing said:


> Second bargainbooksy. I'd also throw in Fussy Librarian too. I got some good figures from that one.
> 
> Like this post too, good to see a lot of excellent threads pulled together!


Thanks! And The Message Bearer is on my Kindle and the TBR list.

I'll put Fussy Librarian on the list, but we'll need 10 reviews first.


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## LEBarbant (Mar 4, 2016)

Hey everyone,
As CM said, we're pretty excited about this project so if you all have any advice for us part timers trying to go full time let us know. 
CM is the strategy guy and I think he's put together a pretty nice plan. One of the things that will add strength is our collaboration but it will also come at a cost. We can delegate responsibilities but we also have to split any revenue that this project generates. Which means we have to work twice as hard to get the whole thing running. 
Another aspect of guerilla marketing that I'm trying is jumping in to discussions on superhero forums. It's been helpful as it gives us insights into the genre but I'm also hoping that I widen the net in regards to our reader base. The thought is, if people love superheroes, why wouldn't they want to read superhero novels? One of our BETA readers is a self described non-reader who loves comics so I'm interested to hear what he thinks. Like I said, it's already been helpful from a craft perspective but I'll let you know if it pays any dividends from a sales perspective. 

Any other superhero writers have success from this strategy?


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

LEBarbant said:


> Any other superhero writers have success from this strategy?


Oh, hey, partner.

You should ask this over in the superhero thread.


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## LEBarbant (Mar 4, 2016)

CM Raymond said:


> Oh, hey, partner.
> 
> You should ask this over in the superhero thread.


K boards is so dang confusing...


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## jazzywaltz (Jan 3, 2016)

CM Raymond said:


> Done! See above. Jazzy has a post on her book two release, but not her book one. Because she rocked it and started posting A LOT in other threads, I ended up stalking her a bit (sorry, Jazzy) trying to find her story throughout other threads. She wrote quite a bit on Domino's thread.


LOL, no problem. TBH most everything I did for book 1 is posted in book 2's thread so you can use that as a guideline if you really want to.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

jazzywaltz said:


> LOL, no problem.


Phew. Glad to hear I am not in danger of that internet restraining order.


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## Lisa Blackwood (Feb 1, 2015)

Not to self-promote, but maybe check out my launch thread for an idea of what promo sites get really good numbers. These one This one is for a fantasy romance, so not the same genre, but I do have one for an Urban Fantasy box set launch somewhere...I'll see if I can find it.

In the meantime, here [is] my newest thread. (I have a really bad headcold, so don't mind the typos.)

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,232721.0.html


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

Lisa_Blackwood said:


> Not to self-promote, but maybe check out my launch thread for an idea of what promo sites get really good numbers. These one This one is for a fantasy romance, so not the same genre, but I do have one for an Urban Fantasy box set launch somewhere...I'll see if I can find it.
> 
> In the meantime, here [is] my newest thread. (I have a really bad headcold, so don't mind the typos.)
> 
> http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,232721.0.html


Self-promote away, Lisa!

Thanks for sharing it.


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## spellscribe (Nov 5, 2015)

I'd highly recommend filling Patty's promo thread. The moment something pops up that you're eligible for, grab it. 

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## pwtucker (Feb 12, 2011)

Quick question - why not follow Jasmine's pre-order example? From what I understand that's a good way to build visibility through the HNR list if you don't have a big list to spike your sales on publishing day, coupled with a new release promo to reset your also-boughts?


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## Lisa Blackwood (Feb 1, 2015)

spellscribe said:


> I'd highly recommend filling Patty's promo thread. The moment something pops up that you're eligible for, grab it.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


+1


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

pwtucker said:


> Quick question - why not follow Jasmine's pre-order example? From what I understand that's a good way to build visibility through the HNR list if you don't have a big list to spike your sales on publishing day, coupled with a new release promo to reset your also-boughts?


Great, great, great question!

This is probably the issue in Jasmine's launch that most divides people historically on KBoards.

I am going back and forth on it currently. Wish we had a algorithm crystal ball. As you mentioned, people say it cannibalizes one's release week rankings. I think it makes more sense for a second book.

Most of the veterans I follow seem to lean away from pre-orders.

What do others think? Weigh in.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

If you have a mailing list big enough to get into the top 100 overall on Amazon during your release week, then don't do a pre-order.

For the rest of us, pre-orders give the opportunity to set up promotions ahead of time, with places that don't require reviews, such as bknights.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

Cherise Kelley said:


> If you have a mailing list big enough to get into the top 100 overall on Amazon during your release week, then don't do a pre-order.
> 
> For the rest of us, pre-orders give the opportunity to set up promotions ahead of time, with places that don't require reviews, such as bknights.


Ah, this does make sense.

The only person on my mailing list for the pen name is my co-author!

Thanks, Cherise.


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## jazzywaltz (Jan 3, 2016)

Cherise Kelley said:


> If you have a mailing list big enough to get into the top 100 overall on Amazon during your release week, then don't do a pre-order.
> 
> For the rest of us, pre-orders give the opportunity to set up promotions ahead of time, with places that don't require reviews, such as bknights.


What she said. For those of us out there with large, organic mailing lists, pre-order is not the way to go. But I'm not there yet and it's worked out very well for me. <3


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

jazzywaltz said:


> What she said. For those of us out there with large, organic mailing lists, pre-order is not the way to go. But I'm not there yet and it's worked out very well for me. <3


Thanks, J. I think I am convinced!


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## Felix R. Savage (Mar 3, 2011)

+1 for no preorder. I recently did my first one ever, purely because I was running behind on the print edition which is where I ask advance reviewers to post their reviews. It was not good news algorithmically (is that a word?)


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

Here's a decent post on pre-orders: http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=200177.0 (though from '14).

