How Anyone Can Launch
a Bestselling Book

Putting a book out into the world is terrifying. There are so many things that are poured into that moment.

You’ve worked on this project for months, or years.

Your family has encouraged you. Your friends have doubted you.

You’ve spent money you don’t have on editing and cover design.

You’ve dreamed about this moment.

And now--you’re finally launching your book!

But when the time comes, what do you do to make that launch successful?

Maybe you’ve Googled it. I did.

Here’s some of the advice I found:

• Embed a Retweet button in a free chapter of the book
• Leverage photos on Facebook
• Post to free eBook sites
• Hold a few GoodReads giveaways
• Encourage word-of-mouth

This is why it’s so hard to launch your book.

You know that most of the advice you find isn’t actually going to work.

Sure, adding a retweet button or putting photos on Facebook might sell a handful of copies.

But you don’t want to sell a handful of copies!

You want to have a successful launch.

What do you really want as an author?

Of course you dream of having a big-time New York Times bestselling book one day. That’d be great, obviously.

But really, all you want is to sell enough copies to keep writing.

Maybe even get to the point where you can support your family.

Get out of the rat race and actually have time to write.

Sell enough books to show yourself that it was worth all this time and effort, and that you’re not an idiot for having this dream in the first place.

But once again, we circle back around to the problem . . .

How do you actually launch your book?

No matter how much you Google and read and ask your author friends, all that advice never seems to crystallize into an actual plan.

So your book comes out, and you post about it on Facebook and Twitter, and on your blog.

You get excited as some sales start rolling in, and you see your Amazon ranking start to spike.

You run past the #100,000 rank in your Amazon category.

Then you break past #50,000.

Then #20,000!

Somewhere around the #18,000 mark, it’s midnight on your launch day, and you’re exhausted. So you go to bed, excited to see where you’ll be in the morning.

You might even put your laptop next to the bed, so you can check your ranking first thing.

But when you check again in the morning, it’s dropped back down to around the #20,000 mark.

You post about the book a few more times on Facebook, trying not to sound too desperate.

Your book’s ranking drops to #30,000.

Then to #50,000.

Then...

The fear sets in. And the shame.

The realization that this book is going to be a failure in terms of sales, and that you have no idea how you’re going to get closer to your dream of being a full-time writer.

A week later, and all it takes to get you excited is a single sale coming in.

And you’re not alone. Because according to industry stats:

Most books sell less than 250 copies in their first year.

That applies to both indie and traditionally published books.

250 copies!

If you’re making $2 a book . . . dear god, that’s only $500!

That doesn’t even cover your editing and design expenses, never mind all the time you spent writing!

And it definitely doesn’t get you any closer to your goal of writing full-time.

“My Amazon ranking is sitting at #176,037.
God, I’m so embarrassed!”

And that’s not the sad part. Here’s what’s so bad about launching a book that doesn’t sell:

It takes you even further away from your goal of being a successful writer.

The support from your family and friends starts to falter.

Maybe you should just be happy teaching middle school English the rest of your life.

Or sitting in a cubicle answering phones.

Or serving coffee in a diner.

Now it’s harder than ever to sit down and write.

Because — what’s the point? You’re just going to put another book out into the world, sell a few dozen copies, and be done.

And every day you don’t move towards your goal, you’re getting further away from it.

But what if that wasn’t the case?

What if, instead of launching a book and hoping it sells, you had an actual concrete plan — a proven way to sell your book?

And not just 250 copies, but enough to make a dent in your dreams.

Pay some bills with the money. Quit your full-time job.

Become a bestselling author.

Not just bestselling-in-some-obscure-Amazon-category . . . but a legit New York Times or Wall Street Journal or Washington Post or USA Today bestseller.

Sound impossible? I used to think so too . . .

Hi, I’m Tim Grahl.

I’ve spent the last 10 years working with authors to help them connect with readers, build their platforms, and sell more books.

During that journey, I’ve worked directly with hundreds of authors of all kinds. I’ve worked with fiction and nonfiction authors. From big-time bestselling authors, to writers trying to get their first project off the ground.

I’ve also done consulting work for hundreds of other successful authors, and trained tens of thousands of authors through my online courses and trainings.

