How to launch a car? A Google search.

Hellloooo ATB readers!

How’s your summer going? Mine? Mine’s been hectic. Between camp, swim team, dance classes, vacation, writing -- I don’t know which end is up. Also I’m launching a book on Tuesday.

I repeat I’m launching a book on Tuesday. 

It’s hella hard launching a book in the summer. Between giving myself a crash course in Amazon and Facebook ads and trying to drum up some kind of buzz for the book, I have had little time to actually figure out how to launch it. So I thought I’d google it. And then I thought, I’ll blog about it. 

Here’s my google search.  

So....

I really can’t imagine owning a boat and not knowing how to get it into the water. That seems dumb. You spend all this money on a boat, you didn't think to ask the salesman, "How do I launch it?"

I have no idea how someone launches a car. Do you?

Fortnite. Do you have kids? I do. My 8-year-old is obsessed with Fortnite. It is the bane of my existence. I don’t get it. I don’t want to get it. I just hope it’s not melting his impressionable brain.

How to launch a podcast? I not gonna lie. This has crossed my mind before. I’m sure I’ve searched several times how to make a podcast because I love podcasts. I wish I was super niche so I could create a cool podcast. Or be on someone’s podcast. Just let me podcast!

How to launch a product? That’s sort of what I’m trying to do now, albeit poorly.

An app? Does your app help me sell books? No? Moving on.

What the hell is an ico? (*looks it up*) It's....Initial Coin Offering. I don’t want to google this. I don’t care enough. It sounds boring.

A website? Easy peasy when you're an indie author.

A manual car? Again, who is launching cars? And where? Into space? From a catapult? Over a fence? How are we launching cars?

Jupyter notebook? WTF is this? I’ll google it. Ugh. It’s software jargon. I’m already checked out.

Whoever said summer is lazy has not been in my head or to my house. I’m hella busy. What about you, folks? How’s your summer going? Anyone want to pony up to $2.99 to buy my book? If you're my age, you'll get this reference--remember Brendan Fraser and Matt Damon in School Ties? It's like that but with blackmail and death and stuff. 

#TeaserTuesday: Branding Your Book Launch

Full disclaimer #1: I don't know if other genres do the whole #TeaserTuesday thing on social media like the romance genre does. I read mostly romance and write romance exclusively, so that's where my main focus lies.

Full disclaimer #2: My "method" isn't scientific or even proven. But it is what I see lots of successful romance authors doing and why re-invent the wheel?

Full disclaimer #3: Even if you don't embrace #TeaserTuesday, branding your book launch doesn't seem like a bad idea?

I have a new book coming out October 11. Yay! It's called A BRIT COMPLICATED and it's the third book in my rom com series. I have high hopes for this book because I have such a crush on the hero, you guys. (Weird, but you get it, right?) But, I'll be honest, I'm also way more nervous about this release than I was about book two. A lot of series tend to fizzle -- and/or intentionally end -- at book three, and I'm not ready to stop living in this rom com world.

So, I've been thinking about branding. A lot. My series covers are branded really well and the third one fits in perfectly with these two:

(I can't show you yet, but my cover designer is on it, trust me.) So, opportunity #1 for branding -- that box is checked.

Then there's the whole #TeaserTuesday thing, another opportunity to brand my book launch pre-release. I realized pretty quickly I'd done a crap job with my past two releases. As in the branding and consistency in my graphics was nonexistent. I started branding the teasers of my last release, A BRIT UNEXPECTED, but when they didn't gain traction, I switched it up. Now when I look at my teasers collectively, you wouldn't even realize they were for the same book.

Bleh, right? Where's the branding? Let me answer that one. Aside from the book title, is none.

Seven weeks out from my next launch, I know I need to do things differently. So, I started looking at some of the best sellers in my genre. And guess what they do really well? They brand their teasers on their website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram! They all match!

Look at Emma Chase's teasers for ROYALLY ENDOWED, her latest release:

You only need to glance at them to know they're for the same book. They all have the same white background, red writing and the book cover. 

Lauren Layne also does this well. Look at her teasers for READY TO RUN, her book that came out this week:

She does one better -- all of her teasers have one of two backgrounds. Only the blocked text changes! How cool -- and effective -- is that?

As I said in the beginning of this post, I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel, so I'm focusing on consistent branding with my upcoming launch. I spent last Friday night making picture teasers and ALL of them are similar to this:

Same fonts, same colors, same logo (which I'll switch to the book cover after my reveal). When I look in my Google Drive and see all the images side by side, I see consistency. I see the same look and feel, and the same font combination, which hopefully will help readers associate with my upcoming book. 

