What should I do after my book is published?
There’s often a huge amount of relief after a book is finally set to live on Amazon kdp and Ingram Sparks, so you’ll likely want to catch your breath and take a moment to celebrate. It’s a special moment, sending your book baby into the world.
But publishing is a full-time job, after all, and there are steps you’ll want to take after publishing your book.
1
Check your book’s product page is appearing as expected on Amazon. Look out for any typos missed on your product description. (Missed letter spaces can often be spotted.) See if you can extend the product description now you see it live. (More text with important key words can improve discoverability. A tool to consider for keyword research is Publisher Rocket.) For any problems you can’t fix by logging in to your publishing account and amending the book set-up, contact the Amazon support team via the ‘help’ tab when logged in to your publishing account. Keep your query clear and concise and expect to hear back from a member of the Amazon kdp support team within a day or two.
2
Start or update your Author Central profile on Amazon, where you can add an author photo, video content, and other information to appear on the Amazon product page of all your books.
3
Add some A+ content to your book’s product page on Amazon, if you haven’t done so already. Amazon A+ content provides space for additional graphics to help your book and author branding stand out.
4
If you’ve published on Ingram Sparks for book distribution outside Amazon, check the book shows up on retailers such as Waterstones. Some patience is needed as it can take time after publishing on Ingram Sparks for the data feeds to show up on retailer websites. If you spot any ongoing issue with availability, a first stop would be to phone Nielsen’s publisher help desk to see if they can identify the issue. (You’ll need to provide your book’s ISBN.)
5
Before making contact with any retailers requesting they stock your book, it’s a good idea to phone a bookshop and check they are able to view the book on their ordering system and all is in place for them to be able to order it. Even if you don’t intend making direct contact with retailers, it is worth doing this so you know all is in place should a reader go to order the book in their local bookshop. Be aware that bookshops may indicate a hope for a higher retail discount than you may be able to supply if you have published print-on-demand (as a proportion of the retail discount you set goes to at least one distributor). If you have stockists local to you that you are happy to supply directly, it is possible to agree a higher retail discount, as there will be no distributor to pay. (I.e. you would order your own stock at production and delivery cost and supply this directly to the retailer, with your own profit being the difference between the price you sell to the retailer at and the cost of the stock.)
6
Encourage reviews of your book on Amazon, Waterstones, Goodreads and anywhere else suitable. Building social proof is crucial to the ongoing success of your book. Consider contacting book bloggers to assist.
7
Send off Legal Deposit copies so your work becomes part of the nation’s literary heritage.
8
Register the book with Public Lending Right (and yourself as an author, if you don’t already have an account) so you are recompensed for any library borrows. Remember to do this for any future books or formats. Consider making direct contact with the libraries in the next period’s PLR sample (the libraries borrow numbers are taken from; these libraries change each year so it’s worth scheduling to make contact with the new sample each year.)
9
Register the book with ALCS (and yourself as an author, if you don’t already have an account) so you are recompensed for registered photocopies from the book. Remember to do this for any future books or formats
10
Consider publishing more formats of your book. In all, you might aim for: hardback, standard print, ebook, large print, audiobook. Large print in particular is an underserved market and this can be rewarded in discoverability on Amazon.
11
Keep building reviews! If you gift any copies of your book, be sure to call them ‘review copies’ and follow up any positive feedback on the book with a reminder of just how important reviews are to authors. (But remind people not to leave spoilers – a pet hate of mine is seeing so many reviews these days that give away crucial parts of a book – including the ending!)
12
Run a promotion on your ebook on Amazon. If enrolled in Kindle Unlimited, you can visit the marketing tab in your publishing account to set up a countdown deal. These take just a few minutes to set up and can be run at set intervals.
13
Look for further promotional opportunities. Local press, a radio feature, guest blog posts, school visits and other author events, contacting bookshops and other retailers can all form part of an ongoing marketing strategy. As can being active on social media as an author, running Amazon ads or making use of a newsletter service such as Bookbub or Fussy Librarian. If you haven’t already considered this, important to decide how your readers can keep in touch with you – ideally so you can let them know of later releases and news. Many authors run e-newsletters for this purpose. Some authors try many of the strategies above, others invest in learning one approach really well – such as Amazon advertising – and focus on writing further books. Over time, you’ll discover what you enjoy, what suits your skillset, and what works best for you in selling your books and building your author brand.
14
Write your next book. To build authority and revenue as an author, it is important to prioritise content and keep writing. You’ll likely need to reserve a portion of your time for marketing your existing book(s) but keeping writing allows you to put everything you’ve learnt from writing and publishing your first book into your future books. Just keep alert to opportunities for your existing book(s) as you do so…
In a Nutshell
Availability
Check the book is fully available where you expect it to be and troubleshoot any issues – before promoting it widely.
Enhance online listings with reader reviews, Amazon A+ content, Author Central additions such as your author photo, extended book description.
Fulfil Legal Deposit requirements, register for Public Lending Right and ACLS accounts, to collect payment for secondary use such as photocopying and library borrows
Promotional Strategy
Plan a promotional strategy that plays to your strengths. In-person events can build a stronger connection with readers; social media can amplify your efforts and find connections across the world; traditional press and radio offer a helpful spotlight, paid advertising such as Amazon or Facebook advertising can be a more precise marketing tool, targeting those whose interests align with your book and who may be searching for a book to purchase, but require technical know-how and the willingness to spend.
You’ll likely try many of these and other marketing tools and opportunities at some point… Connecting with other writers can help you keep up to date with fresh opportunities. There are some excellent Facebook groups for this, such as 20booksto50k.
Consider an e-newsletter as a way of keeping in contact with your readers, deciding on a regular schedule to send these. Aim for an e-newsletter schedule you can keep up, even if monthly or quarterly. (Then you can keep idea that occur between dates filed, so you are never short of inspiration.)
Strengthen Offering
Ensure you are exploiting all formats for your book.
Keep writing!
Claire Wingfield provides editorial and book-publishing services and is available to support you with managing your book publishing, including the little things you need to do after publishing your book.