Preparation is over. Everything has been read, researched, and revised. Now it’s time to get ready to actually launch the eBook. As of right now, the launch window is right around the beginning of July. Possibly even July 1. But this all depends on whether the cover is finished in time and if I’ve signed up for everything I need to be signed up for. Here comes the anxiety attack.
Phase Two is when all the hard decisions have to be made. What price am I going to launch at? Where will I advertise? Should I be an Amazon exclusive? Can I stay within my budget? There’s no going back in the next phase, because Phase Three is the actual launch. Oh boy.
Let’s do a quick rundown of these questions. What price am I going to launch at? This is probably the most important and most difficult of all. I have gone back and forth for months, but I’ve finally settled on a plan. My novel will be launching at $0.99. Why? It’s actually more simple than I thought. Most advertisers tend to only promote discounted books that are priced for free or 99 cents. Now, it’s possible to get ads at $2.99, my original launch price, but then there are less options, and it’s usually more expensive. And since I knew I wasn’t giving my book away for free, 99 cents is the best option. But it’s also a temporary price Once that ads are done and the launch is over, the price will be going up. How long will it be 99 cents? Amazon’s Countdown Deals, which let you lower the price but keep the higher royalties, max out at seven days. I could also manually change it, but this heavily depends on what days I’m able to get ads from certain websites.
Where will I advertise? That’s what I’m working on now. I saved plenty of sites to look over from Phase One, and now I’m diving in and examining each one. I’m going through the list, and estimating the cost. But even then, some advertisers may not accept my eBook. They can be quite picky. There will be a post mortem on ads by the time the launch is over.
Should I be an Amazon exclusive? This was already answered earlier. If you missed it, that answer is yes. And Amazon also offers a specific marketing service to Kindle Select users. I definitely intend to partake in that option.
Can I stay within my budget? I hope so. By now, I’ve already paid for a website and have an estimated cost for commissioning the cover. I plan on using a free service for a mailing list, and for whatever I can honestly. A majority of the money will be going to advertising. Those prices will add up quick. I’m trying to stick to a $500 ad budget, which is a lot but not too much. I’ll probably up it next year when the sequel comes out.
That covers it for the moment. I’ve still got about a month to prepare. If that’s not enough time, there’s always August.
D. N. Meinster 