Pros:
If we get the print edition up, our ARC team can post reviews and have them on the ebook on the day of release.
Also boughts will populate.
The page is set up and ready to go so that we can book promotions for the release date.
Will have a lower ranking on release day.
Print and ebook will be linked by the launch.
Time to see the posting and tweak before launch.

Cons:
Pre-order sales won't count toward release week (month) algos and ranking.
Um...

Add to the list!

As an author with a new pen name and no list, not sure if we'd even score any pre-order sales anyway.


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## mearle (Oct 4, 2015)

I'm about to hit my first 30 days. I've got 2 pieces of advice:

1) Don't publish in Select. I've made a little over $1,000 in iBooks, three times as much in Amazon, and $480 with B&N/Nook. I highly doubt I would have matched my iBooks revenue if I was in Select.

2) Think of this as a business. If you were going to start a business you would need a great product/service and money to market the product. I don't think it makes a lot of sense to publish until you have 3 books polished with amazing cover art. You'll need one to give away for your mailing list, you'll need one for permafree, and you'll need the next one in the series to make money. Successful authors talk about this strategy all the time on this forum and their own blogs but there aren't many patient enough to heed their advice. That is your initial product set and IMO you should wait until the books have been through dozens of revisions, get your test readers excited, and you've got the $$ to hire an amazing artist to do the cover design. If you don't do those things (and have cash saved to do initial marketing) you will be unhappy with your results- but it would be that way with any business. 

I love superhero books. Good luck to you!


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

mearle said:


> I'm about to hit my first 30 days. I've got 2 pieces of advice:
> 
> 1) Don't publish in Select. I've made a little over $1,000 in iBooks, three times as much in Amazon, and $480 with B&N/Nook. I highly doubt I would have matched my iBooks revenue if I was in Select.


Mearle, thanks for taking the time to write this. And man, the select/non-select debate is the biggest warring in my head. I've read a gazillion posts on it and am just not certain. As an unknown entity, I have been pretty convinced that doing one round in select is the way to go. We will see if that debate gets rolling here. With our release schedule (see below in re: to one of your other comments, we could be out of select and wide before the Christmas season. Wide is our long game. I'm hard-pressed not to launch in select.



mearle said:


> 2) Think of this as a business. If you were going to start a business you would need a great product/service and money to market the product. I don't think it makes a lot of sense to publish until you have 3 books polished with amazing cover art. You'll need one to give away for your mailing list, you'll need one for permafree, and you'll need the next one in the series to make money. Successful authors talk about this strategy all the time on this forum and their own blogs but there aren't many patient enough to heed their advice. That is your initial product set and IMO you should wait until the books have been through dozens of revisions, get your test readers excited, and you've got the $$ to hire an amazing artist to do the cover design. If you don't do those things (and have cash saved to do initial marketing) you will be unhappy with your results- but it would be that way with any business.


I'm feeling this. So, you launched all your books at once?

We are planning on having these hit the ground every three weeks. We want to sustain the series in HNR and this is a way to do it. Patience is a virtue--I agree. So, the release schedule is based on patience, but also on sequencing.

I'll consider this further. Love to hear other thoughts on it.

Or, a middle ground could be, hold off another month and release book 1 and book 2 together, then book 3 three weeks later.



mearle said:


> I love superhero books. Good luck to you!


Congrats on your success and thanks again for pitching in!


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

To make a small contribution, these are some sites I've found that will let you give them money to promo WITHOUT having X reviews or other books already established:

http://bettybookfreak.com/author-submissions/
bknights/fiverr
https://secure.freebooksy.com/event-registration/?ee=12087
http://pretty-hot.com/submit-your-book/
http://awesomegang.com/submit-your-book/
http://bookhippo.uk/new-releases/add.php (This seemed to be free, actually.)
http://www.ebooksoda.com/
http://ilovevampirenovels.com/
http://fkbt.com/for-authors/new-release-promotions/


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

KeraEmory said:


> To make a small contribution, these are some sites I've found that will let you give them money to promo WITHOUT having X reviews or other books already established:
> 
> http://bettybookfreak.com/author-submissions/
> bknights/fiverr
> ...


That's a big contribution, actually.

Thanks, Kera.


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## jazzywaltz (Jan 3, 2016)

mearle said:


> 1) Don't publish in Select. I've made a little over $1,000 in iBooks, three times as much in Amazon, and $480 with B&N/Nook. I highly doubt I would have matched my iBooks revenue if I was in Select.
> 
> 2) Think of this as a business. If you were going to start a business you would need a great product/service and money to market the product. I don't think it makes a lot of sense to publish until you have 3 books polished with amazing cover art. You'll need one to give away for your mailing list, you'll need one for permafree, and you'll need the next one in the series to make money. Successful authors talk about this strategy all the time on this forum and their own blogs but there aren't many patient enough to heed their advice. That is your initial product set and IMO you should wait until the books have been through dozens of revisions, get your test readers excited, and you've got the $$ to hire an amazing artist to do the cover design. If you don't do those things (and have cash saved to do initial marketing) you will be unhappy with your results- but it would be that way with any business.


The interesting thing about self-publishing is that there is no one single path to success, and success is defined in different ways for different people. Mearle's advice isn't WRONG, but it's so different from what I would say in several ways:

1) I didn't wait until I had three books, I launched after I finished book 1. Part of the reason I felt comfortable doing this is because I'm a fast writer. Someone who isn't might want to wait until they have 2-3 books ready before they start publishing, and there's nothing wrong with that. But for me, it allowed me to gauge the success of book 1 and consider feedback from those who read and reviewed before I moved on to writing subsequent books.

2) In my opinion, going through select was the best decision I ever made. Tons of people took a chance on my book that wouldn't have otherwise, and considering that I had zero audience before I published that made all the difference in the world. Making $1000 in iBooks is great, but I made $2000 in my first week and around $9000 in January, all in Select. I really don't think I would have made that much going wide with no audience.

