how to self-publish a poetry book: part 3

11 BOOK LAUNCH IDEAS

Good morning!!

Sonja here, with a latte in hand and a sudden desire to share part 3 of my self-publishing series that I’ve been overthinking for 2 months :) In parts one and two, we covered everything from how to assemble, arrange and create your manuscript, to editing the collection and crafting your book covers, to marketing from a more broad sense.

Note that, though this series is specifically on poetry collections, a lot of the content applies to any genre of self-published book! Here are parts one and two incase you missed them:

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In part three today, I wanted to go over book launch ideas because it’s something that I struggled with myself at first. There are so many ways one can market a poetry book for their launch day/week/month and it can be a bit overwhelming to come up with a plan. For me, that’s mainly due to the discomfort I still feel in marketing my own work hahah, but what I’ve learned is to make it fun for myself.

Do you hate going live on TikTok or IG? You don’t have to! Pick a different book launch idea and roll with it. Only do the things that light you up inside! Unless.. is it simply fear or nervousness holding you back from said book launch activity?

In that case, maybe lean into it.. do a thing that scares you, test yourself, prove to yourself that you are capable of more than you think. I was terrified to go live on TikTok the first time I did it, but in the end had a lot of fun and did it many more times later on, along this wild and gnarled path.

this was my launch day photo for my first book

When I launched my first poetry book, Where the Beetle Went for Lunch, I had about 800 followers on Instagram and I think around 100 on TikTok. My launch strategy was to have a 2 week long pre-order period and then simply post a photo of me holding the book on Instagram. I think I made one TikTok about it, and then I just told everybody that I know personally that I NOW HAVE A BOOK!!

I ended up selling over 100 books that week, mainly due to the amount of friends, family and acquaintances that I have but also because perhaps people could tangibly feel my excitement. And perhaps it was contagious. Regardless, looking back, there was a LOT MORE I could have done to promote the launch of my first book.

For the launch my second book, mortal atlas, I worked even harder! I created and shared multiple IG reels, TikToks and stories related to the book-making process and the imminent launch. I did a book cover reveal video and a countdown to launch day, then held a TikTok live to celebrate. Only like 10 people showed up and 3 of them were my mom, boyfriend and best friend lol but it was still a great time!!

andddd the launch day photo for my second book

I’ve been thinking about and writing lists of ideas for my next book launch.. poetry book number 3. Yet-to-be-named book child the third. The book I had to put on the backburner lately, as I was traveling this summer and then moving provinces in the fall.

There are so many exciting ways we can celebrate and create hype around our books when they are born. I want to share my ideas and strategies with you here, and if you feel compelled in the comments to share more ideas, I think we’d all love that! The hive mind is stronger! Without further hesitation, I give you..

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11 Book Launch Ideas