Launching Your Second Book

In today’s blog, Dienece would like to share her experience with launching a second book.

Launching your second book might not go like the first one did. It might do better, or it might be worse.

I ended up making more money off my second book, but I didn’t sell as many books. The lack of numbers in the sale column was disappointing and almost depressing, especially since I’d tried to replicate what had worked so well for me the first time.

Tip: What you thought was tried and tested the first time around might not work for your second book.

My confidence took a huge hit when the numbers didn’t grow like I’d hoped. I will say that I learned to walk with God a whole lot more during that time, but I still would have appreciated the heads up. So, consider this your heads up.

Negative: The hype can fade

I had lots of family and friends who’d been waiting for me to publish a book for years. They enthusiastically bought my first book even though it was only a novella.

Not all of them bought the second book. The hype, the novelty had worn off by then. Or (and one should pay attention to this bit), they didn’t like the first one. And that’s okay. Not everyone is going to like your books. It’s a good idea to understand that off the bat.

Tip: Be aware that some people buying your first book are just being nice (FYI, I’ve done this myself as a reader). They aren’t your target audience. Don’t expect them to buy the next one. Instead, find your target audience, the people who want to read what you write because they like your writing, not just you as a person.

Positive: Price Point

I sold my first e-book for 99c and the second for $1.50. I think some people didn’t buy the second book because it wasn’t the 99c deal. However, I made more money off every sale, and that is why I like the $1.50 price better.

Positive: Where I sold my paperback

The first time I published a paperback I did it through Draft2Digital who then sold it onto places like Amazon. I set the price low because it was only a small book. My margin for profit was only 49c, but I assumed that if a company sold my book for more, that I’d get a larger profit.

Wrong.

Amazon sold the book anywhere from $20-$30each, and they still only paid me 49c for each copy. I made almost nothing on the paperbacks through Draft2Digital because I hadn’t understood how it worked.

For my second book, I published the paperback directly through Amazon with a healthy profit margin, but still a reasonable price for the size of the book. I made a lot more money off the paperbacks even though I sold a whole lot less (aka only 16 paperbacks of my second book versus 32 paperbacks through Draft2Ditigal and 16 signed author copies of my first).

Tip: Sell the paperback directly through Amazon, you’ll make a lot more money. If you use a third party to sell on another platform, make sure to set the price at the profit margin you want to earn.
Second Tip: If you publish your paperback on Amazon and through a company who sells to third parties, you’ll probably end up with a second listing of your book at Amazon (I’m told using Ingram Spark can avoid this second listing. I haven’t tried it yet).

Negative: Signed Paperbacks

For my first book, I made fairly good money selling signed paperbacks from those die-hard supporters who had been waiting so long for my first book.

However, most of those lived in America, and by the time my second book came out, I couldn’t sell to America without a lot of red tape. It just wasn’t worth it for me anymore. However, it’s important to note that only a handful even asked. Again, because I think the hype had faded.

Undetermined: When to join KU

I delayed putting my first book into Kindle Unlimited, and I think more people bought the book because it wasn’t available in KU (it’s also worth noting the price was 99c). Then a few months later when I put Hearts Unknown into KU, I had an uptick in sales along with page reads.

For my second book, I put it directly into KU and learned that my newsletter subscribers are not really KU people. I’ve also confirmed this through promos of just KU books. My readers don’t tend to click on those links.

I get page reads from author swaps and other advertising methods, just not really my subscribers. So, it’s not a bad idea to try and see if your readers like KU first.

Tip: As a reader, I hate it when an author doesn’t continue with KU. If the first book is KU, I want all of them to be. And if your subscribers are not really KU readers, putting the book into KU might not give you the results you hoped for. So, keep that in mind.

Negative: I broke too many rules (aka reader expectations) for my advertised genre

Just a note here: I do not think my book is terrible. Nor am I bashing it in this next part, although it might seem to come off that way. Instead, I think every author ought to be able to look at their work objectively and see what they did well and what to learn from. Because authors should always be learning.

So, the negatives for my second book. I wrote about an engaged couple (as a reader I don’t even like reading about engaged couples), and my editor also warned me that I might get backlash about my couple spending most of the book apart from each other. At the time, I couldn’t see another way to write it. And neither could she with the strict word count I was under. But I’ve read more since then, learned more.