During that time, I’ve launched dozens of bestselling books — including multiple #1 bestsellers on major lists such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, among others.

But, of course, that’s not where I started.

Like everyone else, I started out knowing nothing about book marketing.

I assumed that in order to be successful, you have to have a big-time publisher that will put out a ton of money to promote your book, and a big New York publicist who can get you on the Today show.

Then I met the guy who was about to become the bestselling author of I Will Teach You To Be Rich

Way back in 2008, I started working with Ramit Sethi behind-the-scenes, helping with his website and other technology. When he landed a book contract, he hired me to help continue to build his author platform.

I worked with him that whole year, leading up to his launch.

And honestly — I didn’t think much would come of it. He was one of my many clients. I worked hard for him, but come on! It wasn’t like the book was going to go that far.

He didn’t have a publicist.

He didn’t have ads going in any magazines.

He wasn’t on a speaking tour.

And he definitely wasn’t getting interviewed on the Today Show.

And then . . .

That’s right.

His book debuted at #9 on the New York Times bestseller list.

What just happened here?

What I didn’t know, was that Ramit had found the secret to successful book launches — and it wasn’t spending $50k on a publicist.

Or buying ads in Times Square.

He’d done it all with the same low-cost, low-maintenance tools you have available for your marketing.

The difference is, he had an actual Step-by-Step Plan to use those tools in the right way.

That experience put me on quest — to find out how he’d broken all the big-money-owns-publishing rules, and had still launched a bestseller.

I had just three questions:

• Was it a fluke? Did Ramit just get lucky?
• If not, then WTF did he do, to pull this off?
• And finally, could it work for other authors?

That was years ago, and I can now say without a doubt that:

• No, it was not a fluke.
• I figured out what he did, and
• I have absolutely seen those methods work great for other authors. And they have continued to work, again and again.

Working with Ramit set me on the path to finding a solution to the book launch problem — one that can work for any author.

And over the last 10 years, I’ve developed those methods into a proven, step-by-step system that works consistently and predictably.

Here’s just a few of the results reached by clients who have hired me to plan their book launches:

• Daniel Pink’s To Sell Is Human hit #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post bestseller lists -- all at the same time.
• Chip and Dan Heath’s book Decisive debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list.
• Hugh Howey’s novel Dust debuted at #7 on the New York Times bestseller list.
• Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit debuted at #3 on the New York Times bestseller list.
• Sally Hogshead’s How the World Sees You debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list

In fact, in one week I had five clients on the New York Times bestseller list at the same time.

But here’s what’s so great about all of this: These methods I cracked into don’t only work for big-time, already-established authors.

They also work for new authors trying to get a book off the ground for the first time — for example:

• My book Your First 1000 Copies is a niche indie-published book that sold more than 10,000 copies in its first year.
• Michael Bunker’s novel Pennsylvania sold more than 80,000 copies last year — and he became a USA Today bestseller!

So now the question is, How do you get to that point?

First let’s find out why you’re not already having successful book launches.

There’s tons of free information out there about book marketing and book launches. So why hasn’t it worked for you?

You have the book. You can put it on Amazon, the most popular bookstore in the world, for free.

But...

• Do you know how to find your audience?
• Do you know how to get them to buy?
• Do you know how to get them to buy now, instead of later?
• Do you know how to get other authors to help promote your book?
• Do you know how to leverage social media in ways that deliver book sales?

Theoretically, you can find a lot of answers online and in book marketing books. So why isn’t that advice working for you?

There are 3 reasons why you haven’t found success yet:

1. The unknown unknowns are killing you.

There are so many things that go into a successful launch that you don’t even know about. Sure, you might absorb a few good ideas on Twitter and Facebook, and maybe a blog post or two. But that’s just the tip of a huge iceberg. What you can see is just the beginning.

Successful book launches are well planned and well timed to have the biggest impact possible. And if you miss any of the important pieces, the whole thing can fall apart.

Trust me. I’ve seen them fall apart.

And it’s always because of things we didn’t know that we didn’t know.

2. You have no start-to-finish, chronological plan.

Successful launches are not random events.

Authors don’t throw together a few Facebook updates and blog posts the night before, then watch their rankings skyrocket the next day.

