Lessons Learned by Participating in an Amazon Bestseller Book Launch Campaign

What you can learn by saying “Yes” to a project, participating and taking notes…

I became an Amazon best-selling author last week.

It’s not really like being a New York Times Best Selling author, but it’s still kind of fun. I contributed to the book, Trust Your Heart: Building Relationships That Build Your Business,  that was launched and promoted to bestseller status in multiple categories on Amazon even breaking into the Top 100 of all Amazon books and #1 in the day’s Movers & Shakers category.

That’s no small feat.

This book was Marnie Pehrson’s brain child. She’s the publisher and the owner of Ideamarketers.com.

Of course, I was delighted to be asked to contribute to the book. But I had no idea that I’d receive such an education in book launches. I was impressed how she drove the book launch to create the success that it experienced in both the print and Kindle editions.

In fact, I thought this would make a good case study from the perspective of a contributor and an online marketer. I learned a few outstanding reminders about the marketing process.

Below you’ll find the top 6 things I learned from Marnie’s launch.

Lessons Learned:

1. Simplicity – By using a private Facebook group to communicate with all 25 contributors, she kept it very simple and engaging. If the launch was too hard to understand, people would have dropped off and gotten lost!
2. Focus – Launch day was focused on one day – May 24, 2012. That made it easy to keep everyone focused on mailing, tweeting, promoting on that day to drive as much sales as possible. Staying focused on one day made it easier to achieve the momentum.
3. Communication – I can’t emphasize this enough. Communication was key. Every time I saw a post from the TYH private group, I had to look because Marnie was doing something worth noting and telling people about it. She kept us up to date with information needed to complete the project, suggesting ways to promote on launch day, providing creative promotional tools and engaging contributors in conversations to brain storm additional methods to promote.
4. Cheerleading – Pumping enthusiasm about the book and the contributors became contagious. Marnie had seeded the private group with a few dedicated evangelists who carried the message proactively, releasing bits of information and teaser material over a period of time. And I’m happy to say that these folks who are actively involved in NAMS were some of the biggest cheerleaders: Adela Rubio, Ellen Britt, Lisa Rae Preston, Dvorah Lansky, and Felicia Slattery.
5. Momentum – As launch day got closer, Marnie communicated more frequently with more focused and actionable content to drive more participation.
6. Dedication – Some will always promote because they signed up to do just that and they follow through – that’s just the way some people are made. Others fall by the wayside. Of the 25 contributors, to the book, 19 were engaged in the private Facebook group in some way contributing to the conversation or ‘liking’ others’ posts.  That’s a 76 percent participation – whether they promoted or not. It also doesn’t mean that those who didn’t participate in the Facebook group didn’t promote, but I didn’t have any way to gauge that. Marnie would, I’m sure.

As the old saying goes, timing is everything.

Below, I’ve laid out the launch timeline with key elements as I saw them through the Facebook group. This does not include the behind-the-scenes activities such as planning, editing, recruiting, printing the books, submission to Amazon, etc.

This is just the promotion effort as I saw it looking through the front window.

Timeline

Feb. 21 – Invite from Marnie to write for the book.

Hi David,

It was great to get to know you at NAMS. Seeing how many wonderful relationships you’ve built I thought you’d be a perfect fit for my new book in the Trust Your Heart Series — “Trust Your Heart: Building Relationships that Build Your Business.” It’s scheduled for launch in May. I know it’s short notice, but I think you’d be a great addition to the book. Contributors include Kendall Summerhawk, Felicia Slattery, Lou Bortone, Shannon Cherry, Lisa Rae Preston, etc.

I’m looking for a 2,000 word chapter by March 2nd. The first half is just your story and the 2nd half is lessons you’ve learned. Details are at (submission site).

We took the 1st book in the series to Amazon Bestseller status in 2 categories and #1 Amazon Mover and Shaker and are planning another big launch for this one. There’s no charge to have your chapter in the book.

Details on promotion are on the submission guidelines found on that same page: (submission site)

Thanks for considering it!

This submission page contained the guidelines for the chapter, the editorial release and any other specifics about the project.

March 2 – Completed and sent my chapter.

March 3 – Chapter accepted. Marnie requested my bio for the book. Sent the bio. Launch is scheduled for the end of May.

April 24 – Marnie set up the Facebook group for the authors / contributors and added all contributors.

April 24 – Call for JV Database Submission. Bonus for all the buyers, and getting all the contributors to seed the dB.

April 25 – Printed books on order and promised to share with contributors when they arrive. Kindle version available pre-release.

May 8 – Logo created. Printed books mailed to contributors.

May 8 – Book cover distributed  for the contributors to post on sites

May12 – Launch details mailed to everyone.

May 12 – Favorite quotes thread created where people post quotes from the chapters to use in the launch.

May 12 – Launch emails posted.

http://www.trustyourheartseries.com/promo/emailsforlaunch.txt

I revised the emails and scheduled them in my autoresponder broadcast system so they went out over the launch period.

May 14 – Marnie created and distributed a video overview of what book buyers get on launch day

May 16 – JV dB listings called out. Getting everyone to contribute.

