The countdown is happening fast, much faster than feels comfortable. There is so much to do for a book launch and so many different websites and people telling me what to do and what not to do. I could spend thousands of dollars if I want, or I could spend none at all and just use the people who already follow me. I should start a street-team, or not. I should do this, that and the other, but I need to know what my true goal is and how much I’m willing to spend.

It’s all so confusing!

I’m launching a whole new series! I want this to be good—no, I need it to be great.

This is the first new series I’ve written in many years. For the past four years or so I’ve just been writing books in already established series’, or writing series that branch off from other books I’ve already written. This one is entirely new, and I really don’t want it to fail.

I’ve got the first three books written, and I’m planning six more. I’m certain I’ll write even more based on secondary characters because that’s what I do. And I’ve already got short stories—the back-stories—of my main characters written because I’ve been writing them and sending them out to my newsletter subscribers. So, yeah, this series needs to be launched with a bang.

How am I going to do that? Well, I’m probably going to be sharing this with you as I go along.

The very first thing I did was talk with Audrey Hughey, the author of the Ultimate Author Planner and the creator of the Author Transformation Alliance. She’s a book marketing specialist and what I really appreciate about her is that she isn’t trying to sell me anything. She doesn’t have a newsletter she wants me to buy an ad on. She doesn’t need me to sign up for a class (I already pay to be a part of her Alliance which is filled with courses and has a very active and wonderful Facebook group).

Her first questions to me, when we had an online face-to-face, one-on-one meeting about my launch were 1. What’s my goal for the launch (numbers! She wanted the number of books I hope to sell); and 2. How much am I willing to spend to get there?

I answered her questions, and she was so upbeat and positive saying that I could absolutely attain my goals and I don’t even need to spend as much as I am willing to do so because I’ve got a good base of reader/followers.

So I’m going to try this her way! I’m going to cultivate those readers. I’m going to encourage my followers to buy the first book when it launches in as many creative ways as I can. Sadly, a lot that rests on my ability to write great ads (which I suck at!) and to write an enticing book description (oh, my goodness, am I horrible at that!). I can only pray that the covers my designer created are enticing enough to draw readers in because they’re my number one marketing tool.

Here I stand on the precipice of my book launch, quaking in my shoes, praying that it goes well; hoping that I’m doing this right, that my covers are beautiful, that my description is good enough, that my hooks are grabbing, that my book is well-written and fun and free of stupid mistakes and a page-turner so that readers will want to get the next book in the series, and the next. (breathe, breathe, breathe)

Will you come along with me on this ride? Can you believe that this is the writing of a person who has already published over twenty books, and still I’m freaking out over the launch of another one? Yeah, it doesn’t matter how much you publish or for how long you’ve been writing. Every book is a journey, every launch a trial. This industry is changing so rapidly that nothing is ever a sure thing anymore. Sorry…