First things first, I shared a survey last week and then forgot to add the link. 🙈
It was for the best, though.
This newsletter started with an explicit expiration date for a reason. It’s a moment-in-time project, not a forever thing.
What does that mean for you?
Weekly reports will continue until June 30th, and then I’m making space for other endeavors.
I’ve loved having this container to document this pivotal point in my journey as a writer, creative, and leader. These reports have also made it easier for me to answer questions at scale, so they’ll stay live even after I stop sharing weekly.
This is starting to sound like a goodbye letter. We’ve still got two and a half months together in this space, and there’s lots more to process.
Let’s get into it.
The Inner Workout book has officially been in the world for an entire month. It feels like it’s been longer.
If you’ve read this newsletter for a while, you know the story. I started book talks at the end of 2020, wrote the book in 2021 and 2022, and have either been in promotion prep mode or full-on promotion mode all year.
I mentioned my book launch strategy in previous newsletters:
1. Lean on my existing community.
2. Take a crescendo approach to promotion.
3. Lean on experts to do the heavy lifting in their areas of expertise.
Today’s report is all about that last point.
Because I’ve had a lot of experiences in my career, I’m decent at many things. However, I’m only excellent at a few.
I’ve DIYed many pieces of my business over the years. I pitched podcasts, partners, and media outlets. Built my own websites. Edited videos. It’s worked out pretty well for the most part, but the launch of my first book felt like a time to treat myself by not doing it all. I wanted to give my book the best chance of success by leaning on experts and freeing up my capacity.
Before I get into the nitty gritty of what that looked like, allow me to acknowledge the financial privilege I have in being able to invest in support. I’m really fortunate to have a portfolio career that allowed me to save up for this book launch for years. That option isn’t available to many first-time authors. If you’re curious to hear more about the dollars and cents of it all, you can get a breakdown on what I spent here.
Here’s what it looked like to lean on experts in my launch and how it panned out for the book’s success:
I drew from successful authors’ strategies
Even though I dropped a healthy amount of cash on this launch, I still did a lot of the work myself. One of my favorite hacks as a business owner is to look at how well-resourced businesses and founders approach situations. I bookmarked book pages on people’s websites, kept a folder of book launch emails, and was always on the lookout for strategies and tactics that I could implement.
I’ve gotten compliments on the webpage for the Inner Workout book, and it looks that good because it draws from the book pages I loved most.
Would I repeat this tactic again for my next book launch? You betcha.
I hired a podcast PR firm
When I initially launched Inner Workout, the company, one of my awareness building tactics was to be a guest on podcasts. And you know what? It helped me build my email list and social media following, even if only at a small scale.
Podcast guesting was something I continued to do, with successful results, as Inner Workout grew. Since I was DIYing the process, I was limited by my capacity to research, pitch, and follow up with podcasts.
As I dreamed up the book launch, I knew this was a tactic worth doubling down on. So I spent the big bucks and hired Scout’s Agency. Their founder co-hosts a top-rated podcast, and it felt like I was buying both the firm’s expertise and their relationships.
This tactic did not disappoint. In our four months of working together, they secured 32 guesting opportunities. Some of these shows have huge, aligned audiences. I don’t know if I would have broken through to them on my own.
In addition to their efforts, I sourced ~10 podcast guest opportunities of my own. I wouldn’t be surprised if I was a guest on 50 podcasts by the end of this year.
We coordinated as many podcasts as we could around the book launch date, and there are podcasts that will continue to go live through the end of this year. I appreciate this approach because I tend to see a bump in my Amazon book ranking as episodes go live. This ensures that people will continue to hear about the book for the rest of this year and beyond.
Beyond the podcast pitching, Scout’s Agency was incredibly supportive. I barely lifted a finger for scheduling. They made sure every podcast had my headshot and bios. They even sent me flowers for my book launch.
I would absolutely do a podcast tour again, not just for the results but also for the ease. My only job was to show up and speak.
I hired a literary publicist
In most cases, a literary publicist also pitches podcasts. I separated these two functions because I really wanted to work with a team that specialized in podcast PR.
My literary publicist, Megan, was a godsend. I received very little support from my publisher’s marketing team, so Megan became a sounding board, a voice of reason, and someone I could trust to always tell it to me straight.
Before I get into results, I want to acknowledge that it’s a weird time for media. Layoffs are happening left and right. Organizations want to do more with less.
I also had a weird situation where another very similar, better positioned book with a more credentialed author shared the same publishing date with me.
That being said, we didn’t get a ton of traditional press. My favorite was this Fast Company piece that was really well received by my network.
Would I invest in a literary publicist again? It depends.
Knowing what I know now about book marketing, I can better position my next book in the market from the get-go, but I’m not entirely sure that traditional media will be the best place to invest my time, money, and efforts in several years.
Beyond considering the state of media, it also depends on where I’m at career-wise and where the business is at. But if I decide to invest in a literary publicist again, you can bet I’m calling up Megan.
Let’s process together
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Invite me to speak at your organization (Mental Health Awareness Month will be here before you know it!)
Take care with the Inner Workout Book