The launch that went quiet
Billions are still being spent on books. Almost none of it finds a book by accident.
Most authors I speak to describe the same thing.
The book comes out. There is a flurry for about a week. A few friends buy it, a handful of reviews trickle in, your mum posts about it on Facebook. And then it goes quiet. The book that took three years to write ends up sitting there, doing very little, and you are left with the sinking feeling that you missed your moment.
Last Sunday I sent round the numbers on how much money is still moving through this industry. Billions, every year. Demand is not the problem.
The problem is that almost none of that money finds a book by accident. It finds books that people can actually see. And nobody prepares you for that part.
You get told to “build a platform” and “engage your audience” without anyone explaining what that actually means on a Tuesday evening when you have forty minutes and no idea what to post. Writing a book and selling a book are two completely different jobs. Most of us are only trained for one of them, and then quietly judged for being bad at the other.
So we have hired someone for the other one.
Darcey has joined Publishing Push to offer author marketing.
Her focus is brand, strategy and content. In plain terms: she helps you look and sound like the author of your book, rather than someone who happens to have written one, and then gives you a plan for putting it in front of people.
There are three ways to work with her, and which one you need depends entirely on where you are right now.
If you are already online but have a nagging feeling it is not working, she will audit what you have. Website, Amazon page, social profiles, the lot. You get an honest report, a comparison against authors doing well in your space, and a prioritised plan for the next ninety days. No flannel, and no pretending things are fine when they are not.
If you are starting from scratch, or your online presence quietly undersells the book, she will build you a proper author brand. Positioning, bios that work in every context you need them, visual direction, your profiles set up properly, and a set of templates so you are not staring at a blank screen every time you want to post.
And if you are heading into a launch, or you already had one that fizzled, she will build you a full marketing plan. A thirty day content calendar, guidance on Amazon keywords and categories, a newsletter launch campaign, and a review and ARC outreach strategy.
A note on what she does not do, because I would rather tell you now than sell you something and disappoint you later. Darcey does not run Amazon Ads or BookBub campaigns. That is a specialist, hands on discipline and she is not going to pretend otherwise. If you want that side covered, we will introduce you to someone who does it properly.
The details are below.
If you are not sure which one fits, reply to this email. If you would like to purchase one of these, reply to this email.
We will get you on a Zoom with Darcey and talk it through honestly. She will then advise you on the next steps.
Patrick ✌🏼