Why it’s called a Launch
Officially, a launch is defined as the start of something. Setting a thing into motion. You can launch a whole bunch of stuff. A ship. A political campaign. A rocket.
A book title.
To me, even the word implies a bit of oomph. I’ve always thought of a launch as hurling something as hard as you can, hoping it’ll go where you need it to.
Launch is a good word, an appropriate one for me. I’m feeling like marketing my books is a bit like how I would try to launch a kite when I was a kid. You ever been there? You’ve got a brand-new kite, maybe one you made yourself. You’ve got a big grassy field, an optimistic breeze, and you’ve seen tons of other people fly kites.
It seems so effortless when they do it. Just toss that kite into the sky, hold onto the string, and before you know it - it’s soaring. Just a tiny dot among the clouds, sometimes so high up that it’s hard to believe you still have connection to it via your string.
That would be a proper launch. You do what you can to make sure you’ve got a good kite, wait for the conditions to be favorable, and then shazam! Your kite is lifted from your hands without you even having to run very far.
That’s not what I’m doing. I did make the best kite (book) I could. I even had other people who are master kite builders take a look at it and confirm that yes, indeed, a mighty fine kite. The breeze is … temperamental, but not absent. I just need a bit of a running start. A post on Facebook. A book signing. An email to all those people who said they really wanted me to write a book, they couldn’t wait for me to write a book, when was I going to write a book so they could buy it and read it?
I run with my book kite, and I feel it start rising from my hands. Yes! This is it! The part where I can stop running and let that kite soar. So I slow down, let go, and …. watch my kite nosedive into the dirt.
That’s how it’s feeling right now. People who read the books are giving me wonderful feedback. They love it. Do they love it enough that they are buying copies for their sisters and their besties and their moms? Are they walking their dog and calling their cousin to say, “I just read the BEST book; you have to read it too because I need to talk about it with someone.” I don’t know. If they are, there aren’t enough of them.
Because that’s the marketing lift I need to get the kite up and get it to STAY up. I can run with the kite. I can schedule another signing or pay for another ad or walk up to another local bookstore and introduce myself. I can leave copies of my books on my desk, constantly in sight, and I can work them into every conversation. But that’s just me running the kite … not FLYING the kite, you know? I need that word-of-mouth. I need that passionate recommendation. I need that review.
I’m still running, but I am getting tired. My arms ache. My heart aches. I’m wondering if it’s worth it. I’m wondering if maybe I should take the kite and go back inside. Maybe make another one. Maybe put it in a closet and try to find something else that is fulfilling that doesn’t take so much running.
And it’s always when I’m down like this that the breeze picks up. I get a review out of nowhere from someone I don’t know. I see that someone on Goodreads has added my book to their “want to read” list. Someone will text me about a sentence they really liked. I’ll check the libraries where I know there are copies of the book and see that no only is it checked out, there is a waiting list. And I’ll go visit my books at the local Barnes and Noble and notice that there aren’t as many as there were before. People are picking it up, drawn to the title or the cover, or the whatever, but something is making them pick it up and read the back or browse through the chapters. And then they are buying it even though they don’t know me, even though there are hardly any reviews on Amazon or Goodreads.
And that helps me run a little longer. Maybe the next breeze will be strong enough to keep it in the air. Maybe the next reader will be the lift that carries it way up there.
Maybe I’ll try one more time.