3) I've managed to grow my audience and my mailing list without giving away any books or having a permafree book. If I ever go perma-free, it won't be unless and until I get a Bub to get me that huge boost I'll need in order to make the needed sell-through on my subsequent titles, and it definitely won't be until I've finished the series.

Anywhoo, that's my take on it. But IMO it's easier to start in Select and transition to wide than to start wide and have to take everything down to go into Select, and for me the pros far outweight the cons.


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

Jazzy, thanks for your insight. I'm starting to think I made a big mistake starting cold "wide".


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## jazzywaltz (Jan 3, 2016)

KeraEmory said:


> Jazzy, thanks for your insight. I'm starting to think I made a big mistake starting cold "wide".


Not to hijack this thread, but it''s not too late for you to change your mind and try out Select. You're still in the 30 day window to hit the HNR lists, so if you grab one of Rebecca Hamilton's new release packages and discount your book to 99 cents on the day she does your book blast you still have a chance of hitting those lists and getting good exposure.


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

jazzywaltz said:


> Not to hijack this thread, but it''s not too late for you to change your mind and try out Select. You're still in the 30 day window to hit the HNR lists, so if you grab one of Rebecca Hamilton's new release packages and discount your book to 99 cents on the day she does your book blast you still have a chance of hitting those lists and getting good exposure.


Thanks again, going to do some research and then sleep on it.


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## Maggie Brooke (Jan 30, 2016)

Regarding this wide/Select debate, it's just so hard to know what to do. Everyone who has done it a certain way is so passionate about it. I had a pretty successful romance author advise me to release my first book ASAP to capitalize on the current KU rates, since it is likely to go downhill from here. But I completely understand the idea of writing the whole series in full and then releasing it simultaneously or semi-simultaneously like the OP is doing. I like the continuity of that approach. Plus, I could maybe get a better rate on the covers if I bought them in bulk, right? But, then again, Jazzy's argument about the feedback you can get from the first book is compelling as well.

For this particular story I'm writing, I think I've got about 200K words in me, give or take. In the genre, this would work out to be three books. I could always stop at two if the story fizzles out, but I think it will be three.

And, honestly, in the back of my head, I have this fear or insecurity that I will release the first book and either it will get horrid reviews or no one will read it. Since I'm writing under a pen name, I won't even be able to rely on my family and friends as readers. In that sense, I'm tempted to write the whole thing first, lest I get so discouraged that I never write again. I recognize this as primarily a fear-based response.


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## Lisa Blackwood (Feb 1, 2015)

I was very Meh about Select--was (and still am) just sticking around until I have a big enough backlist to go wide. However, Select is great for launching a career, too. I know Ishtar's Blade would not be ranking as well as it is without all those borrows boosting its rank.


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## benlovejoy (Feb 28, 2016)

Yeah, there are such different experiences here that it's clear there's no 'one size fits all' answer.

I started wide, but Amazon was already more than 90% of my sales, so Select was clearly worth a try. I then found the borrows worked well, and more than compensated for the lost sales elsewhere.


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

Don't suppose anyone knows:

1) How long it takes an existing novel to be enrolled in KDP and receive its KU status?

2) How long it takes Draft2Digital to delist from the big three? 

Looking at my numbers, going wide/cold with some promo, I've sold about 65 copies on 'Zon ... and 3 everywhere else. 

My resolve to stay wide is cracking.


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## Nicholas Erik (Sep 22, 2015)

KeraEmory said:


> Don't suppose anyone knows:
> 
> 1) How long it takes an existing novel to be enrolled in KDP and receive its KU status?
> 
> ...


1) instantly. Just check the box. If you want to run a Kindle Countdown, you need that title to be enrolled in Select for a minimum of 30 days (I believe) with no price changes for the past 30 days.
2) 24 hours to 7 days. On the longer end of that range if you do it before a weekend, I think. Don't check the box for KDP Select until you've confirmed they're delisted (you can do this in the D2D dash - just click on the book, and it'll show "delisted" under each retailer - I think something like "processing" if it's not done yet).

Nick


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

Nicholas Erik said:


> 1) instantly. Just check the box. If you want to run a Kindle Countdown, you need that title to be enrolled in Select for a minimum of 30 days (I believe) with no price changes for the past 30 days.
> 2) 24 hours to 7 days. On the longer end of that range if you do it before a weekend, I think. Don't check the box for KDP Select until you've confirmed they're delisted (you can do this in the D2D dash - just click on the book, and it'll show "delisted" under each retailer - I think something like "processing" if it's not done yet).
> 
> Nick


Thanks for the lightning-fast response.


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## mearle (Oct 4, 2015)

If Jasmine is making that kind of scratch in Select with one book then there is a ton of possibility there! I still feel all icky when I think about going exclusive with Amazon, but we're hanging out this weekend and she might be able to convince me.


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## jazzywaltz (Jan 3, 2016)

Maggie Brooke said:


> And, honestly, in the back of my head, I have this fear or insecurity that I will release the first book and either it will get horrid reviews or no one will read it. Since I'm writing under a pen name, I won't even be able to rely on my family and friends as readers. In that sense, I'm tempted to write the whole thing first, lest I get so discouraged that I never write again. I recognize this as primarily a fear-based response.


The cure for this is to find beta readers to test out your work on. I did this with an early draft before I even sent it out for line editing, because I always get beta feedback before I start in on the second round of rewrites, and I definitely don't want to be rewriting after I pay a line editor. If your betas are having trouble finishing your book and or are giving you overall negative feedback, you'll know you don't have a winner on your hands and you'll save a lot of money on editing and cover art and such. And of course if the feedback is mostly positive but there are a few recurring objections you'll know you've got a good book and are on the right track and will have a good idea of what to change. Just make sure your betas are your target audience as obviously having a puritanical granny beta read your BDSM erotica isn't usually going to get you proper feedback.