For example, A Worthy Risk showed me how I could have added just one more scene or even two to elevate the romance without killing my word limit. How? The couple in A Worthy Risk spend most of the book apart, but somehow, the author figured out ways to get them together (believably) for that special romance hit that kept me reading even during the periods of time apart.

Tip: Read more. It will help you.

Second tip: Be careful how many rules you break when writing your book. It really can come back to bite you.

Third Tip: Write what you like to read. That really is good advice.

Positive: I wrote better tension and concepts

While my last point what the things I could have done better, this point is based on the feedback from people who said my writing improved.

No, I didn’t hit every note right for Historical Romance readers. But those who don’t read much romance loved it. I had to write suspenseful scenes with lots of tension, and people kept saying they could not put the book down.

Also, I came in with a clear understanding of what I believed about my chosen spiritual theme, and that translated onto the page. In my first book, I was still changing what verses and my wording down to the last edit (you know the edit where it’s only supposed to be checking for missed typos? Yes, I apologized to my editor…).

Negative: I relied on marketing avenues that didn’t pan out this time.

My newsletter was only about 500 subscribers with a 50% open rate and an even smaller click to open rate when my second book launched. Meaning, most of my subscribers weren’t buying in my newsletter. I didn’t think that mattered because it hadn’t the first time when I’d had similar stats.

However, the first book sold 25 copies when I advertised with Faith Books, and even though I tried to advertise with Faith Books again for the second book, I didn’t realize they’d gotten busy. They were booked out weeks in advance, and they refused my second book because they didn’t have any spots left for the rest of the year. How many sales did I lose because I didn’t apply soon enough? I honestly don’t know, but that was hard.

Tip: Make sure you apply to advertising avenues on time!

I also intended to share my release on social media. I’m in a few Facebook groups, and last year, sharing in those groups seemed to work well. During my launch week for my second book, Facebook decided to send all my posts to spam in groups. I panicked, thought I’d done something wrong and deleted the posts. Guess what? It wasn’t me. Facebook decided to do a new thing, and in really bad timing it happened the week my book went live. By the time I worked that out, it was too late. My window of opportunity had closed.

Tip: This is why they say newsletters are king. Because social media can change the rules without warning.

Second tip: Teach your subs to get used to clicking on things either by sharing other people’s books to buy, things to vote on, and well… anything that makes them click!

Positive: A New Reader’s Magnet

I’d written a scene about how my engaged couple met seven years before the start of my book, and even though I’d used it on my blog, I reworked that “meet cute” scene, made it longer, and released Hearts Meet as a new short story/prequel reader’s magnet with a cover that matches my series style.

I’ve gotten new subscribers with this updated reader’s magnet, and since the story is about how my hero and heroine met, I give a teaser at the end about “Do they get married?” And then offer around 2 sample chapters to keep them reading. This really did help to jump start my flattening sales.

Tip: If you can create a new reader’s magnet that encourages the person to read your new release, do it!

Negative: Know your target audience before you pitch your book

I had a concrete idea from the start what my book was going to be about, and then my story grew, and I thought I’d changed my story concept. Actually, I’d let myself get distracted with all the new parts. However, my driving force, the real reason I wrote the book was still there. It was still the backbone of the book. I just forgot about it.

I’d marketed my second book as historical romance, but the romance actually plays a minor role.

Second, I’d said the theme of the book was about honouring your father (those were the new parts), but A Heart to Treasure had been and still is about healing broken relationships.

I’d gone through a church split and wanted to write about that kind of pain represented in a couple who falls apart. I also added in an abusive father, and a father who accidently hurts his family with his recklessness. I got lost in the noise of all the new parts because I was excited about them, but the truth of the book remained the same. It was about broken relationships, and I managed to forget that. Which meant I missed an opportunity to market to my audience.

Tip: Ask yourself why you wrote the book. What was the stirring moment that made you say, “Write it this way”? Chances are, you’ll figure out your target audience when you’re honest about the heart behind your book.

Negative: Podcasts over guest blogging

For my first book Heart Unknown, I did a lot of guest blogging, but I wanted to try podcasts for my second book.

