(Music. LOGO)
Hellooo, everybody! If you guys weren't aware, I released the book a few months
ago, and it's going pretty damn great. I think a lot of authors talk about book releases in a
really negative manner. I've done it myself, and it's not hard to see why the book release process
is really difficult. And a lot of times it doesn't turn out the way people were hoping. But I don't
see enough people talking about all the great things that can come from a book release, when
done properly. And wouldn’t you know it, that's what we're talking about today. Today's video is
sponsored by my friends at Skillshare, most of you already know that I'm a little, uh, a tiny,
just a, just a, just a tiny bit obsessed with this platform. Skillshare is an online learning
community for creators with over 20,000 classes in creative writing, business, marketing, the works.
If you wanna learn about it, it's probably on Skillshare. Premium membership gets you unlimited
access to all of their classes and they have some amazing content. They've got classes taught by
New York Times best selling authors, they have classes taught by major influencers. They even
have classes taught by cyborgs. Which brings me to my big announcement. Most of you know that
I have a class available on Skillshare, all about how to build a successful author platform. If you
haven’t checked it out yet, you totally should. Today I’m super excited to announce the launch
of my second Skillshare class, which is a detailed guide of the book release process, from start to
finish. I'm giving you all of my tips and tricks for having an awesome book launch based off of my
research and personal experience. I'm honestly so excited about this class. You guys requested it,
and I can't wait for you to check it out. I think you're really going to enjoy it. I've got
some awesome goodies for you guys at the end of this video, so stick around for that, But first,
in honor of my new class, I am listing the top ten things that have happened as a result of the
launch of my novel, The Savior's Champion. People don't talk about all the cool stuff that happens
as a result of the book launch and even worse, they don't share how they were able to achieve it,
which is what I'm gonna do right now. Number One (1): Reviews. Most writers are scared of
reviews because people can be mean as fuck. But if you've taken the time to write a quality story,
the odds are you're gonna get a lot of amazing reviews. I was floored by how quickly reviews
of TSC came in, and how great they were. And I still get comments, messages, and reviews on a
daily basis. It's awesome. Look, you're gonna get some negative reviews, that's inevitable. But that
doesn't mean you won't also receive an outpouring of love and support, and the way to ensure that is
to invest in the quality of your work. TSC had so many rounds of revisions. I had fifty beta readers
of all different backgrounds, I had critique partners, proofreaders, I had an editor with
decades of experience. If you care about the quality of your work, readers will see it and
appreciate it. Number Two (2): Amazon exposure. Amazon reviews are pivotal to the success of the
novel because their reviews generate greater exposure. The exact figure is debatable but it
seems like the magic number is about 50 reviews. Once you hit this estimate, Amazon will feature
your book in the ‘also’ box section of their website. They'll also feature it in spotlight
positions, or in their newsletter, which is a huge boost. When I released The Savior's Champion,
my goal was to hit 50 reviews by the end of the launch date, and I ended up reaching that
figure in two days. My next benchmark was 100 reviews which I hit in about two to three weeks,
and this boosted my visibility so much. The way I achieved this was focusing on arc reviews during
the presale process. I sent out a minimum of 50 advanced copies to readers of influence
specifically so they could share the reviews, which made it much easier to achieve this goal.
Number Three (3): Amazon bestseller lists. I'm gonna keep it real. Most people don't give a shit
about the Amazon bestseller list. Amazon has a billion lists in the most obscure categories like
children's mythology and dental assisting. Because of this, it's really easy to cheat the system, and
many authors do just that. You label your book in an obscure category with no competition, you sell
one copy and bam, bestseller! This is something I would not recommend. There's no pride in this,
it limits your reach, plus, it's shady as fuck. When I listed TSC I placed it in its actual genre,
which is dark fantasy, then I was informed by my street team that on the day of its release
TSC made the Amazon bestseller list for dark fantasy. And although I don't put a lot of
stock in the Amazon bestseller list, it was still pretty cool to see. The way I was able to do this
without cheating the system was through a rigorous marketing schedule. I marketed every single day
for the entire six months leading up to my book release. Number Four (4): Bookstore presence.
There's a misconception that indie books can't be featured in bookstores, and that's bullshit.