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## jazzywaltz (Jan 3, 2016)

mearle said:


> If Jasmine is making that kind of scratch in Select with one book then there is a ton of possibility there! I still feel all icky when I think about going exclusive with Amazon, but we're hanging out this weekend and she might be able to convince me.


Haha that's right! Looking forward to seeing you this Sunday, though I have no intention of preaching to anybody about how they should market their books. As I said, there's no one right way to approach self-publishing.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

mearle said:


> If Jasmine is making that kind of scratch in Select with one book then there is a ton of possibility there! I still feel all icky when I think about going exclusive with Amazon, but we're hanging out this weekend and she might be able to convince me.


Pretty jealous of the LA meetup ya'll are rocking tomorrow! I hope someone does a nice reflection thread so we can all peek in on what went down.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

OK, nice little discussion. I think we WILL go KU launch and see how it goes. If all goes well, we will be positioned to go wide with all three books of the trilogy by Christmas. I like the idea of being wide, and I am actually poking around about getting reps on some other platforms. 

I know some authors doing well land a Kobo/Apple rep. Hoping we can get the numbers that might be able to achieve that by early winter. 

If the books end up rocking it, we will push for a book 4 to release early December for Christmas time.


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## Felix R. Savage (Mar 3, 2011)

CM Raymond said:


> Here's a decent post on pre-orders: http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=200177.0 (though from '14).
> 
> Pros:
> If we get the print edition up, our ARC team can post reviews and have them on the ebook on the day of release.
> ...


You don't need to do a pre-order on the e-book to give advance reviewers someplace to post. Just put the print book up a week or so ahead of the e-book. Make sure you ask Amazon to connect the editions the minute the e-book is live!


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

Have started the process of pulling out of wide to go KU. Will report back. I expect Streetlib/GPlay will give me the most trouble; D2D already got me out of iBooks and Kobo in < 12 hours. 

Context: New author starting cold with one novel that is not being hyped as a series. (Will have a spinoff/sequels, but trilogy only, not a bread-and-butter series in the traditional sense.) 65-ish sales on Amazon in the first two days, grand total of 3 overall on ALL other platforms. Fair amount of low-level promo, much of which included those other retailers. Starting to seem like a no-brainer.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

Felix R. Savage said:


> You don't need to do a pre-order on the e-book to give advance reviewers someplace to post. Just put the print book up a week or so ahead of the e-book. Make sure you ask Amazon to connect the editions the minute the e-book is live!


True. Though the print won't likely be ready that far in advance for our release schedule.

It can be a pre-order "pro."


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

Maggie Brooke said:


> Regarding this wide/Select debate, it's just so hard to know what to do. Everyone who has done it a certain way is so passionate about it. I had a pretty successful romance author advise me to release my first book ASAP to capitalize on the current KU rates, since it is likely to go downhill from here. But I completely understand the idea of writing the whole series in full and then releasing it simultaneously or semi-simultaneously like the OP is doing. I like the continuity of that approach. Plus, I could maybe get a better rate on the covers if I bought them in bulk, right? But, then again, Jazzy's argument about the feedback you can get from the first book is compelling as well.
> 
> For this particular story I'm writing, I think I've got about 200K words in me, give or take. In the genre, this would work out to be three books. I could always stop at two if the story fizzles out, but I think it will be three.
> 
> *And, honestly, in the back of my head, I have this fear or insecurity that I will release the first book and either it will get horrid reviews or no one will read it. Since I'm writing under a pen name, I won't even be able to rely on my family and friends as readers. In that sense, I'm tempted to write the whole thing first, lest I get so discouraged that I never write again. I recognize this as primarily a fear-based response.*


Could have written this whole paragraph, specifically 'fear that no one will like my writing and that will make me stop writing.' I guess the takeaway here is that we love writing and don't want to lose it. But most importantly: we love writing. So no matter what happens, we probably won't ACTUALLY stop.

On 'wait till whole series is done'. I understand both sides, and I was also advised to wait till I had multiple books. But I've been building up to this point for a couple of years, and the impatience won out. (That said: the next novel was already about 75% done, so I had some security blanket. But I'm still in very early days and waiting anxiously to find out if anyone will even care about a sequel, and I'm finding it hard to work on it until I have some idea of that.)


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

KeraEmory said:


> On 'wait till whole series is done'. I understand both sides, and I was also advised to wait till I had multiple books. But I've been building up to this point for a couple of years, and the impatience won out. (That said: the next novel was already about 75% done, so I had some security blanket. But I'm still in very early days and waiting anxiously to find out if anyone will even care about a sequel, and I'm finding it hard to work on it until I have some idea of that.)


Get the sequel up on pre-order and link to it in the back of book one. Pronto.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

Cherise Kelley said:


> Get the sequel up on pre-order and link to it in the back of book one. Pronto.


Cherise,

Indeed. But I here's a question: let's say the cover art isn't ready for book 2 when book 1 is completed (I'm hoping this won't be the case, but you never no). What is the best way forward? Create a simple placeholder image that is CLEARLY not the final art or wait for the art to be in to post the preorder?

Thanks,

CM

PS: My daughter loved your Dog Aliens books! Thanks for writing those.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

CM Raymond said:


> Cherise,
> 
> Indeed. But I here's a question: let's say the cover art isn't ready for book 2 when book 1 is completed (I'm hoping this won't be the case, but you never no). What is the best way forward? Create a simple placeholder image that is CLEARLY not the final art or wait for the art to be in to post the preorder?
> 
> ...


Get the cover art ready.