There is a proven plan, enacted from start to finish, that gets their books selling fast.

3. You have no idea what to say.

Even if I dropped an email list of 50,000 fans and a Twitter following of 100,000 on you tomorrow, you’d probably be paralyzed, because you have no idea what to say to actually get people to buy.

Writing the kind of content that sells is simple — but hard.

You have to know what to say and when to say it, to get people to buy.

Once you have these three things in place, you’ll have a successful book launch.

Do you want to launch a book and know that it’s going to sell? That’s what these authors have in common:

• Hugh Howey
• Daniel Pink
• Tim Ferriss
• Ryan Holiday
• Michael Bunker
• Charles Duhigg
• Josh Kaufman
• Nathan Barry
• Charles Hoehn
• Gretchen Rubin
• Jeff Goins
• Steve Scott
• Joanna Penn

Those are just a handful of the authors I’ve worked with, studied, or interviewed to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

And I’ve taken every single thing I’ve learned and tested it in the real world, over and over, to see what actually works.

Here’s what authors say about my work:

Launch a Bestseller is the only program available that has been tried and tested over dozens of bestselling launches, across both fiction and nonfiction genres.

As soon as you join, you’ll access more than 8 hours of video lessons that take you start-to-finish through creating your own book launch plan.

You’ll learn the exact strategies, timing, tactics, and content to use to successfully launch your bestseller.

This isn’t about selling a couple dozen extra books. You’re going to bust through that “250 copies” ceiling and launch a book that sells thousands of copies.

Why is Launch a Bestseller different?

There are hundreds of books, blog posts, podcasts, and other courses out there that offer book marketing plans.

So what makes Launch a Bestseller matter?

There are 3 fundamental things that set Launch a Bestseller apart from the rest:

1. It’s been tested in the Real World.

Most of book marketing advice is based on people’s assumptions and speculations about what will work. They read some books and talk to a few successful authors, and decide that now they’re an expert.

Unfortunately, that’s why most of their advice doesn’t work, and you’ve probably wasted your own time and money trying that advice.

The plan laid out in Launch a Bestseller is not my best guess on what will work. It’s a proven system that has worked over and over again. Every single piece of this program has been real-world tested on actual book launches. I don’t teach anything in this plan until I see proof that it will work — for any author.

2. It’s been tested across many authors and genres.

There are many authors out there sharing their methods for finding success. In most cases, they are working very hard to be helpful. And some of their advice may work for you.

But the problem is, it’s only been tested once! It’s worked for that particular author — for their personality, their strengths and weaknesses, their genre, their writing, their connections.

What are the odds that it’s going to work exactly the same for you?

The system laid out in Launch a Bestseller has been proven to work for hundreds of authors from all walks of life, in all genres, of all ages. I’ve worked directly with almost 200 authors, and seen what works and what doesn’t, across a huge spectrum.

When I built the system that became Launch a Bestseller, I threw out the methods that don’t work for everyone, and kept only what works reliably, for any author.

3. It’s been tested through years of launches.

The vast majority of book marketing advice is based on a very short window of success — tactics that are here today and gone tomorrow. Someone found a loophole in how things work and sold a bunch of books, but by the time you’re learning it, it doesn’t work anymore.

Not so, with Launch a Bestseller! The system you’ll learn has not only worked over and over for years.

It’s based on fundamental ideas in marketing and human psychology that have been proven over decades of research and solid results.

This isn’t a collection of flash-in-the-pan tactics. It’s a start-to-finish system that is proven and reliable.

This is a customizable step-by-step plan that takes you from start to finish.

The Launch a Bestseller program will provide you with a plan you can follow step by step, to create your own launch.

You are a not a one-size-fits-all author, so Launch a Bestseller is not a one-size-fits-all program.

When you access Launch a Bestseller, you will take a short survey that will provide you with a custom roadmap that is just for your launch.

Plus, you’ll have unlimited access to Launch a Bestseller, so you can create a new custom roadmap each time you launch a new book.

A peek inside of Launch a Bestseller

Inside of Launch a Bestseller you will find high-definition video lessons, downloadable worksheets and checklists, interviews with top experts, and your custom roadmaps, all available in mobile-friendly, easy-to-use format.

