Book Launch Secrets – The 1 Strategy That Changes Everything

Writing a book is tough enough, but it is the publishing, printing and promoting of said book that is a whole other ballgame, especially if you are self-publishing. The key thing is that like anything, a launch does not just happen. Strategy can support your goals and your vision, but planning is half the battle.

The strategy I want to share with you today, that makes all the difference with book launches, is having a galley copy of your soon-to-be published book. 

“A galley copy is an advanced copy of your soon-to-be-published book that is not for resale. It can be used for reviews, building awareness, getting advanced praise and for building up hype for your book.” 

A galley copy, pronounced ˈɡæli  is something that must be planned out well in advance of your book in order to take advantage of all the benefits that will come from it. And, it is an added cost. 

That said, the benefits of having one will outweigh the cost, and it does add another stage to the multiple levels of production that are already taking place during your launch. 

One of the best uses of a galley copy is to distribute it for advanced praise of your book that can be inserted into the front pages of the book (for future readers to peruse and learn more about how your book is being received and who it’s for) and ultimately use for ongoing marketing copy. 

One of the most important parts of your book, when it comes to marketing it on Amazon, is the first 10 pages. This is what becomes the default “Look Inside” preview that is automatically generated of your book once it’s released. 

Ideally, you’re inserting your advanced praise into the front ten pages of your book so that future buyers can decide if it’s a good book for them. 

Secondly, galley copies are a great door opener for speaking gigs, podcast interviews and collaborations where you are positioned as the go-to expert that you are. They can be like your new calling card as you work towards the release date of your book and plan your launch activities. 

You will learn with your book that it forces you to get super clear about who your reader is (and ultimately your ideal client) and what you want to be known for. 

Although I’ve been involved in the publishing and marketing industry for two decades, it surprised me when I saw this in action when I displayed my galley copies at a booth I was hosting a a business event. 

A major event planner saw them and immediately booked a meeting with me to have a discussion about me being one of her on-the-spot coaches at her annual event. My galley copy helped her understand what my area of expertise was, what I cared about and who I helped. She felt that was a great fit for her event attendees. 

Personally, I used the galley copy of my book, Ready to Amplify. Tribe. Visibility. Impact. to make bigger asks of my community. For one, it helped me reach out to one of my role models, Amber Mac, to write the foreword of my book. I felt that having a physical copy of the book made it easier for her to see how serious I was about spreading my message and making a bigger impact to help more people. It made it very real and not just pipe dream. 

I talk more about the benefits of the galley copy in this short video inside my blog post called, Book Launch Secrets – The 1 Strategy That Changes Everything, I put together earlier this year. You can watch it at the top of this post.