And OMG, so sweet to hear your daughter loved Raffle's story! Thank you for telling me that.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

Cherise Kelley said:


> Get the cover art ready.


Oh, we're trying!



Cherise Kelley said:


> And OMG, so sweet to hear your daughter loved Raffle's story! Thank you for telling me that.


My pleasure. She is a huge dog lover and a voracious reader. I kept meaning to suggest your books since I see them often enough in your signature. When I finally remembered to pass along the titles, she tilted her head and said, "Come on dad, I read those a loooong time ago." (She has a little eleven year old sass.)

Thanks again for pitching in on the launch thread!


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

CM Raymond said:


> Thanks again for pitching in on the launch thread!


That's my pleasure.


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

Cherise Kelley said:


> Get the sequel up on pre-order and link to it in the back of book one. Pronto.


I missed this.

Problem 1: love book 2, plot is complete, what's written is already polished, and I know where all the pieces are on the board. I know the themes. Much better handle than when I was meandering through book 1.

But I can't think of a good title to save my life. Going to end up with something generic. It's just not coming to me.

Problem 2: cover art, getting it done. Or do people do placeholder covers early on?

TLR: confident I could bring it to market in a timely fashion; missing crucial promo needs, like a name.

Right now I'm using the first chapter free as newsletter signup bait at back of book 1.


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

Some things to keep in mind if you're experimenting between KU/wide:

At least through D2D, iBooks and Kobo are the fastest to publish/unpublish. Hours, maybe. So it must be all automated, or they have sufficient personnel.

Nook can take a day to publish. So far I'm about 36 hours post-unpublish request, and it's still up. I suspect they are not automated and also don't work weekends. >.>

If you've been lured in by some of the Gplay threads and are locked out so decide to use Streetlib, they took two full days to push the book to Gplay. Also still up there; I also suspect they do things by hand don't work weekends, since my contact request has not been answered.

The lesson: when making these kinds of changes, you can (and maybe should) do iBooks/Kobo last. I was getting next to no sales outside of Amazon, but I may still have missed a few this weekend (I could have left iBooks and Kobo up until the other outlets got their act together, since I can't enroll in Select till they do).


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

Update on pulling out of wide:

I take back whatever I've said about Streetlib; they got back to me and pointed out that while Google Play Books won't remove the title from their catalog, there is now no Buy button. As such, not sure when their delist went through, but it has.

Which just leaves Nook. Now on day 3 since D2D pushed the delist request to them. Can I get a prayer circle that they remove it sometime today so I can try out KU before my ILVN promo hits?


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

KeraEmory said:


> Update on pulling out of wide:
> 
> I take back whatever I've said about Streetlib; they got back to me and pointed out that while Google Play Books won't remove the title from their catalog, there is now no Buy button. As such, not sure when their delist went through, but it has.
> 
> Which just leaves Nook. Now on day 3 since D2D pushed the delist request to them. Can I get a prayer circle that they remove it sometime today so I can try out KU before my ILVN promo hits?


Kera, have you contacted D2D? They have always been SUPER helpful for me. Granted, this is more of a Nook issue--which you might try them as well. When does your ILVN promo start?


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

CM Raymond said:


> Kera, have you contacted D2D? They have always been SUPER helpful for me. Granted, this is more of a Nook issue--which you might try them as well. When does your ILVN promo start?


Any minute now. 

At lunch, but thanks for the suggestion, may try it when back at desk. I expect this is a side effect of the current Nook changes/upheaval. And it's on me for making a knee-jerk decision with a big promo in the pipeline (although ILVN has been great about working with me to remove non-Amazon links).


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

Buy button has disappeared from Nook. Pulling trigger on KDP Select. Gulp.

(Sorry for derailing this thread into semi-blog, but figured the mechanics of changing from wide <> KU may be useful for those on the fence.)

EDIT: And ... enrolled. The book doesn't have the KU verbiage yet, but I may have misunderstood someone who said it would be instant. Seems more logical that it might take the typical 'update' 12-ish hours.

EDIT2: Seems live in KU now, so took about three hours after flipping the switch.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

KeraEmory said:


> Buy button has disappeared from Nook. Pulling trigger on KDP Select. Gulp.
> 
> (Sorry for derailing this thread into semi-blog, but figured the mechanics of changing from wide <> KU may be useful for those on the fence.)
> 
> ...


That's not so bad.

Hope you had a great promo day.


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

CM Raymond said:


> That's not so bad.
> 
> Hope you had a great promo day.


Thanks! On track for the best day so far since launch, so have to give ILVN credit for that. At some point I will do a full promo site breakdown, but I can say that Bargain Booksy/bknights on launch day were best (unless ILVN overtakes them, which it might), followed by ebooksoda, and beyond that I'm not sure any of them were worth the money I spent.

Now I just wonder when I start seeing reports on these mythical pages read.


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

Digging up this thread for little info nugget:

I had surprisingly good results with this $10 promo site:

https://ebookdiscovery.leadpages.net/ebook-discovery-authors-only/

I just did the $10 'daily zine' option. I honestly cannot remember where I found this particular site. Anyway, I wasn't expecting much, especially after they told me they send out their stuff at night (~8:30pm, not sure if eastern?), but got one of the bigger bang-for-bucks out of them. It did start later in the evening, and has seemed to carry over to today.

I had no other confounding promos running.

They didn't require minimum reviews (I think).


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## jazzywaltz (Jan 3, 2016)

KeraEmory said:


> Now I just wonder when I start seeing reports on these mythical pages read.


Curious to know if you're getting any KENP by now or not. I feel like you should since your promos are going successfully, but then again I don't know how many sales you're actually getting per day on these promos (everyone's idea of success is different).


