[Sullins]

I am a non-fiction, self-help writer. My first book has been highly reviewed and on average I make about $100 a month from it. The paperback is 9.99 and the ebook is 4.99. I hope to have my second book published by May 1. I have a mailing list from my blog of about 200 people and 555 followers on my facebook author page. I'm not sure how to launch my second book and want to know what your experience and or best practices are regarding releasing a second book.

Is it helpful to have a soft launch and offer it to my facebook/blog readers at a discount before fully promoting it and listing it at it's full price? Should I consider making it free for a couple of weeks and then put it in Select? (By the way, my other book is in Select. It's been good for me.)
Any other ideas?

I would really appreciate your feedback. I want to have a plan in place before my book is published. Thank you in advance!

 

[H.M. Ward]

I wouldn't do free. The ppl who liked your 1st book will run out and get the 2nd. You can do a soft launch for less $. People have done that. I put the 1st book in the series on sale for 99 cents, promote it to draw for the purposes of expanding your readership, assuming they'll get the 2nd book if they like the 1st. When I start a new genre, I do that. It helps. Make sure you do an email reminder on release day and post to FB and twitter too. Good luck.

 

[Sullins]

Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it.

 

[jvin248]

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Be cautious with initial pricing. You'll get linked in Amazon with the other books at the same price by also bought activity and could be locked there. I've had a book selling at one price drop or increase the price and nothing happens then go back to the old price and sales pick up again. Pick some random sample book(s) and look at their also-bought ribbon and you'll probably find most of the prices are similar to the sample book. Customer activity is the most likely cause but could be some Amazon algorithm in there too.
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