By Meagan Francis<\/strong><\/h3>\nI first started tossing around the idea of self-publishing an e-book years ago, but was always worried about whether I could effectively market a book on my own. When I heard about the concept of a \u201claunch team\u201d via writer Jeff Goins, I knew it was the perfect way to mobilize my community to help me spread the word about the book, and I began plans to write and publish Beyond Baby: Creating a life you love when your kids aren’t so little<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
Who should be on my launch team?<\/h2>\nThis depends a lot on what kind of built-in audience or community you already have. If you have a blog or social network with a solid readership, you can solicit your audience and it will soon become apparent who your \u201csuperfans\u201d are. In my case, since the book was a spinoff of a free 20-week e-course, I approached first the list of students who had gone through the course.<\/p>\n
How should I\u00a0approach potential launch team members?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\nGo where your network is strongest and most engaged. Since I had a solid mailing list of around 600 Beyond Baby students who were already familiar with the premise, I focused my efforts there. (Read\u00a0the e-mail I sent to the list here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n
What should I ask of my launch team members?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\nI decided that my number-one goal was to have a solid number of Amazon reviews, so my only \u201crequirement\u201d to be part of the group was an agreement that they would post an honest review when the book came out. Any additional support they could provide \u2013 social sharing, etc. \u2013 was welcomed, but optional.<\/p>\n
Via a private Facebook group just for the team, I solicited feedback on topics like:<\/p>\n
\n- Book cover design, color schemes, fonts<\/li>\n
- Pricing and sales<\/li>\n
- Affiliate program interest<\/li>\n
- Whether or not they think readers are more likely to download a PDF from the site or buy via Kindle\/Nook<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The launch team loved giving feedback, and those threads were very active.<\/p>\n
But I didn\u2019t want the launch team experience to be all about my asking for help, so I made sure to provide value, too. In addition to a free copy of the book, I offered tips and regular peeks “behind the scenes” at the process of writing it via regular informal videos I created just for team members.<\/p>\n
Results\u00a0and the big picture<\/h2>\n
![\"beyond](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/beyond-baby.jpg\")
<\/a>Beyond Baby<\/em> launched a little over a month ago with 20 reviews on Amazon (mostly 5-star) by the end of launch day and reviews on other sites like GoodReads.com as well. There was a nice sales spike in the first couple of days, and since then sales have been slow but steady. The proceeds have earned back all of my out-of-pocket costs, and I am now working on new ways to mobilize the launch team to help me with a \u201creboot\u201d mini-launch in the fall.<\/p>\n
Should you do this, too?<\/h2>\nIs a launch team for you? I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a magic prescription for an out-of-the-box bestseller, but if you are planning to publish an e-book, it can\u2019t possibly hurt.<\/p>\n
As with a traditionally-published book, for today\u2019s author, a self-published book is about more than just the paycheck, but also the credibility and connection it allows you to create with readers. The Launch Team experience definitely enriched that connection and credibility\u2026and has led to a lot more sales than I could have gotten on my own. With their help, I expect those sales to continue.<\/p>\n
What do you think of this idea? Would you give it a try?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
![\"Meagan](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Meagan-Francis-284x300.jpg\")
<\/a>After seeing a writer’s group post about the street team that my friend \u00a0Meagan Francis put together for her latest book launch, I asked her if she’d share her story in\u00a0the <\/em>Build Book Buzz<\/a> newsletter<\/a>. Several subscribers have asked me to post\u00a0her article online so they could link to it, so here it is. Learn more about the most awesome Meagan Francis and her book \u00a0Beyond Baby: Creating a life you love when your kids aren’t so little<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>on her website<\/a>, <\/em>where she offers courses and coaching programs for authors and online entrepreneurs.<\/em><\/p>\n
How to\u00a0create a street team for your book<\/h3>\nBy Meagan Francis<\/strong><\/p>\n
I first started tossing around the idea of self-publishing an e-book years ago, but was always worried about whether I could effectively market a book on my own. When I heard about the concept of a \u201claunch team\u201d via writer Jeff Goins, I knew it was the perfect way to mobilize my community to help me spread the word about the book, and I began plans to write and publish Beyond Baby: Creating a life you love when your kids aren’t so little<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":20194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,11],"tags":[469,470,471,472],"class_list":["post-6128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-columns","category-tactics","tag-beyond-baby","tag-book-launch-team","tag-meagan-francis","tag-street-team"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to create a street team for your book - Build Book Buzz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Author Meagan Francis explains why and how she put together a street team for her latest book launch.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/how-to-create-a-street-team-for-your-book\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to create a street team for your book - Build Book Buzz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Author Meagan Francis explains why and how she put together a street team for her latest book launch.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/how-to-create-a-street-team-for-your-book\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Build Book Buzz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/buildbookbuzz\" \/>\n<meta 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This depends a lot on what kind of built-in audience or community you already have. If you have a blog or social network with a solid readership, you can solicit your audience and it will soon become apparent who your \u201csuperfans\u201d are. In my case, since the book was a spinoff of a free 20-week e-course, I approached first the list of students who had gone through the course.<\/p>\n
How should I\u00a0approach potential launch team members?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\nGo where your network is strongest and most engaged. Since I had a solid mailing list of around 600 Beyond Baby students who were already familiar with the premise, I focused my efforts there. (Read\u00a0the e-mail I sent to the list here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n
