Getting Ready to Launch Your Book and Wondering How to Do It Right?
Or have you already launched your book, but not gotten the results you’d hoped for?
If you answered “yes” to either of those questions, then this course is for you!
The Book Launches Simplified course explores the various components involved in launching and marketing a book successfully, whether your book is fiction or nonfiction. It then takes a deeper dive into the products, tools and services we recommend to authors to make their book marketing easier.
Does This Sound Familiar?
After weeks, months or sometimes years, of writing, when you finally get to write the words “The End,” every author feels an intense sense of satisfaction.
You may have even sighed with relief when you set down your pen or closed your computer after jotting down those two little words.
Your manuscript is finished! Now you can reconnect with the real world and catch up with the relationships (or TV shows!) you’ve missed while holed away, working on your book.
It’s at this point where many first-time writers believe the hard work is behind them and the best is yet to come!
Unfortunately, these same authors soon realize that writing was the easy part. No matter how they choose to publish their book, it needs to be launched and marketed so people can find it. While some publishers support those activities in a limited fashion, many others will hand you your finished book and send you on your way.
Even if your publisher does offer support, it’s crucial for you to be an essential contributor to the effort. Your success depends on it.
As soon as you decided to publish your work, you committed to start a business. Your book is its main product. And like every product ever sold by any company, you need to find ways to help your potential buyers discover your book.
Writing a great book isn’t enough. Readers need to find it.
And you may be (sadly) surprised to find out that your friends and family were all hoping you’d give them a copy. Very few expected to actually have to pay for it.
Some authors even resort to giving their book away to as many people as possible, hoping it will spark a handful of word-of-mouth sales.
But often that simply disguises the fact that they don’t know how to interest the right people in buying their book. They don’t know where to find these people, what to say to them, or what options are available for actually launching and marketing their book so it reaches that audience.
The result is many first-time authors never sell more than 250 copies of their book over the lifetime of the book!
How Would It Feel If…
…instead, you alleviated the strain and pressure of trying to do everything at once. When you adopt a “big picture” view of your goals, you’ll be able to create a plan that will work best for you, your ideal reader and your book. This allows you to focus on those aspects of a launch, for instance, that will build toward your specific goals, while ignoring the things that won’t support that vision.
Marketing is a journey, not a destination. When you realize that, it allows you to chip away at things as they fit with your schedule, prioritizing those tasks that appeal to you most. You get to avoid being overwhelmed by having to do everything at once, knowing that the activities you are doing are moving you closer to your goals.
And because your marketing will be more targeted and specific to your ideal reader, you’ll find more people interested in buying (and reading) your book!
By having an overview of the process, you can avoid “shiny object syndrome” and spend your time on those activities that are more likely to yield the results you want at a pace you can sustain.
This Course Is For You If…
…you’re interested in this bird’s-eye view of a book launch that helps you effectively plan and prioritize your book marketing.
I’ve created a course structure based on the proven methods we teach our own authors.
- The 12 modules contain 94 lessons with almost 9 hours of video instruction and homework assignments that cover the various facets that go into a book launch, including book listings, author profiles, launch teams, social media, editorial and consumer reviews, marketing materials, book awards, publicity and advertising, to name a few.
- We discuss the ideal timing of these activities, as well as their relative costs.
- The course demonstrates how one decision, like going wide or narrow with your distribution, may impact or affect others down the line.
- All of the potential resources outlined in the course give you plenty of options to consider for your own book launch plan, whether you write fiction or nonfiction.
- We have proven experience with these resources and many others that has helped our authors market their books confidently.
Moral of the story: Knowledge is power. When you understand the pros and cons of various book marketing resources and activities, you can decide which ones best suit you and your needs. Rather than trying out every new option, you can focus on those most likely to help you achieve your goals while staying within your budget.
Here’s What You’ll Find in the Course
- Introduction to the Course
- How to Navigate Through the Course
- Overview of a Book Launch
- Release vs Launch
- How Much Time Is Enough?
- Introduction to Before You Launch
- Know Your Ideal Reader
- Homework: Do the Dear Reader Exercise
- Influencing the Reader Experience
- Know Where Your Book Listings Are
- Answering Key Distribution Questions
- Homework: Your Book and the KDP Select Program
- Claim Your Author Profiles
- Homework: Amazon's Author Central
- Homework: Create Your Goodreads Author Profile
- Homework: Claim Your Bookbub Profile
- Conducting an Inventory of Launch Bonuses
- Know What's Important to You
- Homework: Do the Dear Author Exercise
- A Note About Pre-Order Campaigns
- Introduction to Launch Teams
- Creating Your Launch Team
- Homework: Creating a Launch Bonus Inventory
- Preparing Materials for Your Launch Team
- Homework: Preparing for Your Launch
- Introduction to Editorial Reviews
- Soliciting Editorial Reviews
- Approaching Influencers for Reviews
- Homework: Request a Readers' Favorite Review
- Homework: Congratulations on Your Readers' Favorite Review!
