Okay, I’m trying to balance two things out. First, I want to provide decent content on this blog. I don’t want to post a blog about Book Launch Teams (BLTs) and have it be 200 words about how I think BLTs are a good idea. I want to give some decent content and direction on how to implement a BLT based on experience and research.
The problem is, however, content takes up a lot of space.
So I’m splitting the four-part Book Launch Team thing into five parts. 🙂 The final part will, I expect, be a post with simple steps to follow to get your BLT up and running.
In our fourth part in this series on Book Launch Teams (BLTs), I want to take a look at your interaction with and responses from your BLT.
Focus:
During my BLTs, I focused in on three areas: feedback on the book, discussion on how to write well and a little bit about the publishing process.
For the young people who were part of the BLTs, the discussion about how to write well was often a highlight for them. We spoke about writing detail, character development and how to outline a story. What we covered was pretty basic, but I wasn’t looking to offer a Masters level course. We were doing a 45-minute session, once a week, offered over a period of 5 weeks. 🙂
On the note of “how to write well,” consider this with your BLT members… you are an author, so be creative as you talk about how to write well. Make it fun. Make interesting. Make it memorable. You’re an author, so draw them in and use your words to give them a passion for writing!
The time we had together was fun!
Interaction and Responses
One of the exciting parts of the BLTs was to see the excitement grow in some of the members about writing their own book. As we spoke about writing and publishing and talked through the whole process, these young readers were encouraged to write their own books. One of the young ladies started writing a book based on the story outline we laid out in the BLT. I had another BLT member who started writing a form of an autobiography. I had another one sharing with me that she wanted to write a book one day. That kind of thing is pretty awesome. It’s fun to encourage young readers.
The process was also encouraging for me as it allowed me to get some feedback from readers who were not connected with me. A lot of the feedback I’d received from proof-readers was from people I knew. Many of them were honest and open with me, but they know me and they care about me. These readers, for the most part, did not know me. The lack of previous connection allowed them to read it a little more as though they had simply pulled the book off the shelf. That’s a helpful perspective for you as an author to have.
I was encouraged through the BLT to find that the readers just loved the book. One young man (I feared he was too young to be in the group) shared with me that he really only read books with lots of pictures. He told me this on day one of my first BLT. My book is… well… there’s cover art and a map… but other than that, it’s just text. Picture books do not have much text. My book is also longer than the average book for young readers (it’s about 65k words–many books for that age group are closer to 20k.).
I didn’t think he’d get through it. I really didn’t.
I’m happy to say that he proved me wrong. He loved the book enough that he didn’t seem to struggle at all to keep up–in fact, he even kept up better than some of the others. He jumped in on the reading and loved it!
Don’t underestimate the value of hearing from these readers. It can be a great source of encouragement for you.
It can also be an eye-opener for you.
It is possible… hmm… okay… I’m just going to say this. What if your book stinks, and it needs some major adjustments?
Your book launch team experience will make that crystal clear to you. If they avoid telling you anything about the book… if they all stop coming and get awkward when you ask them why they stopped… if they simply tell you it’s the worst thing they have ever had the misfortune of reading… that all hurts. But that’s good to know. If that’s the feedback you receive, cancel your launch date and go back to the drawing board. Better that than launch a terrible book and have to spend years rebuilding trust in your readers.
You can, of course, publish a mess of a book and then fix it later, but really… who is going read it the fixed up version? If you publish the book before it is ready, you will have a tough time digging your way out at a later date.
On that note, remember to check out the three interviews I conducted with editors. The three I interviewed are all editors who will not only find mistakes in your writing, but they are quality editors who will help you craft a quality book. Use them!
Interview with an Editor Part I–Eric Shay Howard
Interview with an Editor Part II–Deborah A. Bowman
Interview with an Editor Part III–B. N. Harrison
Here’s a little more info to pull all this together:
I ran two of my groups for five weeks and one for four weeks.
We met for 45 minutes each time, but we probably could have used more time.
I gave them each a printed copy of the book on week one, which meant they didn’t start reading till after the first week.
We met in a local library for two of the groups.
We started meeting so that we would end about 3-4 weeks before the launch of the book. I would suggest to you that a better timing (based on my experience) would be to finish the week before the book comes out (or even the week after). One
of our groups did finish the week before the actual launch and that was great!
If I could only make one change, I would have had the last BLT meeting after the actual on-sale date of the book. Doing it that way allows you to encourage them to give reviews–right away. You can say, “Go home right now and leave a review!!!”
Reviews
Remember, it is acceptable for you to ask people to leave a review. It is also acceptable for you to give them a copy of a book in exchange for an honest review. It is NOT acceptable for you to ask them to leave a certain level of review. In other words, you can’t require that anyone leave a 5-star review (as much as you may want them to).
Okay, that’s all I have to cover in terms of information about Book Launch Teams. In the fifth part of this series, I’ll lay out a recommended set of steps to work through the BLT process.
Don’t forget to check out the other blogs in this series:
Blog # 1: Benefits of a Book Launch Team, Goals for a Book Launch Team and The Give and Take of a Book Launch Team (what I offered them, what I asked of them).
Blog # 2: Content and Focus of the Book Launch Team
Blog # 4: Interaction and Responses with your Book Launch Team
Blog # 5: Steps to Run an Effective Book Launch Team
Comment below with your own BLT experiences!
Shawn
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