What should I ask of my launch team members?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\nI decided that my number-one goal was to have a solid number of Amazon reviews, so my only \u201crequirement\u201d to be part of the group was an agreement that they would post an honest review when the book came out. Any additional support they could provide \u2013 social sharing, etc. \u2013 was welcomed, but optional.<\/p>\n
Via a private Facebook group just for the team, I solicited feedback on topics like:<\/p>\n
\n- Book cover design, color schemes, fonts<\/li>\n
- Pricing and sales<\/li>\n
- Affiliate program interest<\/li>\n
- Whether or not they think readers are more likely to download a PDF from the site or buy via Kindle\/Nook<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The launch team loved giving feedback, and those threads were very active.<\/p>\n
But I didn\u2019t want the launch team experience to be all about my asking for help, so I made sure to provide value, too. In addition to a free copy of the book, I offered tips and regular peeks “behind the scenes” at the process of writing it via regular informal videos I created just for team members.<\/p>\n
Results\u00a0and the big picture<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Beyond Baby<\/em> launched a little over a month ago with 20 reviews on Amazon (mostly 5-star) by the end of launch day and reviews on other sites like GoodReads.com as well. There was a nice sales spike in the first couple of days, and since then sales have been slow but steady. The proceeds have earned back all of my out-of-pocket costs, and I am now working on new ways to mobilize the launch team to help me with a \u201creboot\u201d mini-launch in the fall.<\/p>\n
Should you do this, too?<\/h2>\nIs a launch team for you? I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a magic prescription for an out-of-the-box bestseller, but if you are planning to publish an e-book, it can\u2019t possibly hurt.<\/p>\n
As with a traditionally-published book, for today\u2019s author, a self-published book is about more than just the paycheck, but also the credibility and connection it allows you to create with readers. The Launch Team experience definitely enriched that connection and credibility\u2026and has led to a lot more sales than I could have gotten on my own. With their help, I expect those sales to continue.<\/p>\n
What do you think of this idea? Would you give it a try?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
<\/a>After seeing a writer’s group post about the street team that my friend \u00a0Meagan Francis put together for her latest book launch, I asked her if she’d share her story in\u00a0the <\/em>Build Book Buzz<\/a> newsletter<\/a>. Several subscribers have asked me to post\u00a0her article online so they could link to it, so here it is. Learn more about the most awesome Meagan Francis and her book \u00a0Beyond Baby: Creating a life you love when your kids aren’t so little<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>on her website<\/a>, <\/em>where she offers courses and coaching programs for authors and online entrepreneurs.<\/em><\/p>\n
How to\u00a0create a street team for your book<\/h3>\nBy Meagan Francis<\/strong><\/p>\n
I first started tossing around the idea of self-publishing an e-book years ago, but was always worried about whether I could effectively market a book on my own. When I heard about the concept of a \u201claunch team\u201d via writer Jeff Goins, I knew it was the perfect way to mobilize my community to help me spread the word about the book, and I began plans to write and publish Beyond Baby: Creating a life you love when your kids aren’t so little<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":20194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,11],"tags":[469,470,471,472],"class_list":["post-6128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-columns","category-tactics","tag-beyond-baby","tag-book-launch-team","tag-meagan-francis","tag-street-team"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to create a street team for your book - Build Book Buzz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" 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I decided that my number-one goal was to have a solid number of Amazon reviews, so my only \u201crequirement\u201d to be part of the group was an agreement that they would post an honest review when the book came out. Any additional support they could provide \u2013 social sharing, etc. \u2013 was welcomed, but optional.<\/p>\n
Via a private Facebook group just for the team, I solicited feedback on topics like:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Book cover design, color schemes, fonts<\/li>\n
- Pricing and sales<\/li>\n
- Affiliate program interest<\/li>\n
- Whether or not they think readers are more likely to download a PDF from the site or buy via Kindle\/Nook<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The launch team loved giving feedback, and those threads were very active.<\/p>\n
But I didn\u2019t want the launch team experience to be all about my asking for help, so I made sure to provide value, too. In addition to a free copy of the book, I offered tips and regular peeks “behind the scenes” at the process of writing it via regular informal videos I created just for team members.<\/p>\n
Results\u00a0and the big picture<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Beyond Baby<\/em> launched a little over a month ago with 20 reviews on Amazon (mostly 5-star) by the end of launch day and reviews on other sites like GoodReads.com as well. There was a nice sales spike in the first couple of days, and since then sales have been slow but steady. The proceeds have earned back all of my out-of-pocket costs, and I am now working on new ways to mobilize the launch team to help me with a \u201creboot\u201d mini-launch in the fall.<\/p>\n
Is a launch team for you? I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a magic prescription for an out-of-the-box bestseller, but if you are planning to publish an e-book, it can\u2019t possibly hurt.<\/p>\n
As with a traditionally-published book, for today\u2019s author, a self-published book is about more than just the paycheck, but also the credibility and connection it allows you to create with readers. The Launch Team experience definitely enriched that connection and credibility\u2026and has led to a lot more sales than I could have gotten on my own. With their help, I expect those sales to continue.<\/p>\n
What do you think of this idea? Would you give it a try?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
![\"Meagan](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Meagan-Francis.jpg\")
<\/a>After seeing a writer’s group post about the street team that my friend \u00a0Meagan Francis put together for her latest book launch, I asked her if she’d share her story in\u00a0the <\/em>Build Book Buzz<\/a> newsletter<\/a>. Several subscribers have asked me to post\u00a0her article online so they could link to it, so here it is. Learn more about the most awesome Meagan Francis and her book \u00a0Beyond Baby: Creating a life you love when your kids aren’t so little<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>on her website<\/a>, <\/em>where she offers courses and coaching programs for authors and online entrepreneurs.<\/em><\/p>\n