May 22 – Marnie reminds everyone that we’re down to the last little bit. Reminds people to ask for help with emails, affiliate links, Facebook / Twitter posts, JV dB, and leaves phone number.

May 22 – Marnie creates images for each contributor with a quote from their chapter. Here’s mine.

May 22 – Marnie produces video with Snow White, the TYH mascot.

May 24 – Launch Day. Continuous update all day about status on Amazon.

• 9 a.m – We’re #7 in Books for the Free Enterprise Category, #13 in Books for Customer Service, and #7 in Kindle Customer Service
• 9:50 a.m. – (Ellen Britt) We have hit #1 in the Business & Investing ~> Economics ~> Free Enterprise category on Amazon!! Congratulations to all returning and new Amazon best-selling authors. Thanks Marnie!
• 9:53 a.m. – WHOOHOO!!!!!!!! We’re #1 in Books for Free Enterprise, #7 in Books for Customer Service and #3 on Kindle for Customer Service! 🙂 Thanks guys! We’re on a roll!
• 11:52 a.m. – We’re #2 on Kindle in Customer Service in the UK… cool!
• 1:06 p.m. – Snow celebrates #1 Amazon Bestseller
• 3:19 p.m. – Amazon Just Updated! Here’s the newest photo and stats! Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

1. #1 in Books > Business & Investing > Economics > Free Enterprise
2. #1 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Customer Service
3. #3 in Books > Business & Investing > Marketing & Sales

• 7:25 p.m. –  In case anyone’s curious, here are the numbers so far. 297 people have requested the bonuses, 142 of the sales have been Kindle format. 145 people have emailed me to say they did the extra share to get the JV database. More people have actually shared. These are just the ones who emailed me for the extra bonus.
• 8:25 p.m. – 317 total, 148 kindles.
• 9:52 p.m. – 345 total so far, 157 of which are kindle
• 11:33 p.m. – (Kathleen Ann) #1 in Movers & Shakers

May 25 – (Lisa Rae Preston @ 2:36 a.m.) Broke into the top 100!

• 4:41 am – #84 Overall as of 5:36am ET
• 5:05 am – We’re up to 415, 199 of which are Kindle
• 7:54 am –Marnie: Love this quote from Seth Godin’s “Tribes:” “If your organization requires success before commitment, it will never have either.” Thank you all for committing!!!
• 7:56 am – Top 100 in ALL of Amazon plus #1 in two categories and #3 in one category
• 12:25 pm – Marnie Pehrson –I’ve officially closed down the bonuses on the home page, and put back up the signup for the Lou Bortone / Connie Ragen Green audio we had prelaunch. Here are a few stats. We show:

1. – 411 people who requested bonuses after purchasing.
2. – 208 of the book sales were Kindle
3. – 31 of the 1st book (Ideas to Income) sold on Kindle
4. – 210 people said they shared/liked the fan page to get the JV database listing.
5. – Our highest overall Amazon Rank was 84
6. – #1 Amazon Mover and Shaker
7. – #1 in Free Enterprise Books
8. – #1 in Customer Service Books
9. – #1 in Customer Service Kindle

Did you find this timeline helpful? Do you think you could put together a collaborative book project that went to #1 on Amazon.com for a few days? Let’s hear from you in the comments below.

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We’re never supposed to admit this…

I’m struggling today.

And there’s really no good reason for it. I can’t point to anything and say, “Oh, if only that hadn’t happened!” or “If only that had gone the way I wanted it to…”

Nothing is wrong. And nothing is right. It’s all in my head.

I had a very close friend, now deceased for 4 years, that used to call that “having the mulliegrubs”. Today, I’ve got the mulliegrubs.

My brain is not wired like everyone else’s (or maybe it is, I don’t know…), but I know that I have to work very hard at staying positive so that those little niggling doubts and worries don’t come tumbling in.

It’s been much easier for me over the past 15 years since I’ve built more faith in my life. But some days, it’s tough. I don’t suffer from depression. Mine is not a chemical imbalance. I suffer from self-pity, pathetic, debilitating, disgusting, ridiculous, unwarranted self-pity.

I’m a pretty positive guy with a great work ethic, but sometimes… well…

So, this morning, when I felt this coming on, I posted on Facebook in the Internet Marketing Super Friends group this little snippet:

[font family=”Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif” size=”11″ color=”333333″ textshadow=”0″ alignment=”left” weight=”normal” style=”normal” lineheight=”110″]How do you stay so damn positive!?

I get up every morning and read stuff that gets my mind right for about 45 minutes. Sometimes, that’s inspirational, spiritual, or “positive” books. Sometimes, it’s a biography – especially like historical – of someone who has had transformational moments in their life like Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington. Or more contemporary folks like Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet, or others…

But this morning I read that our lives are the cumulative totals of our plus and minus thoughts – positive and negative. Like putting a drop of clear water in a glass of dirty water, we can clean up our mind by dripping positive thoughts throughout the day.

Some people just seem to have this nailed.

How do you do it, if you do? And if not, why not?[/font]

Paul Evans, one of our NAMS rock star instructors, responded with a link to this post on his blog. It was just what I need!

He gave me permission to reprint it here.

