Digital printing initially meant professional printing where an author could do small runs of their books. There was a higher um curso em milagres to offset printing, but for authors on a limited budget, it was a great way to go. This still required an author to store the books.
In the late nineties, we didn’t have the resources we do today such as POD-print on demand. Amazon.com released the first Kindle reader on November 19, 2007.
One of the most revolutionary changes happened when print-on-demand options, such as Lulu and CreateSpace came on the horizon.
There is no storage whatsoever required if an author sells his or her books through online bookstores like Amazon.
With these new technologies came lots of opportunities for authors from every genre. Yet, one huge challenge still existed-selling books.
Countless authors have not understood nor have they been willing to take responsibility for sales of their books. Many still believe all they need to do is get a book to market and somehow readers will find it. Nothing could be further from the truth.
As with physical books, it is necessary for authors to take control of marketing their books, regardless of the chosen format.
In the past few years, online book launches have become very popular. In the late nineties a few progressive marketers gathered together dozens (even hundreds) of joint-venture partners, who would help spread the word about the author’s book.
In trade for promoting the book, the partners would offer an ethical bribe in hopes of getting lots of opt-in subscribers. Launches came and went in one day. There was a big hurrah for 24 hours but then things fizzled out.
Although an author could feasibly sell hundreds, even thousands, of books with a one-day launch, most had no plan for what came next.
Additionally, most book buyers are no longer interested in a bunch of useless bonus gifts they will never use. Today’s reader would much rather get a quality book. Bonuses can still work, but fewer are better, and they absolutely need to be a high complement to the topic of the book.
Today, more than ever, an author needs a more sophisticated approach to a book launch. Not only does the author need to plan for what I refer to as a rolling launch, but to get the greatest result, the launch needs to begin as much as 6-12 months before the book-release date.
A rolling launch simply means it is ongoing and has more benefit than simply being able to say the book hit bestseller on Amazon.com and BN.com for a day.