Each of the modules is laid out to take you from Beginner to Expert, and to a Finished Plan.

The lessons include additional downloads and resources, with space for personal note-taking, to help you build your final launch plan.

From start to finish, I’ve designed Launch a Bestseller to be easy to use and fun to learn, so you can move quickly towards your goal of having a successful book launch.

How it works:

FIRST: The Plan – Know What To Do

Based on the information you give me, I will provide you with the exact plan for your book launch, complete with checklists for what needs to be done.

Don’t know how to find the right websites for promoting your book?

I provide a step-by-step process for finding the right places.

Don’t know how to drive pre-orders for your book?

I show you how the biggest bestselling authors have used simple techniques to drive thousands of book sales, before their book is even published. I go as far as walking you through the technology, copy, and exact tactics to make it happen.

This solves one of the biggest challenges you face with a book launch: Knowing what to do.

SECOND: The Timeline – Know When To Do It

It’s great to have a checklist of what needs to be done. But you also need to know when it needs to be done.

I’ll provide you with a timeline that includes everything that needs to be done, and when, covering:

• 6 to 9 months before launch
• 3 to 6 months before launch
• 2 months before launch
• 1 month before launch
• Launch day
• Post-launch (this is ignored by most authors, but is extremely important for the success of your next book)

THIRD: The Roadmap – Your Step-by-Step How-to

There is a lot of content inside of Launch a Bestseller. It can be overwhelming to try to go through it all at once.

So I provide custom road map based on your launch on how to go through the content to get the most out of it.

FOURTH: The Execution – Make It Happen!

Once you have your plan, built a timeline, and filled it in with the step-by-step plans, you are ready to go!

Start at the beginning of your plan and work all the way through it.

If you get stuck at any part of the process, take advantage of your unlimited access to the course material, and go back through the lessons.

Or join me for the monthly Q&A calls that will help you get back on track (more on that below).

FIFTH: Your Next Book

When your next book is ready to launch, you can reset your Launch a Bestseller program and build a new custom roadmap that is perfect for your new book.

In fact, your ongoing, unlimited access allows you to build plans for an unlimited number of books.

Launch a Bestseller offers 5 modules and 60+ lessons with huge benefits — and huge results:

• Make it easy to promote your book. Your step-by-step guide on building a professional Media Kit that will stand out to influencers — in a way that’s easy to manage and completely free.
• Find the best influencers. I show you exactly how you can find the big name influencers who are perfect for helping you sell a lot of copies.
• Craft the right pitch. Form letters and press releases don’t work any more. You have to know how to craft a pitch that will get a “Yes!” My simple steps will help you avoid the mistakes that tank 99% of author’s campaigns. I even give you the exact copy I have used, to huge success for myself and my clients.
• Grow your network fast. How to turn one “Yes!” from an influencer into three more, then nine more influencers promoting your book. It’s simple, I give you the exact email content to use.
• Get the best blurbs. Almost every author makes 3 major mistakes when asking for a blurb. I show you how to avoid these mistakes and give you the exact emails I send to authors to get big-name blurbs.
• Watch me do it. Learn all the tactics, then watch over my shoulder as I go from finding influencers, to crafting the perfect pitch, to getting a “Yes!” and then turning that “Yes!” into three more.
• Build the perfect book launch webpage. Almost every book launch page I see is missing key elements that drive sales. I’ll show you how to make sure you have a book launch page that will drive sales. I’ll even show you a fantastic tool that makes it easier than ever to build out your page.
• Learn the hidden system to getting thousands of pre-orders. Like I mentioned, the vast majority of a successful launch campaign components are hidden from view. I’ll reveal the hidden parts and exactly how they work.
• Save huge amounts of time through automation. No need to handle every single pre-order yet get. I have a start-to-finish method for automating your system. (Even some of the biggest authors don’t know how to do this!)
• Technology made easy. If the idea of dealing with technology terrifies you, have no fear! I do complete walkthroughs on the hardest parts. And almost every action that I recommend uses tools that are absolutely free.
• Leverage social media the right way. We’ve all done it — post constantly to our social media account, and watch as nothing happens. But there is an effective way to use social media. I’ll show you how.
• Create shareable assets. Why won’t people share your book with their social media followers? I tell you why, then show you exactly how to create posts that people will be excited to share.
• Launch teams. This where I see most authors wasting huge amounts of time. I’ll show you how to organize a launch team in a way that is effective and timesaving.