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

jazzywaltz said:


> Curious to know if you're getting any KENP by now or not. I feel like you should since your promos are going successfully, but then again I don't know how many sales you're actually getting per day on these promos (everyone's idea of success is different).


I get big chunks of a couple of thousand pages, then nothing for a few days, then another big chunk. It's very weird. Definitely seem to get more direct sales so far.


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## Dominique Mondesir (Dec 15, 2015)

CM will be looking at this thread with interested, as I have a new series coming out near xmas. 

Loving the podcast to!


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

KeraEmory said:


> Digging up this thread for little info nugget:
> 
> I had surprisingly good results with this $10 promo site:
> 
> ...


How many sales did this promo yield, and at what price? And in which genre.


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

Cherise Kelley said:


> How many sales did this promo yield, and at what price? And in which genre.


I'm going through a paranoid phase where it seems like everyone is doing better than me, so I'd rather not say, but more in line with what I'd expect from a $25-$40 (for me) promo than a $10 one. I honestly can't remember genre and my records don't seem to show it. If I had to guess, I've been experimenting with suspense/thriller, might have been that.

Edit: book is at 99c and I am an unknown, ROI negative on everything.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

Dominique Mondesir said:


> CM will be looking at this thread with interested, as I have a new series coming out near xmas.
> 
> Loving the podcast to!


Thanks, Dominique!

The podcast has been a lot of fun and we've gotten some really kind feedback from listeners. It's a bit different than what's out there, and certainly not for everyone, so we're happy to hear there are folks resonating with the show as a long, slow burn experiment.

I think PTW podcast and the threads here will start to heat up as we get into releasing the books and seeing how our strategy plays out. We're really excited and trying to stay patient.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

Ten days from launch, I thought it was time to update this thread.

Here we go:

*Kindle Unlimited:*
The plan is to release on KU for 90 days and then we will see what happens. If we have good success, I am planning on contacting author services on Kobo to see if we can get a rep. My understand is that there is good success on Kobo particularly if you have the company behind you.

*Promotions:*
We signed up for Hungry Author launch promo. I'll give an honest review throughout, even as Rebecca is an active member here, for the sake of other authors. The word is HA works well. I am looking forward to seeing what happens with our book. I STRONGLY recommend following HA's statement that you send the book to them 8 weeks prior to release. We sent it in nearly two weeks ago, and as far as I know, it hasn't gone to the potential reviewers. That's on me, not on them. But I was thinking that they opened it to their reviewers when you sent them the book. Bad assumption! Nevertheless, if 5-10 reviewers come through, it could be worth it with a good book blast. Rebecca has been a real pro, kind, and attentive to emails.

*Book Funnel:*
We set up book funnel for our arc copies. If you haven't checked it out, you should. The prices make me feel like I robbed a bank. VERY reasonable.

*Release Schedule:*
We're releasing book 1 (The Catalyst) on 4/27. Book two will follow three weeks later. It's already at the editor and our designer is hard at work. We're starting outlining and writing book three this week! Our hope is to have that out within a month after book 2.

*Other promotions:*
We're going to follow common wisdom and only promote book 1 with BKnights and a few other free sights, social media, etc. Naturally, we have some other folks we hope review early (Beta readers and a handful of ARC readers). Once we get book three out we'll utilize our free days for book one and promote like a bat out of hell.

We're also trying a lot of out-of-the-box promotions. One is our podcast (www.parttimewriters.com). It's a big experiment to see if we can go full time in 52 weeks. We have a good followership so far, drawn in, I think, by conversations about craft and the business. It's been fun. We expect that a handful of the following will buy to see the result of our little reality show and to see how it all manifests itself. 
Also launching a webseries for people in the genre and have been connecting with people who actually aren't authors within the genre we're writing in.

*Keywords:*
We've been working on keywords with a combination of Nick Stephenson and the Epic Keyword thread here on Kboards. Which means we are cafting some specifically to ensure certain categories, then to optimize searches. Here's what I have:

superhero
urban fantasy series
paranormal mystery thriller suspense
science fiction fantasy action adventure
faculty professor college fiction
science fiction fantasy superhero
(I have one more "keyword" and a lot of characters left. Suggestions?)

*And we're quite happy with our cover:*
Our cover designer has been amazing and has done several iterations.










OK, what am I missing? What should we change? What do you suggest?

It has been fun to engineer a launch as close as we can get to a perfect release and then hope the gods smile upon us.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

OK, two days out and we are slamming!

Here are some more details going into the final days:

We are going with pre-order for Book 2. The pro cover isn't done, but our designer is a saint and he made a VERY professional-looking coming soon image. You can be the judge once it is up. That will be up tomorrow with a complete blurb.

Our street team of about 10-15 people are ready to post reviews. We have asked them (nicely) that if they would like to drop the $.99 on the book to give a nudge on the sales. Most have responded with an enthusiastic yes.

Of course, we will hit our social media outlets, though since most of our connections (not all) are with other indies, we will likely be in the author echo chamber. Hopefully our social connections will increase after our first launch.

We have created a pretty sweet (if I might say so myself) email magnet that is a compendium/journal of one of our MC's spells, her thoughts on their use, etc. It was fun to create as it rounds out the character even more and gives some behind the scenes perspective on some of the story. It took some time, but we think it will add value and be enjoyable for those who choose to relinquish their email address.

Bookfunnel.com has been fabulous for review copies and that is how we are giving out our reader magnet as well. It's only twenty bucks a year for up to 500 downloads a month. So worth it. Naturally, we hope to price out of the $20 range soon enough.

Now for promotions. We wanted to _really _wait on doing too many promos until Book 3 is live (middle of July). But we also wanted to do something to get the ball rolling. I have Hungry Author for Wednesday's release. Rebecca has been wonderful. The price tag is big, so we are hoping to see a decent ROI not only on launch sales, but also reviews in the coming weeks. We then book BKnights for Thursday and Awesomegang for Friday. I might play with a few bucks on FB over the weekend, but will hold off on the bigger spend until all three are out.