Will it make a difference in sales? That's still TBD. But it can't hurt, right? I'll report back post-release and let you know. In the meantime, I'd love to know more about your branding in the comments. Is this something you think a lot about? How do you brand your book launch?

Preparing For a Book Launch -- A Checklist

My new book, A BRIT ON THE SIDE, releases a week from today! Cue all of the flails -- and the to-do list! Here's a peek at mine:

1.  Create final-final version of e-book. I use Vellum to create my e-book files, which is SUPER easy. No coding or fiddling involved, and it even reminds you to include your "Also By" pages in the back of the book.

2.  Proofread final-final version of e-book. Again. For the 1,437th time. Just to make sure nothing's gone wrong in the file conversion.

3.  Upload to retailers. I upload to KDP directly and use Draft2Digital for the rest. Some vendors take longer than others (looking at you, iBooks), which needs to be taken into account when uploading files. Hint: uploading files on a Friday for a Monday release is NOT enough time for the book to be live on all vendors. I'm NOT doing a pre-order for my upcoming release, so this timing is key for me.

4.  Update author website with buy links. In theory, you've already updated your author website with the cover, Goodreads link, blurb and teasers, so all that's left to do is add those all-important vendor links.

5.  Create teasers. I'm not sure if this is a thing in genres outside of romance, but #TeaserTuesday is a BIG thing. Teasers start at least six weeks prior to release, but the week before calls for a flurry of teasers. Again, in theory you can create these anytime but if you're like me you're squeezing them in amongst everything else.

6.  Experiment with graphics for Facebook ads. I'm a big fan of Facebook ads and now Facebook has a new ad option called "Brand Awareness," which is a relatively low-cost way to experiment with graphics for ads before you're paying big bucks for clicks. I say relative because, well, even $3/day adds up. Basically, Brand Awareness delivers your ad to your target audience and you pay per estimated ad recall lift (EARL). You can read more about EARL here. Brand Awareness is a new advertising option on FB and I'm using it for the first time now, so I'll report back post-launch and let you know if I thought it had any impact.

7.  Create graphics and copy for launch-day Facebook ads. There's a lot of debate about direct-to-retailer links in ads vs ads leading potential buyers to your webpage, which then has all retailer links. My own practice is to go direct to Amazon and include links to other retailers in the ad copy. I've already tested my graphics (see #6 above), so now all I've got to do is wait for my retailer links and set my budget.

8.  Make a list of additional advertising venues. Books cannot be sold via Facebook alone and having a list of quality sites for advertising is key. This again requires buy links, but doing the research gets you more than half-way there.

9.  Create a release-day launch kit. Assume friends/bloggers/your weird Aunt Sally will want to share the news of your release. Better to have a bit of input into that, yes? I suggest creating a document to have at the ready that includes: your book cover, blurb, link to Goodreads, link to retailers, a few early review quotes.

10.  Reach out to blogger/author friends to gently remind them of your upcoming release. If you've had author friends blurb your book, offer them last-minute ARCs for their reader groups. If a blogger loved your book, offer ARCs for a giveaway. If you're active in a FB reader group, reach out to the owner of the group and ask if you can publicize in the group on release day. I HATE asking, but I've learned that it's definitely not the worst thing and often your offer is met with a "Yay! I don't have to plan a post today" sigh of relief.

11.  Draft email to send to ARC reviewers thanking them for advance reviews and asking them to post on retail sites. Goodreads reviews are fab, but let's face it -- we al want reviews on the 'Zon. Include retailer links to make this as easy as possible.

12.  Plan a celebration. In my opinion, the WORST thing to do on release day is to sit alone with your computer and continually check rankings and reviews. Much better to plan lunch/dinner/drinks with family or friends. Even better -- plan all three! You've just published a book and if that's not cause for celebration, I don't know what is!

In the name of shameless self-promotion, I've got my favorite teaser from  A BRIT ON THE SIDE to share with you! I've also got an ARC  to give away to one lucky blog reader. Just comment on this post and I'll pick a winner later this week. 

It's my book birthday!

I just wanted to announce to the world, or err ATB readers, that the first in my new mystery series, Dead and Breakfast, has been published today! Woot!! *throws confetti*

This is a Kindle Scout winner and it's available exclusively on Amazon for a mere $3.49. You can't go to a fancy coffee shop for less.

If you love a page-turning mystery with murder, ghosts, and the oppressive humidity of the Florida Keys, then you'll definitely want to pick this up.

Help spread the word -- click to tweet below.

Tweet: Happy Book Birthday, @KGGiarratano! Dead and Breakfast -- murder and mayhem in a haunted hotel. Get it! http://ctt.ec/Q1b8U+