That said, on launch day, March 2, through March 8, we sold 2,876 copies of the book. Our goal was to hit the USA Today bestseller list, which in hindsight was probably unrealistic being a first-time fiction author. In reality, the book promotion started in October with the free audio version and continued through March for the book release.

1 hit, we prepared for the second launch of the digital, print, and audiobook (for sale).Īnother unanticipated benefit to having two launches was being able to promote everything twice, including things like the cover reveal (one podcast cover and one official cover), two trailers, and two influencer promotions. Specifically, one gun aficionado made multiple suggestions on the guns and rifles used in the book, and how changes would improve the experience.įrom all these suggestions, approximately 10% of the manuscript was altered or deleted in preparation for the official launch. Dozens of readers sent direct emails regarding editing recommendations. What we didn’t expect was the reader feedback. In addition, we received over 50 reviews on the book’s Goodreads page, and 500+ followers to the author Facebook page. For example, over a thousand people signed up for the Joe Pulizzi enewsletter directly from listening to the podcast. So, that’s all great, but what were the results? The book hit the top 100 overall in Apple’s true crime category, as well as over 50,000 individual downloads of the podcast, including 75 ratings on Apple. We released all the chapters simultaneously. 4 The Will to Die was formally released on all podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Overcast (with the cover shown above). My first option was Audible, but you can’t distribute an audiobook for free (for any length of time) on their platform, so the decision was made for me: a podcast.Īs a teaser, and to set up the podcast for distribution, we developed an audio book trailer and published it in October. With the final manuscript complete at the end of September, I made the decision to distribute the book, for free, in audio. So I asked myself, “How can a first-time author become a bestseller without the help of a traditional publisher?” The answer: Be different.

Anyone who knows the book industry realizes that if you move from non-fiction to fiction, you are pretty much starting over.Īfter reaching out to over 40 agents who specialized in mysteries (and striking out) we decided to publish the book ourselves. Let’s just say I know my way around enough to be dangerous.īut last year, I ventured into uncharted territory to publish my first novel, a mystery/thriller. I’ve published five marketing books of my own, and another five books from other authors under our own imprint.

I’ve been in the book publishing business for almost 15 years.

Book podcasts free