Why I Am Happy 92% of the Time

Guest Post by Paul Evans

It might be a little higher than 92%, but I didn’t want to brag. And I am not afraid at all for you to talk to any of my friends and family to find out if I am telling the truth.

It’s said that happiness is based on circumstances, while joy is based in the Holy Spirit. Joy is NOT determined by circumstances. We can all have it regardless of our situation.

However, I AM talking about being happy.  This is about creating circumstances that produce happiness.

In order to get and stay happy some nouns  (people, places and things) may have to change. More importantly, you may have to change (I know I did!)

Before getting to the 6 Habits of Ridiculous Happiness here’s a quick test to help you determine if you have the raw materials necessary to make happiness easier.

Personal Happiness Test: Do you feel that a lot of life happens TO you? Or do you feel that a lot of life happened BECAUSE of you?

If you answered TO, then you’re going to have a tough time being happy. You most likely have a “victim” mindset. Nothing goes your way. The world is against you. You’re self-focused.

If you answered BECAUSE, then you’re going to have an easy time being happy. You most likely have a “contributor” mindset. A lot just seems to go your way. The world is waiting for your next action. You are others-focused.

The good news is that every TO person can become a BECAUSE person. Every BECAUSE person can become a BE-CAUSE person. This will help…

6 Habits of Ridiculous Happiness

Habit #1: Love.

Loved by God. John 3:16. I take that verse very seriously (and I don’t take much seriously at all).

It seems like a lot of folks on the planet are searching for acceptance. John 3:16 takes care of that. That makes me happy. (Of course you have to accept this truth. If you keep making that “why I’m worthless” list you’re never gonna have a permanent smile.)

Love others.  You may recognize this as “the second commandment.” Loving others makes you happier. You think about people and smile. You look for ways to carry out…

Habit #2: Helping Others

This is a BIG key to happiness. When we serve others I’m convinced it releases some sort of happy chemical. Doing something cool or sweet for someone unleashes a wave of goodness. You can…

Help an old lady get her groceries in her car.

Give a smile to the cashier.

Serve in a local mission or soup kitchen.

Sponsor an orphan.

Write a thank you note.

Leave a gigantic tip. (I did this at Waffle House last week and the waitress screamed so loud I could hear her at my car.)

Warning: there will be times when you serve and get rejected. The old lady might hit you with her cane. The cashier might give you the one finger wave. The waitress might take your tip and say, “It’s about time.”

Happiness is about the action you take, not the response you get.

Helping Others is something we all CAN and SHOULD do everyday to be happier. If you’re self-centered I think you deserve to be miserable.

Habit #3: Laughter.

I love to laugh and love to help other people laugh. If you want to be happier, you need to get funnier. Or at least get a sense of humor if you don’t have one.

One of the best things about Facebook is the number of funny sayings, images and video that are shared. You don’t have to be funny. On Facebook others can be funny for you.

Certainly you need to be able laugh at yourself. Most of my keynote speeches open with a segment called, “The Advantages of Being Short.” I make fun of myself while clearly pointing out that tall people will all be my height one day. We all have a good time and folks find out that I’m not some serious speaker that’s come to drain them of life through boredom.

How can you help others laugh more?

Habit #4: Work.

If you HATE your work it’s gonna be tough to be happy. Hate and happy just don’t go together. They’re not good dance partners.

On the other hand, if you love your work and who you work with and who you work for it’s much easier to be happy.

“Paul, you don’t know my boss. He’s a real jerk! You’d be miserable to if he was your commander.”

Go back to Habit #2. If you can’t beat them; serve them.

Heads up: If you’ve hated every job you’ve ever had you must find the problem. What’s the ONE thing all those jobs had in common…. Ah… YOU!

Since you can’t fire yourself, make yourself better and your work will be better. And you’ll be happier.

Habit #5: Wiring.

Worry kills happiness.

OK, I’ve got an advantage here. I’ve never been a worrier. Some of my friends are though. I’ve seen them in mental wrestling matches with the great “What If?” The matches can go on for days, even weeks.

I knew I could never compete with them in the arena, so I decided not to worry. I mean some of these folks are real pros!!!

I’m not a psychologist so I can’t make you stop worrying. And I don’t know a magic formula – but I do recommend you go to YouTube and type in “Bob Newhart Stop It.” That might help.

Habit #6 Quit.

I’m a quitter. I say that with no shame. Any job or activity that made me sad long-term I quit. That’s right. I did not battle through. Did not stay the course. I quit.

Noooooo….. don’t start quitting everything. You can’t just up and quit your job, but…

You can quit things that don’t help with happiness.

Quit smoking so you’ll be healthier.

Quit eating out so much so you’ll be wealthier.

There are a lot of things we could quit immediately that would help, right?

Why not make a list? During the week when you feel blah or sad write down why. Then determine if you can change what’s creating that feeling. If you can, then do it.

A caution here, though. It’s not about OUR happiness. People have done a lot of dumb, hurtful and harmful things in pursuit of happiness. Our happiness is not to come at the sacrifice or damage of others.

What’s keeping you from being happy?

Live Your Mission,
Paul Evans