We have been working the out of the box promotions as well. City-data has been a great resources and a fun place to play. I've had several people ask when the book is launched. They are pretty serious about no spam, which is good, but I can certainly announce the book is out there. The thread has had nearly 1,900 views, who knows how many uniques. Lee has been working some Superhero angles online as well.

Lee and I have also convinced ourselves to be patient. We'll give it a go with three books, and end it as a trilogy with a few open loops. Then see what happens!

Thanks to everyone who contributed so far. Amazing how gracious and giving folks are.

I'll post here when the launch begins if people want to watch and then keep you updated.

Best regards,
CM


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

Good luck, you guys.


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## pwtucker (Feb 12, 2011)

I'm excited to see how you guys do - especially since I have the same launch plan for May 11. Best of luck, and I'll snag a copy on launch day 

Question: have you done anything to boost pre-order sales, or are you rocking the 25k rank you're at through organic appeal alone?


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

pwtucker said:


> I'm excited to see how you guys do - especially since I have the same launch plan for May 11. Best of luck, and I'll snag a copy on launch day
> 
> Question: have you done anything to boost pre-order sales, or are you rocking the 25k rank you're at through organic appeal alone?


Shhhh! Keep it secret, keep it safe.

But since you asked...

We weren't ready to post a pre-order for book one. Most of my launches (fiction on this name and one other and non-fic under another pen name) have gone up in 12 hours, but I didn't want to risk it. We haven't been telling folks it's live (because we want a concentrated push on Wednesday). About six purchases I can track as our street team, the others were organic and one heck of a surprise. Hopefully, this will help also boughts populate sooner than later.

Pretty fun to see, but sub 26k was achieved without an outrageous number of purchases and KENPs.

edited: to protect the innocent


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## harker.roland (Sep 13, 2014)

Pick-up from me today guys. Super excited to get to it once I finish FireFight.

Best of luck!


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

harker.roland said:


> Pick-up from me today guys. Super excited to get to it once I finish FireFight.
> 
> Best of luck!


Thanks, Harker (or Roland...Harker.Roland)!!


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

KeraEmory said:


> Good luck, you guys.


Ahhh, Kera... you can say you were there from the beginning, you know, when we become thousandaires (you too, Harker!).


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## KeraEmory (Feb 8, 2016)

CM Raymond said:


> Ahhh, Kera... you can say you were there from the beginning, you know, when we become thousandaires (you too, Harker!).


Haha. If we all lived in the same town, surely we could all treat each other to at least a meal at a fine dining establishment like, say, Panera. 

(I'm still pretty excited about my Superhero's Girlfriend project, but I expect it'll be a weird genre mashup that won't quite fit in anywhere. It's my specialty! But we'll see if it pans out, and works well enough to be part of the possible club.)


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

KeraEmory said:


> Haha. If we all lived in the same town, surely we could all treat each other to at least a meal at a fine dining establishment like, say, Panera.


I have a five dollar gift card in my wallet right now (not that I'm bragging or anything).



KeraEmory said:


> (I'm still pretty excited about my Superhero's Girlfriend project, but I expect it'll be a weird genre mashup that won't quite fit in anywhere. It's my specialty! But we'll see if it pans out, and works well enough to be part of the possible club.)


Don't lose that! I think it is brilliant.


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## LEBarbant (Mar 4, 2016)

KeraEmory said:


> (I'm still pretty excited about my Superhero's Girlfriend project, but I expect it'll be a weird genre mashup that won't quite fit in anywhere. It's my specialty! But we'll see if it pans out, and works well enough to be part of the possible club.)


I'd read it. Sounds kind of like My Super ex-Girlfriend but better. I'd imagine, to fit the superhero tropes, she'd have to fall off of buildings a ton. Maybe she could work in skyscraper construction or as a window cleaner or something. 
There's a series of Batman parodies on College Humor that have Batman look like an idiot and Rachel hates the fact that she keeps getting kidnapped because of him. It certainly makes it seem like a "day in the life" of a superheros significant other would be exciting to see in a more fully fleshed out way. 


CM Raymond said:


> I have a five dollar gift card in my wallet right now (not that I'm bragging or anything).


Why are you holding out on me? I thought we were partners in all this.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

Launch Day!!

2:50 AM and The Catalyst is officially live. Lee and I just recorded our launch day show and then had a mega-story meeting.

I'll give an update at the end of the day.

http://www.amazon.com/Catalyst-Steel-City-Heroes-Book-ebook/dp/B01EQRDRTI?ie=UTF8&keywords=the%20catalyst%20le&qid=1461739928&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1


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## C. Rysalis (Feb 26, 2015)

At long last! Congrats and good luck


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## Andrew Dorn (Dec 30, 2015)

Best of luck with Catalyst!


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

A quick update since it is late, and I still need to get some words in before bed. 

Our official launch was today, I would say that Lee and I are pleased with the results as this is really (for all intents and purposes) our debut.

As I said above, the book went live Sunday night late, and we tried to keep things under wraps until today. I thought this would be easy, but it seems there were still some organic sales in the first two days. 

Monday: 13 sales, 970 KENP
Tuesday: 18 sales, 665 KENP
I believe by the end of the day Tuesday our Kindle store ranking was hovering around 25k.
The book had gotten 8 reviews, mostly our street team folks.

Today we had our big spend with Hungry Author's for their launch deal. One really nice thing is that Rebecca sends updates on rankings throughout the day. Nice social proof of her service, and also helpful for us as we reflect on the process. We also did a bit more work on social media (thanks to all our author friends who bought to support us!). 

