Does Genre Matter in a Book Launch? (Here’s What Really Drives Success)

What if I told you that launching a nonfiction book on leadership isn't that different from launching one on gut health? But writing a memoir versus how to book might demand a shift in book launch strategy. Genre matters, but maybe not the way you think when you're talking about launching a book. If you've got a book launch coming up, then this video is for you.

Hi, I'm Julie the Book Broad, founder of Book Launchers and your host here at Book Launchers tv. Book Launchers is your first choice for all things related to writing books, publishing and promoting nonfiction books. If you're new here, or if you haven't been around for a while, you should know we have made some big changes, including the announcement of our brand new marketing software, Author Launch Kit. Head there right now authorlaunchkit.com to get the best offer we'll ever make for a year long or lifetime. Head there right now to get the best offer we'll ever make for a year long or lifetime. License to this software for nonfiction book marketing and know that it's just 1.0. We have plans for 2.0 and beyond. It is going to get even better and it's already pretty cool. I'm so excited. Excited. But let's talk about genre and book launches. So does genre change how you approach a book launch? Well, absolutely. But we only do nonfiction here. And when we're talking about nonfiction, it's not as much about genre as it is about your goals and resources as an author. Yeah, launching a cookbook is different from launching a personal finance book. And a memoir doesn't launch like a workbook either. But if you're self publishing a nonfiction book title, the real decisions are driven by questions like are you trying to get leads or are you using the book to land media and speaking gigs? Or are you just wanting to share your story with a niche audience? Then my next questions are around. What's your existing audience like? What's your author platform? What time and money do you have to invest in this launch? And what's your timeline like? The answers to these questions are going to dictate what kind of launch you have a lot more than than your genre. The reality is that a launch for someone like Jason Brown, the author of the Five Year Millionaire, with an existing audience, reading his newsletter and checking him out on social media, and he has the financial resources to put towards a major book launch that amplifies his already strong brand. That's a different kind of launch than somebody like Cynthia Pan right here, author of Exit Strategies, who wrote her book saying she had no audience. Now I say she said that because with her supposedly non existent audience, she followed our process and still sold 800 copies for her launch. So she had a lot more support than she thought she had. But I share those two stories because at Book Launchers, we've helped launch hundreds and hundreds of nonfiction books and every launch is different. Some have topped bestseller lists like Imani Roberts with his recent USA Today bestseller Win, or Justin Goodbred on his Wall Street Journal. And some have had breakout success eight months after their book launched, like Jonathan Stanley. What determines your launch plan isn't so much whether your book is a business guide or a self help book or a biography. It's whether you have an email list or you need to build one. You have time or you need more team or ad spend to get things going. You want to go all in on media or lean into community and referrals. Think of genre like seasoning. It adds flavor, but your goals, your budget and your time, well that's the main dish. Can you tell I'm filming this over lunch? I'm probably going to talk about sandwiches next. I won't, I promise. But let me give you a quick breakdown. Health books often benefit from things like podcast tours and niche influencers where business books might be better focused on LinkedIn or speaking engagements and of course media memoirs. Emotional stories with a cause can spark reader driven campaigns, but they have to find you first. So book clubs, library or bookstore events, book book fairs, podcasts, those will all help in discovery. But across all of these, your author platform, content marketing, your stories hook and your pre launch momentum matter more than the genre. One of my favorite stories of a memoir that got momentum is Linda Magoon and her book Live Free and Hike. This is a story of her healing journey after a toxic marriage kept her from hiking, her favorite pastime. So when the marriage ended, she went hiking and healed. When she launched, she didn't have an audience. But being a memoir, we got her into a library for a talk and that went so well. Word spread and the next thing you know libraries and bookstores from all around are asking her to come in and speak. She gains momentum with every talk and is connecting directly with her audience. This is different than an author like say Brent Pullman who wrote Leaders Look Within. He's a very successful business owner, but he also didn't have a huge audience. But he does do daily posts on Facebook and is active on LinkedIn. He activated all of that for a very strong launch and and kept the momentum going years after as he ran Amazon ads and kept up the posts. But more importantly, he did big talks for a variety of audiences, including his alma mater and some leadership departments in schools and beyond. And this is different than someone who has used their talk for leads because in that case their number one goal is going to be less about selling books and more about getting email addresses and connections that build their platform and their audience. This strategy might be a lot more focused on running paid ads to to a direct sales page where they're giving the book away or doing a free plus shipping funnel. By the way, I use my book Self Promote and Succeed for this purpose so you can head on over and get Self Promote and Succeed in Audio for free at selfpromoteandsucceed.com Audio Audible doesn't pay very much for a book sale, so I'd rather give it to you for free and get to know you more. So grab your copy, give it a listen and let me know what you're going to take action on after you've listened to the book. Now as a quick example of how we break this down for authors and customize it each time, let's take a look at part of Cynthia Pan's pre launch roadmap. For her we were doing what's called a phased momentum launch which means we kick off the launch with a 99 cent ebook sale to get some bestseller flags for her on Amazon and some momentum. We do promo stacking for these ebook sales leading into that. We also have her activating her audience and we're starting the pitching for podcasts, book reviews and media. After launch we continue the momentum by suggesting she consistently publish blog posts, video or social media content related to palliative care, caregiver, self care, spirituality, et cetera. We also recommended she engage with audience through email newsletters, social media comments and direct messages and then we continue to pitch media and other related influencers or outlets that are a fit submitting her book for awards, managing ads, checking the metadata, running ebook sales and reviewing quarterly what has worked and what's coming up that we might want to tie into every book and every author will approach pre launch and launch and post launch marketing a little differently. So so how should you launch your book? Well, that's totally up to you and your goals and your resources. But if you want support figuring it all out, we have lots of ways to help you. First we have our brand new Author Launch Kit software which is best paired with our Author Business Accelerator community for one on one support in a group setting and training and cool authors all around to help you. Then we also have our all hands on deck Book Marketing Services, where we'll pitch you for podcasts, speaking media, book awards, bookstores, libraries, and so much more. Visit book launchers.com or complete a form@booklaunchers.com, to set up a call to get the right level of support for your book launch success. Now let's chat in the comments below about what your book is about and what's your goal with it. And hey, we're all about no boringbooks here at Book Launchers. So let's make your launch as exciting as your book.