My first book — SUFFER! A HOLLYWOOD NOVEL — debuts in little more than two weeks and lately, I can’t help but be consumed with ideas of What I Am Doing Wrong™ in the lead up to its premiere. I’m not talking about the book itself — of course there are going to be elements I will wish I’d written differently — I’m talking more about the marketing of the book. When you are a self-published author, you are not only responsible for the contents of the book but you’re also responsible for how you bring it into the world — how you birth it so to speak. You’re the mother and the midwife all rolled into one.

Not only are you a first-time self published author, you are simultaneously thrust into the roles of first-time publisher, first-time book marketer, first-time publicist, maybe even first-time social media manager. That’s a lot of firsts coming at you all at once. These are the things that simply don’t cross our minds when we open our writing software and lay down the first words that begin our work.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, to become concerned with the shouldas, the couldas, and the wouldas. All those missed opportunities that that will dawn on you right after you launch…when it’s “too late.” I’m here to tell you there’s a way out of that negative thought pattern.

Forgive yourself in advance. The first time you rode a bike or played the piano you probably weren’t good at it either but you got better with time. Give yourself a break. View these missteps as learning experiences. Admit to and share your errors with others to hopefully give them a chance to avoid the pitfalls you no doubt will fall into.

One other thing: disabuse yourself of the notion that once you launch, it will be “too late.” Nothing is too late. If a particular marketing technique isn’t working for you, don’t stick with it, pivot, change your plan, try something else. Launching a book is a fluid, ongoing process. You can adjust your strategy and you can learn the lesson for the next time you launch a book.

One of my favorite mentors on the subject of book marketing, Jenn Hanson-dePaula aka @mixtusmedia on TikTok (and yes, you should be BookTok-ing it up on TikTok), reminded me that promoting a book is a longggggggg process. “The bulk of your sales is going to come after your release date.” My takeaway: A successful launch is great, but realistically, you should be playing a long game. Your book might not gain traction for months or even years. So take a deep breath, try a little tenderness, be kind to yourself, don’t beat yourself up on “mistakes” you make during launch. They’re not mistakes. They’re a chance to learn. Good luck.

Keep on Bookin’

A.C. Sloan

Suffer: A Hollywood Novel will be released 9/7/22 on Amazon and is Available for Pre-order now.