Your book does not launch alone. It launches through people — a small circle who believe in the work before the world sees it.
The book arrives from the printer. The boxes are stacked in your living room. Launch day is two weeks away. The question every author faces in this moment is not “Is the book ready?” The book is ready. The question is “Are the people ready?”
Most authors have no answer. They have a finished book, and no one is positioned to carry it forward.
The launch team changes this.
What a Launch Team Is
A launch team is not your audience. It is not your readership. It is not the general public. It is a small, specific group of people — ten, fifteen, twenty — who receive the book before publication and agree to do three things in the first two weeks.
Post a review on Amazon. Share the book on social media or by word of mouth. Recommend it personally to one person who needs to read it.
Three actions. Each one small. Together, they create the difference between a book arriving in silence and a book arriving in conversation.
Who Belongs on the Team
Not everyone you know belongs on the launch team. Your mother will buy the book. Your best friend will read it. Neither one needs to be on the launch team unless they are willing to do the three things.
The right launch team members are people who will act. The friend who finishes every book you recommend. The colleague who posts thoughtful content on social media. The book club member who reads widely and talks about what she reads. The neighbor who knows everyone in the community and likes introducing people to new ideas.
You are not looking for fans. You are looking for doers. People who will read the book in the first week, write an honest review, and hand it to someone else.
When Betty Arnett planned her release party, she didn’t send a general announcement. She invited her community — specific people, chosen because she knew they would come and she knew they would care. The result was a packed room. Not because she had a large audience. Because she had the right one.
The launch team works the same way. Small. Specific. Committed.
How to Ask
The ask is personal. Not a mass email. Not a social media post. A direct message or a conversation — one person at a time.
“I’ve finished my book. I’d like you to be one of the first people to read it. If you’re willing, I’ll send you a copy before it’s available to the public. All I ask is an honest review on Amazon in the first two weeks and a recommendation to one person you think would connect with it.”
Most people will say yes. Not because they feel obligated. Because being asked to be among the first to read something is an honor most people recognize. You are not asking for a favor. You are offering one — early access to a book they would have bought anyway, with the added weight of being part of the beginning.
Why the First Two Weeks Matter
Amazon’s algorithm pays attention to velocity. A book receiving five reviews in its first two weeks is treated differently than a book receiving five reviews across six months. The algorithm surfaces books showing early activity. It buries books showing none.
The launch team is the engine crossing the five-review threshold before the launch momentum fades. Without them, the author spends months asking individual readers to review — one at a time, long after the window of greatest visibility has closed.
Ruthann Crosby understood this instinct before the algorithms existed. She sold hundreds of copies of her book through direct connection and personal effort. She didn’t wait for readers to find the book. She carried it to them — one conversation at a time, one community at a time. The launch team is the organized version of what Ruthann did naturally.
I wrote in The Power of Authors what remains the simplest truth in publishing: books don’t sell books. People sell books. The launch team is how you put people behind the book before the world has a chance to ignore it.
Build the team during production. Send the books two weeks before launch. Give them the ask. Then watch what ten committed people can do for a book they believe in.
The launch is not a solo act. It never was.
The Power of Authors by Evan and Lois Swensen explores what it means to write with purpose — and why the authors who build a team around the book reach further than the ones who launch alone.
The Power of Authors is available from Amazon or your favorite bookseller: http://evanswensen.com. If you’d like an autographed copy, you can order it here: http://bit.ly/4pgmzjM.
Author Campaign Method (ACM) for Authorpreneurs
This is Publication Consultants’ motivation for constantly striving to assist authors sell and market their books. Author Campaign Method (ACM) of sales and marketing is Publication Consultants’ plan to accomplish this so that our authors’ books have a reasonable opportunity for success. We know the difference between motion and direction. ACM is direction! ACM is the process for authorpreneurs who are serious about bringing their books to market. ACM is a boon for them.
Release Party
Web Presence
Book Signings
Amazon Author Page
Facebook Profile and Facebook Page
Active Social Media Participation
Ebook Cards
The Great Alaska Book Fair: October 8, 2016
Costco Book Signings
eBook Cards
Benjamin Franklin Award
Jim Misko Book Signing at Barnes and Noble
Cortex is for serious authors and will probably not be of interest to hobbyists. We recorded our Cortex training and information meeting. If you’re a serious author, and did not attend the meeting, and would like to review the training information, kindly let us know. Authors are required to have a Facebook author page to use Cortex.
Correction:
We take the quote by Marcella Smith, Small Press Business Manager, Barnes & Noble seriously: “The author is essential to the success of the book, giving energy behind the book to make it something that a customer will come in and ask for. That is what makes the difference in a book that sells, that develops legs, and has a life of its own. Otherwise the book goes on the shelf and stays there for three months. Then it gets returned.”
This is Publication Consultants’ motivation for constantly striving to assist authors sell and market their books. ACM is Publication Consultants’ plan to accomplish this so that our authors’ books have a reasonable opportunity for success. We know the difference between motion and direction. ACM is direction! ACM is the process for authors who are serious about bringing their books to market. ACM is a boon for serious authors, but a burden for hobbyist. We don’t recommend ACM for hobbyists.
We’re the only publisher we know of that provides authors with book signing opportunities. Book signing are appropriate for hobbyist and essential for serious authors. To schedule a book signing kindly go to our website, <
An Author Page on Amazon Author Central is a serious author ACM requirement and desirable for the hobbyist. Author Central is a free resource designed to help authors become more active participants in the promotion of their books. In Author Central you can manage an Author Page, update information about your books, and view Customer Reviews and sales information for your bibliography. If you don’t already have an Author Page on 
We hear authors complain about all the personal stuff on Facebook. Most of these complaints are because the author doesn’t understand the difference difference between a Facebook profile and a Facebook page. Simply put, a profile is for personal things for friends and family; a page is for business. If your book is just a hobby, then it’s fine to have only a Facebook profile and make your posts for friends and family; however, if you’re serious about your writing, and it’s a business with you, or you want it to be business, then you need a Facebook page as an author. It’s simple to tell if it’s a page or a profile. A profile shows how many friends and a page shows how many likes. Here’s a link <> to a straight forward description on how to set up your author Facebook page.
Active Social Media Participation
Mosquito Books has a new location in the Anchorage international airport and is available for signings with 21 days notice. Jim Misko had a signing there yesterday. His signing report included these words, “Had the best day ever at the airport . . ..”
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