Before she sent out the blast our rankings were:
#10,065 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#69 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Superhero
#75 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Superheroes
#449 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Paranormal & Urban

The last she sent, which I think is pretty dang near the height of the day was:
#3,167 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#15 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Superheroes
#16 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Superhero
#155 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Paranormal & Urban

We also added a nudge at the end of the day with a simple FB ad which got a handful of clicks to the page.

Ended the day with 11 reviews. Apparently a few street team members got dinged by Amazon.

Our sales as they stand today:
51 sales, 528 KENP

Again, we're happy with the launch. Extremely pleased to get on the front page of the Superhero categories, though they are pretty small.

Tomorrow we have one of the low-grade cheapies and Bknights.
Friday is Awesomegang (paid).
And we have a spot pending with Bookhippo for sometime before the sale is done on Sunday.

Our hope is to get enough visibility to build momentum toward our May 18 release of The Crucible (Book 2). 
I'm also interested to see what happens when also boughts start to populate.

Time will tell.

Thanks for checking in. I'll be back in a few days with another update.


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## pwtucker (Feb 12, 2011)

Congrats! I'm thrilled with your success, and can't wait to dig into my copy of Catalyst. Enjoy the ride


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## jazzywaltz (Jan 3, 2016)

Just wanted to pop in and say congrats on the launch! Looks like you're starting to see the fruits of all that hard labor and preparation.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

jazzywaltz said:


> Just wanted to pop in and say congrats on the launch! Looks like you're starting to see the fruits of all that hard labor and preparation.


Thanks, Jazzy. We're trying to chase your success! You were a huge help in creating this.

Best,

CM


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## A Woman&#039;s Place Is In The Rebellion (Apr 28, 2011)

You're doing really well - congrats!


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

Augusta Blythe said:


> You're doing really well - congrats!


Thanks, Augusta.

We're getting the slide back up the charts and categories. 
Now it's time to hold tight until Book 2 is out (May 1.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

Just got back from a long Saturday run. 

I spent the first half mulling over the beats of my chapters today for Book 3, the other half was thinking about Book 2 launch. 
So, I need some help.

As you can see above, we did some promos for The Catalyst. The biggest push was Hungry Author (bought this largely for the bundle for the launch including reviewers. Looking forward to that going out to Rebecca's team). 

And then Awesome Gang and BKnights were great little pushes as well.

It's still on sale through tomorrow (Sunday), and then we'll raise it from $.99 to $2.99.

I did this partially for early visibility, but also for a bit of a psychological boost after long days of grinding and waiting for the first launch.

Now, we have Book 2 (The Crucible) launching May 18 and then Book 3 (The Casting) on June 13 (or so).

I was thinking about how to launch Book 2 and how to use our free days for Book 1.

I'm thinking:
Wrap two free days for The Catalyst around the Book two launch. Try to get them both in front of people's eyes. Then save the last three free days for The Catalyst for the launch of Book 3.

Or...

Save all five free days for the launch of Book 3.

Or...

You tell me...

Also, looking at the promotions. Wondering if I should start pushing The Catalyst (Book 1) when the second launches (using things that are the next level up like Freebooksy and/or ENT, etc.).

There are  a ton of ways to do this. I am pleased with the launch we engineered for The Catalyst, and I want to get things as tight as possible for the second book launch.


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

Since the book is still on sale I just sent out another social media blast for you.


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

Vinny OHare said:


> Since the book is still on sale I just sent out another social media blast for you.


Vinny, my phone just blew up with Twitter alerts! Thanks so much. That's, well, awesome.

Everyone else, don't overlook awesome gang when you're putting together promos. It has been great, Vinny's communication has been head and shoulders above the rest, not to mention he's an active contributor to our community here!

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

You are very welcome! It is the least I can do to give you a final push. The same amount you saw on Twitter also went to Facebook and G+


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

It's been a while since I've given an update. The past few weeks I have been working and touring Italy. I just met Mrs. Raymond in Paris. Since we're waiting for (and hoping that) the rain passes so we can head out to the French Open, I'll take a bit to update what's been happening with our releases.

If you're interested, we have been doing consistent updates on the release of The Catalyst on our podcast: www.parttimewriters.com (or subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/part-time-writers-podcast/id1092617862?mt=2).

Book 2 released last week, but before I get to that, a little update on book 1. We've been really pleased with how the release has gone. After some $.99 promos for five days, the book has gotten pretty sticky in the Amazon algorithms. We continue to hang around the 3,000s and on the first page of the Superhero category. This is getting us some organic love.

Here is a snapshot of the recent numbers:









I'm happy with the numbers, and Lee is downright giddy!

Book 2 (http://amzn.to/1U6Xel4) released last week, and I made the call not to do paid promotions until the third book is out. That's when we will do a $.99 promo and pay for a bunch of ads. I also want to save some promo days and start praying, fasting, and applying for Bookbubs.

We have updated back matter of Book 1, so here's hoping some organic sell throughs pick up.

So far we have only gotten a handful of sales and KENP reads for The Crucible. The also boughts are starting to populate.

I hope all are well!

Regards,

CM


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## JaclynDolamore (Nov 5, 2015)

Awesome! Thanks for the continuing updates!


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

JaclynDolamore said:


> Awesome! Thanks for the continuing updates!


Thanks, Jaclyn. Sometimes I am afraid I am shouting into the abyss. These posts are certainly helpful for me to write out, I always hope our experiences are helpful for others.

Regards, CM


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## Matthew Stott (Oct 22, 2014)

Looks like you're doing great, well done!


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

Matthew Stott said:


> Looks like you're doing great, well done!


Thanks, Matthew. It's better than we expected. Lee and I really owe so much to this community and those who experimented before us. It's hard being patient with book two, but for now we will let it roll organically and see what happens.


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