A couple months after its release TSC was poppin’ up in bookstores all over the place. It’s at
Powell’s, it’s at Barnes & Noble, it’s at a bunch of independent bookstores. It's like a rash,
it's everywhere. I never placed a huge emphasis on a brick and mortar presence because the vast
majority of books are purchased online, but it's still cool to see your book in stores, especially
because so many people think it's impossible. It's very possible, and it wasn't hard. When
you price your book on IngramSpark it gives you the option to choose a wholesale discount,
which is essentially the percentage of profits that a retailer will receive when they sell your
book. IngramSpark also gives you a percentage guide. Basically it says if you give bookstores
this large of a cut you have better odds of them stocking your book, if you give them this cut:
outlook not so good. Thus if an indie author wants a brick and mortar presence, all they have to do
is follow the guide. But here's the kicker, I didn't follow the guide. In order to make a
brick and mortar presence more likely I would have had to price TSC a lot higher. I didn't think that
was fair to my readers. so I gave TSC a lower price and knowing that my odds of a bookstore
presence would be slim. And yet TSC is still in bookstores, and that's because there is a demand
for it. Bookstores pay attention to sales trends. If a book is selling rapidly, they will stock it,
bottom line. Number Five (5): Library presence. As cool as it is to see my book and Barnes and Noble,
it's actually more meaningful for me to see it in a library. Growing up, books were a luxury we
could not buy them, we checked them out at the library. I've seen TSC in a bunch of libraries,
and it's so exciting. It warms my mechanical heart. And it's actually super easy to get your
book into libraries, all you have to do is request it or donate it—that’s it. Not only are you
boosting your exposure, but you're also helping the community by giving them access to awesome
free reading material. Number Six (6): Income. One of the biggest complaints about this industry is
that you can't make money. Writers are starving artists. That's not true. Yes. It's very hard to
make money as a writer, but it's not impossible. There's also a misconception especially among
indie writers that in order to be profitable, you have to pump out a ton of books each year,
but this is shitty advice. What sustains an author's career is a dedicated audience,
and if you're just whipping out crappy books every six months, your readers are not going to be loyal
to you. At all. That said, I am nowhere close to pumping out multiple books a year, but after the
release of my second novel, I am now making more money through my author platform than I did in
my finance career. The way I was able to achieve this was first by investing in the quality of my
work. And second, by focusing on the growth of my platform. I put a lot of effort into my content,
and I'm constantly branching out and trying new things that could potentially serve my
readership. Number Seven (7): Platform expansion. Because of the growth of my income, I have a much
greater ability to grow my platform overall. I was able to get a new camera, and lighting equipment,
and backdrop, as you guys already know. We've been able to afford things like better health care
for Cliff’s spinal injury and a cleaning service to focus on our home. And this gives us a lot more
time and energy to focus on the business and on writing. That's why I'm able to work on the TSC
audiobook. That's why I'm able to launch my new Skillshare class today. When a book is launched
well it opens so many doors and allows you to grow your reach, and the easiest way to ensure this is
to focus once again on a rigorous marketing plan. Number Eight (8) Fan art. This is literally one
of my favorite things about being an author. I fucking love fan art. I love it! And the fan
art I've received for TSC is amazing. AMAZING. First of all, my readers are hella talented,
just saying. Second, it's just really cool to see how they visualize the characters and which scenes
were meaningful to them. If you're an author and you wanna receive fan art, be sure to show
some love to the artists out there. I share a lot of the fan art I receive because it's gorgeous,
and believe it or not, people appreciate it. You want people to support your writing,
artists want people to support their art. It's the same thing. Number Nine (9): Opportunities. After
the release of the Savior's Champion, I have been flooded with so many amazing opportunities. TSC
was featured in my favorite monthly subscription box, The Bookie Box, which was so exciting. I
participated in interviews with some really great people that I have a lot of respect for, and I've
been contacted by publishers and agents. Though, thus far I have politely declined. Honestly,
the key to finding opportunities as an author is simple. You just have to be visible. A lot of
others shy away from having a public presence, or a social media presence, and that’s stupid.
Create a powerful professional website, create a contact page that is easy to locate, make it easy
for opportunities to come your way by plastering yourself all over the internet, basically. And
Number Ten (10): Pride. I'm proud of myself. I'm really happy with how the TSC release went. And,
I'm thrilled with how TSC turned out. I've had such a positive experience and I'm so touched
that people love this story because I worked really hard on it. I think a lot of people get
caught up in the craziness of the book launch that they forget to grasp the bigger picture,
which is, you wrote a book! So many people try to do that and fail, but you did it. That's
something to be immensely proud of. So there you have it, those are the ten best things that
happened after I launched The Savior's Champion. I'm so grateful that I get to do what I love as a
career. It's not easy to make happen, but despite the naysayers, the horror stories, and the doubts,
the fact is it can happen. If you wanna learn everything about my book release process and how
I was able to make all of this stuff happen in specific detail, definitely check out my newest
class on Skillshare. I really think you're going to love it. Skillshare Premium is super cheap,
an annual subscription is less than ten bucks a month. But as a thank you for being so amazing,
Skillshare is offering two months of Skillshare Premium for FREE to the first 500 people who
click the activation link below. That means not only can you take my new book release class,
you can also take it for free! And you can take thousands of other classes for free,
for two months, so why not! Click the link, save yourself some money,
it's a good time. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel. I post new videos on Wednesdays,
and if you wanna be alerted as SOON as I upload you, just gotta ring that bell down below. You
should totally do it, cuz I said so. The Savior's Champion is available in ebook and hardback as
well as signed hardbacks. All the links are listed below. And be sure to follow me on
social media. I'm on Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, and of course you can tweet @JennaMoreci! Bye!