What’s the Difference Between Book Promotion and a {Bestseller} Book Launch

Last week, we looked at “3 Must-Ask Questions BEFORE Self-Publishing Your Book” – and there’s so much more than just hitting “publish” and calling it a day! Here is the difference between book promotion and a {bestseller} book launch.

Book promotion is something that all authors need to be concerned about. And it’s the piece of marketing your book that isn’t going away. Ever.

Bottom line:

You have to keep promoting your book, regardless of if it’s new or not. Without ongoing promotion, your book won’t reach the people its meant to reach.

Let me pause here a moment. THIS is why you need to write a book you’re proud of, a book that shares your message. Because you’ll always be nudging the promotion along; you’ll always be investing energy in the book and its results. When it’s a message-driven book, that’s no problem because it’s your MESSAGE. It’s something you love and love to share – no matter what.

What is the difference between book promotion and a bestseller book launch? Click To TweetA book that is just a “check the box, I’ve got a book” … yeah, not so much. The idea of promoting THAT type of book month in and month out usually makes people feel faintly ill.

Your book promotion does start before the book launch – and carries on long after you have a bestselling book. While it is a “never going to end” task, it can be the type of marketing that you gently nudge along, fitting it into your day-to-day ongoing marketing efforts that you’re already doing.

A bestseller book launch is not an ongoing process. Done right, it’s a huge surge of effort and momentum to explode your book into the marketplace, get a bunch of people excited to buy (and READ!), and then gives you something to get newsworthy about.

And no, before you ask, a bestseller book launch has nothing to do with the book’s release date! In a perfect world, you’re always 100% ready to tie your launch to the book’s release – and use both to jumpstart the marketing for a program, course, or seminar that ties into the book’s content.

In the real world, you can have a bestselling book launch at any time in your book’s life.

For my clients, I’ve done bestseller launches at the book’s release and I’ve done them months (or even years) after the book was first published.

For myself, I even did a bestseller launch on a book that had been published YEARS before and had already been a bestseller several times. I was still able to make it into a bestseller (again!)

What do these two types of marketing have in common?

They both require a concrete marketing plan and the technical know-how to execute them successfully.

Meaning that while you can muddle along and try the DIY option, hiring an expert is a much better option. If you’re ready to have a conversation about your book’s marketing or bestseller launch, Apply for a Discovery Session here.

Kim Galloway
Find me!
Latest posts by Kim Galloway (see all)