Using Book Preorders to Skyrocket Your Book Launch

Hey there, self-published authors! You’ve poured your heart and soul into your latest masterpiece, and now you’re getting ready for the big launch of your book. You can leverage the power of book preorders to really skyrocket your launch. In addition to helping you gauge early interest in your book, preorders can be the fuel that propels your book toward success. 

Here’s everything you need to know about book preorders, including why they’re important, how to set them up, and how you can use them to elevate your book launch.

The significance of preorders

Preorders can be an integral part of your book marketing strategy. They create anticipation and build excitement about your book well before its actual release date. Since each preorder counts as a sale on the date of the purchase, early orders don’t just rack up your sales—they also give you a boost in rankings on platforms like Amazon. The higher you’re ranked, the more visible you’ll be to even more readers, which can have a domino effect that brings in more and more sales. 

Additionally, using book preorders gives you a chance to engage with your readers early on. When you get to know your audience (and let them get to know you), you foster a sense of community and build loyalty. And who knows? The literature fans who preordered your book might spread the word about you to their family, friends, and book clubs, which could lead to even more preorders!

As an added bonus, setting up a book preorder can act as a springboard for your overall book marketing strategy. When you set up the preorder correctly, you can carry this great momentum into planning other advertising efforts like a book tour, live readings, and a social media campaign.

How to set up a book preorder

There are several steps to creating an effective book preorder. From finalizing your manuscript all the way through executing your post-preorder strategy, each step is important. If you’re not entirely confident in this process, you can look to book marketing resources and experts for help.  

Prepare your manuscript 

Before you can even consider book preorders, you have to make sure that your manuscript is ready for the world to enjoy. This means more than just finishing the written story—your masterpiece must be thoroughly edited and meticulously proofread. You’ll also need an eye-catching book cover design, intriguing back cover text, and a compelling book blurb before your work is truly ready for publication. 

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of sending your book to print or e-book formatting. However, mistakes can happen when any process is rushed, and your book is too important to go out to your readers as an incomplete work. So take the time to polish your manuscript before diving into your preorder options. 

Select your preorder options 

When you’re confident that you have a great-looking book that’s ready for publishing, you can start checking out the available preorder options. Here are a few examples: 

• Choose your retail platform. Where do you want to sell your book? Popular choices include Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble Nook Press, and Goodreads. Using multiple platforms can help you reach a wider audience, so don’t be afraid of setting up preorders with more than one retailer. 
• Select your preorder period. Determine how long you want your book preorders to be available to the public. This can be anywhere from a few days to a few months. While longer preorder periods allow a larger opportunity for people to find you, shorter periods may create even more buzz and excitement. 
• Determine your book release dates. The actual release date must be realistic and achievable. Publishing, printing, and e-book formatting take time, so once you pick an actual release date, make sure you can stick to it. 

The final step is submitting your manuscript for the preorder. Carefully follow each platform’s formatting guidelines so your book instantly impresses everyone who sees it. Once your readers place their preorders, their anticipation will build as they excitedly await your launch date.

Generate excitement 

In the weeks leading up to your preorder date, start creating buzz about your preorder, your release date, and the book itself. Make announcements on social media, your website, and your Amazon author page. You might offer teasers, behind-the-scenes insights, a video book trailer, and countdowns to the preorder date to build anticipation among potential readers. 

If you have an email list, this is a great time to send out a newsletter to your subscribers. Share the exciting news of your new publication and encourage people to preorder your book. You can also entice potential book buyers with incentives like exclusive content, a Q&A session with you and the preorder customers, or early-order discounts. 

This might seem like a lot of work, but generating excitement about your book prerelease is actually an early step in implementing your overall book marketing strategy.  

Implement your marketing strategy 

Kicking off a book marketing strategy should be a fun and exciting time in every author’s career. Here are a few additional elements you can add to the strategy to really boost your preorder sales: 

• Coordinate a blog tour. Promote your book by writing guest blogs for websites that relate to your genre to generate excitement and reach new audiences. 
• Engage with your readers. Authors who engage with their readers tend to cultivate a more engaged reader base and higher reader loyalty, so actively communicate with your audience whenever possible.
• Offer incentives. To make your book preorder more enticing, craft preorder packages that readers can’t resist. Offer bonuses like additional chapters, short stories about key characters, or signed bookplates to anyone who places an early order. Remember to emphasize the limited availability of these bonuses to create a sense of urgency among potential book buyers. 
• Consider paid advertising. If you’ve allocated some funds to your book marketing budget, consider running paid ad campaigns on social media and with your retailers. This can help you become more visible to a wider group of potential readers. 
• Monitor your progress. Keep a close eye on your preorder sales, and be prepared to adjust your book marketing plan if necessary. Knowing what’s working well (and what could be working better) helps you understand where you should spend more or less time and resources.

Every phase of your marketing strategy can help you earn more book sales—and that includes continuing to promote your book even after the preorder period comes to a close. 

Dive into a post-preorder strategy 

After your preorder period ends, there are just a few more tasks to check off your list. First, if your preorder involved any sort of discount, you’ll need to instruct your book retailers to sell the book at the regular price. 

Your final to-do is to keep up the momentum that the preorder created. Ask your preorder customers to post online reviews, keep engaging with your readers on social media, and find some book clubs in your genre. A book preorder can act as a springboard to skyrocket your book sales, and it’s just the beginning of a successful book marketing strategy. 

Learn how to successfully use book preorders

Your masterpiece deserves a great marketing campaign that starts with a successful preorder. And we can help! We specialize in helping indie authors achieve their dreams of publishing—and earning book sales with fantastic marketing strategies. 

Book a complimentary consultation with an expert book marketing specialist today!