- Homework: Engage BookTubers for Book Reviews
- What to Do with Editorial Reviews
- Introduction to Reader Reviews
- Where to Find Reviewers
- Amazon's Review Policies
- Homework: Consider Listing Your Book on NetGalley
- Connecting with Readers on Goodreads
- BookSirens - Behind-the-Scenes Part 1
- BookSirens - Behind-the-Scenes Part 2
- What to Do with Reader Reviews
- Introduction to Social Media
- Building a Following
- Understanding Content Types and Sources
- Tools for Scheduling and Distribution
- Hiring Social Media Help
- Amplifying Your Content
- Creating Promotional Images Using Mockup Shots
- Homework: Do You Want to Host a Giveaway?
- Introduction to Publicity
- Exploring the Value of Book Awards
- Homework: Start Considering Book Awards
- Book Award Pro - Behind-the-Scenes Part 1
- Book Award Pro - Behind-the-Scenes Part 2
- Reaching Out to the Media
- Homework: Sign up for Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
- Issuing a Press Release
- Homework: Issue a Press Release
- Finding Podcasts for Guest Appearances
- What Podcast Hosts Want Most
- Homework: Leveraging Other People's Audiences
- Homework: Make a List of Book Bloggers
- Taking a Blog Tour
- Leveraging Alumni and Association Newsletters
- Reaching Out to Bookstores and Libraries
- Creating Your Media Kit
- Participating in Book Clubs
- Homework: Set Up Google Alerts
- Introduction to Advertising
- Learning About Amazon Ads
- Getting the Best Results from BookBub
- Using Facebook to Attract Readers
- Advertising with Industry Associations
- Using Promo Sites to Boost Your Sales
- Introduction to Marketing Materials
- Creating a Great Sell Sheet
- Creating Your Author Website
- Homework: Prepare Your Mailing List System
- Offering Marketing Materials at Events
- Homework: Preparing for an Author Signing
- Using BookFunnel to Drive Book Sales
- 5 Ways to Partner with Other Authors to Sell More Books
- Securing Sponsorships for Your Book Launch and Events
- Recommended Resources
- Recommended Editors and Proofreaders
- Conclusion
- Would You Be Willing to Write a Review?
- Book Launch Mind Map - Full Version
- Getting Your Book Into School Systems
- Keywords and Categories
- 61 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Publisher (workbook)
- Finding Your Market
- How to Use Your Book to Grow Your Business
- The Best Solution to Your Worst Business Problem
- Publish with Purpose audiobook - Introduction
Meet Your Instructor
My name is Tara Alemany, and I’m the creator of this course.
As the founder of Emerald Lake Books, I’ve seen the importance of making sure our authors know exactly what their options are when it comes to planning a successful book launch, and then helping them develop a marketing plan designed to achieve their specific goals.
This course was developed to provide a high-level overview of a book launch to our authors and then to dive deep into some of the specific tactics and strategies we recommend they use, so they knew what to anticipate and plan for as their own release date drew near.
This knowledge enabled them to prioritize their launch activities in such a way that things were manageable by focusing on the activities best suited to their book and audience. Ultimately, every single one of our authors who took the time to prioritize and plan their marketing efforts based on their specific goals surpassed the average lifetime sales of other first-time authors, often within the first month or two of releasing their book!
What Others Are Saying
Everything I hoped for and more!


After spending a year submitting proposals for my book Enlighten Up! and filing the rejections from traditional publishers, I met Tara at a writers workshop and was impressed with her knowledge and presentation. I did my research and submitted my proposal. My experience with Tara and Mark was everything I hoped for and more. They listened! They were and remain supportive partners. Publishing a book is a huge undertaking and having excellent support and advice is absolutely necessary.
Indispensible!!


Emerald Lake Books is a professional, high-class operation. They have shepherded me seamlessly through the publishing process and now continue to guide me through the complications and challenges of marketing my book. It’s not an exaggeration for me to say, I couldn’t have done it without them. I sing their praises to everyone.
How Much Is the Course?
The entire Book Launches Simplified course consists of over 5 hours of video content and numerous exercises and articles.
When specific resources are mentioned, we include a link to it, making it easy to find, as well as a cost indicator so you know whether it fits in your budget at a glance. We also identify the ideal timing for a variety of activities, identifying those things that must be done before the release, soon after the release, and those that can be done months or even years later, taking the guesswork out of the timing of activities for your marketing plan.