First, I lost my voice last year. Thankfully, it only affected one of my guest podcasts as I’d recorded the others early. ]But that last one was a real struggle to pull off. Thankfully, the host was gracious and God pulled me through.

However, I don’t listen to podcasts generally, and as I listened my guest episodes, I could tell I didn’t normally listen to podcasts. And if I could tell, so could other people.

Plus, since I hadn’t quite managed to boil my book down to the bare bones (I was still too caught up in all the details), I didn’t pitch it very well. There is only so much a host can do if you can’t explain your book well. And to be honest, I explain myself better in written word anyway.

I ended up writing my own blogs which I probably would have written for someone else if I’d chosen guest blogging instead of podcasts. I have found my target audience with those blogs. Unfortunately, my reach is a bit smaller since it’s my own blog, and not someone else’s.

Tip: Utilize the format you enjoy as a reader. If that’s podcasts, do that. If it’s blogs, do that. Tiktok videos? Instagram? Do what works on you.

Negative: Timing

For my first book, I made a point of scheduling all my newsletter swaps, guest blog posts, Facebook Author takeovers, and many other advertising avenues all during release month. I felt like I about died trying to keep up with it all.

So, for my next book, I spread out my launch over a few months. Plus, I let opportunities which could have been for my second book be used for my first book instead. The result is that I had very little exposure in my release month. So, while I did make sales eventually (we’re talking about 4 months instead of 1), it wasn’t in one big burst. And believe it or not, those bursts count. Because they bump up your visibility on Amazon, which basically does a lot of free advertising for you.

Tip: Save some of your swaps for your new book instead of advertising the older one. And an actual launch all in one burst is useful. The more spread out, the more work you’ll have to do to get those sales.

Positive: Listening to that Quiet Voice

There were a few times last year, when I felt a check in my spirit. To be honest, I didn’t know why for all of them.

I do know why for this one. I’d wanted to pursue more podcasts (instead of just three), but it seemed like God was saying no. With great frustration, I listened, and you know what? I lost my voice. Right around my release, I could barely talk, and I almost couldn’t do the podcasts I was signed up for. Let alone if I’d tried to take on more.

Not pursuing more podcasts was completely the right choice. Even though it didn’t make sense at the time.

Second, I felt God asking me to apply for my license to sell a novel which quotes the KJV in England before the book was completely edited (did you know you need a license for that? Because you do.). For some reason, I knew God was telling me that what I’d written wouldn’t get changed (and if you know me, I edit even after the editor has done all her bits. It’s horrible of me, and I shouldn’t do it… but there you go. I’m a chronic last-minute change-this sort of person).

There were no changes to my verses (the editor changed other things, but not which verses I used). And the license took a really, really long time to come. Much longer than before, and if I had waited, I would not have been able to release on time.

I’m so glad I listened to Him!

Oddly, there was another check in my spirit. I felt like God didn’t want me to advertise this book quite as much as the first one. No, it didn’t make sense. Yes, I got frustrated because I know that affected my sales because even the things I’d planned to do didn’t pan out. But I think God wanted this book to reach a smaller audience.

And you know what? It kind of goes against the grain. You’ll probably buck Him a few times over it (I did), but in the end, keep trusting that He has a reason for everything He does.

And you know what? I no longer feel that check anymore. I think it’s because I wasn’t ready to market the book, and if I wasn’t ready, neither were my readers.

Tip: Whether your next book soars or sinks, leave it in His hands (even when you really want to snatch it back!).

Second Tip: Listen to that quiet voice. Even when it doesn’t make sense. He can see the future. You can’t. Just listen to Him.

Wrapping up

All in all, I learned a lot, and I’ll probably learn even more with my third book coming out later this year. So, even if you thought you covered everything with your first book, things change. You might make mistakes, and you might do great! It’s kind of hard to know.

Every book is its own launch.

Take the positives and the negatives and learn from them. Don’t “assume” the second book will naturally do better just because it’s your second and you’ve already done the hard part with book 1. Every book has its own challenges.

Books are art, and everyone has an opinion about art.

Just hold to your faith and walk with God no matter what happens, trusting that He knows best (because He does). Bathe your book in prayer, stop and listen to Him, and walk faithfully on, whatever happens.

A book written in obedience is never a waste.

Do you have anything you can share with us? What’s the most important tip you think someone should know going into a book launch?