 

Expert Interviews

I’ve brought in my friends and colleagues to add their knowledge, expertise, and experience to Launch a Bestseller:

Charlie Hoehn - Author of Recession Proof Graduate. I first met Charlie when we worked together on Ramit Sethi’s book launch (see above). He went on to work for Tim Ferriss as his Director of Special Projects, and helped launch Ferriss’s major bestselling books. He’s seen the behind-the-scenes on many huge bestselling launches, and will share the major lessons he’s learned.

Josh Kaufman - Author of The Personal MBA and The First 20 Hours. The king of automating book sales, Josh has built a system for his books that have kept them selling year after year. Now he’s breaking away from traditional publishing, so he can be free to go all-in as an indie publisher. Learn his techniques for systematizing book sales so they keep on selling.

Nathan Barry - Author of Authority, Nathan self-publishes his books, and doesn’t make them available on Amazon or any other online retailer. Oh — and he charges four times more than other books in his space, and has seen huge success as an author. How does he do it? He shares his methods in this interview.

Chris Ducker - Author of Virtual Freedom, Chris will speak on the fact that book launches have a ton of moving pieces. Many people bring in an assistant or friend to help, which only ends up causing more stress.

Chris is the expert on how to work with assistants the right way, and save a lot of time in the process. He’ll share the steps you can take to get help during your launch — help that actually helps.

Where are you going next?

Now is the time to make a decision on what is next for you as a writer.

You can keep on doing what you’ve been doing, and getting the same results. Or you can take the shorter, easier route.

You can keep hammering away, making mistake after mistake, hoping to one day figure it out on your own.

Or you can learn from my 10 years of experience, of making my own mistakes and learning what works and what doesn’t, then helping more than 100 authors succeed — and save yourself years of wasted time and thousands of wasted dollars.

To reach your goals of being a successful author, you’re going to have to step out and do something different.

There are 2 ways to take advantage of
Launch a Bestseller.

Which is right for you?

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What if I’m just getting started? Or have no fans? Or my book is already out?

A: This is the situation most authors find themselves in. Every author is brand new at some point!

In Launch a Bestseller, I outline the Long Game launch that I have helped authors use to make their first book a success, while setting themselves up to have huge success for their next book.

Q: Is this another of the same-old “Get your book to #1 in some obscure Amazon category so you can call yourself a bestseller” scam?

A: Absolutely not. I’m not into fake accolades that don’t mean anything. My focus is on selling books. Launch a Bestseller will help you craft a plan that will sell a lot of books and make you a legitimate bestseller.

Q: Can I be successful with this program?

A: First, we have to define the word success.

If you’re hoping to a find a silver bullet that requires very little work on your part and still guarantees a New York Times bestseller, then you will absolutely not be successful with Launch a Bestseller.

However, if you are looking for a system that has a proven track record of launching bestsellers, and you’re ready to put the work in, then yes — Launch a Bestseller will help make your book a success!

Q: How does the course work?

A: The course is built on a customized system designed to make the course easy and fun to take. The 50+ lessons are based on a video formats that are also downloadable in MP3 audio. Additionally, the email templates, checklists, and spreadsheets are downloadable for you to use. The site is also optimized for mobile.

Q: How long do I have access to the course?

A: You have unlimited, lifetime access to this version of the course. You can retake the course as many times as you'd like for additional book launches. All the material will be continuously updated.

Q: How much time does the course take?

A: The course is designed to take at your own pace. If you have a book launch around the corner, you can go through it quickly. If you have time to plan, you can go through it at a slower pace. I recommend setting aside at least 2-3 hours a week to work through material and make your personal launch plan.

Q: Do you guarantee I'll have a New York Times bestselling book?

A: No one can guarantee that you will have a top bestselling book. I do not even guarantee my clients that they will reach New York Times bestselling status, yet they still pay me over five figures to consult on their launch. I can guarantee if you work through the content and put it into practice, you will see huge progress towards your goals of having a top bestselling book.

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