Over the last couple of years, I’ve had the privilege of working with several authors to build their audience and launch their first books. While each author’s book has done well, one client’s success stands out. On the one-year anniversary of her book’s publication, I asked Lisa Douthit if she would be willing to share what she did to achieve bestseller status with Wellness Warrior – Fighting for Life in Fabulous Shoes.
While I could rave about Lisa and the work we’ve done together, instead I asked members of a private group (including many authors), what they wanted to ask Lisa about how she went from having no audience to bestselling author – and maintaining bestseller status – over the past year.
{Below the interview, I share 18 tips for promoting your book and launch.}
How Lisa Douthit Achieved Bestseller Status with Her First Book
1. Briefly tell us about Wellness Warrior and what motivated you to write it. When was your book published?
My book is a memoir about my journey with illness and the lessons I’ve learned from having both cancer and autoimmune disease. I felt very alone when I was sick and wanted folks to know that they were not alone in their healing journey as well. My book was published on my birthday, September 30, 2015 .
2. Where did this journey start for you in terms of audience? How many followers did you have when you started the book? How many people bought at launch? Since then?
I had no followers when I started the book. I was on no social media and had no desire to be on it. I didn’t start building a following until after I was accepted by my publisher. I would not recommend doing that.
It’s never too early to start building a platform, even if you don’t have a book out yet. My audience is women like myself that are struggling to get through their day dealing with life and a chronic illness at the same time which, sadly, is 50 percent of our population right now.
I don’t know how many bought the book initially but it went to #1 on Amazon the first month. At last count, I had over 30,000 downloads on Kindle this year.
It’s never too early to start building a platform, even if you don’t have a book out yet.3. What were your fears about this project and how did you get past them?
I was scared to death the day my book launched (and for about a month before too). I was afraid to be seen, to be judged, to fall on my face and to be embarrassed because I put so much of myself in my book. What if ’they’ didn’t like it? Did it mean they didn’t like me? I launched on my birthday to distract me from my terror.
Here’s why I did it anyway – writing my book was part of a bigger dream. If I chickened out and didn’t give my book and my launch my all, I felt like I would be giving up on myself too. I went all in because, at the end of the day, I never want to look back on my life with any regrets or wishes that I had more time to complete things I should have completed years before. Life is too short to play small. The more I expand, the bigger and better my life gets. It was a lot of work but worth every minute
4. What did you do to stay motivated and focused through the length of the project? What’s the minimum “team” you need to pull this off?
During the writing, it was just my editor and me. Motivation wasn’t hard because it was a little like therapy. I also saw how much pain there was in my community and wanted to do my part to end that.
5. What kind of successes have you had beyond the book that you attribute to being a published author?
Being a published author has given me the credibility to move into different areas I am passionate about. I’ve done some public speaking to doctors about empathy and patient rights; I’m working on a wellness toolkit for a large organization, and I’ve been lobbying Congress to get laws changed to benefit the chronically ill, just to name a few things.
6. What were the most impactful strategies that helped keep your book selling and generating leads? How do you continue to build on your sales?
The best thing is to stay in front of people in your community and let go of anything else you are doing that doesn’t impact your people.
I run a closed FaceBook The Wellness Warrior Tribe open to anyone looking for a dose of empowerment and support. It keeps me close to my audience so I can keep them up on offers but more importantly, I love asking what they need to continue both of our growth. Also, I arranged my launch during Invisible Illness Week. Aligning yourself with a cause you support anyway is a great way to meet people and to generate sales.
7. If a new author was asking you for advice, what’s the one book promotion strategy you consider essential? What are the “must haves” as part of a book promotion campaign?
Friends. People buy from recommendations or from others they trust. I belong to a group of authors and we cross share our promotions all the time. I’m always cross sharing content in my genre. It’s important to connect to people, not sales.
People buy from recommendations or from others they trust.8. Is there anything you would do differently when you publish your next book? If so, what?
If I were to do it differently, I would have started my social platform when I started writing my book, not after, so by the time the book is published I would have already been established in my community.
9. What is the biggest learning or “aha” you experienced from promoting your book?
That you don’t have to do it perfectly. I can’t tell you how many mistakes I made but I kept going. “Courageous Imperfection” is my mantra. And even better, what I found is that people don’t really care if it’s perfect anyway.
10. Is there anything you’d like to share about how to create ongoing book sales, after the initial launch?
There are a lot of book promotion sites out there like Free Booksy or BookBub just to name a few. Check them out and see what resonates. There is also a site you can pay to have your book on 40 different promotion sites. It’s worth it if you are running a sale which I try to do once a quarter. I would look at Amazon KDP program too.
Also, one of my best spike in sales was from a Goodreads giveaway. Goodreads has a powerful presence in the literary market and I would explore any marketing they have. There are lots of book awards you can apply for too. Everyone likes a book that has won something and that’s an easy promote. I do book signings as well which moves hard copies of my book as well as generates leads for my email list.
You can be very creative in marketing a book and what worked last year may not be as effective this year so I’m always keeping my eyes open for opportunities.
About Lisa Douthit
Lisa Douthit is the author of the Amazon #1 Bestseller Wellness Warrior – Fighting for Life in Fabulous Shoes and a Master Healer who is passionate about healing from all perspectives. After struggling with multiple bouts of cancer and autoimmune disease, no one understands the physical, spiritual, and emotional rollercoaster better than she does. She has made it her mission to learn and teach thousands how to be well without perfect health. Lisa currently lives in Southern California with her husband and three children. Connect with Lisa on Facebook.
Tips for Promoting Your Book After the Launch
To help you come up with your post-launch promotion strategy, here’s a recap of Lisa’s tips as well as some she didn’t mention (but implemented).
- Start building your audience/platform on social media before you start writing your book
- Set aside your fears and do it anyway. If you’ve got a message to share, then step out of your comfort zone and tell the world.
- Stay in front of your audience.
- Create a private Facebook group for the people you serve with your message.
- Align your book with a cause you support.
- Tap into your networks, especially other authors in your genre for cross-promoting opportunities.
- Don’t worry about being perfect; mistakes are opportunities to learn and grow and do it better the next time.
- Research book promotion sites and use the ones that suit your book and audience.
- Put your ebook on sale and run a BookBub promotion.
- Consider using KDP Select.
- Run quarterly sales on your book/ebook.
- Run a Goodreads giveaway to increase awareness of your book.
- Do local book signings.
- Research relevant podcasts so you can talk about your message and book to new audiences.
- Blog about your topic consistently. Lisa posts on her blog every week, without fail.
- Guest post wherever possible.
- Create a Pay it Forward program to reach more people in your target audience. Lisa did this very successfully (check out how she set it up).
- Be consistent. Promotion doesn’t end on your launch day.
Now it’s your turn… if you have questions for Lisa, post them in the comments. If you have post-launch book promotion tips that have proven successful, please share them,too!
Are you planning to launch a book or program soon? Let’s talk about how you can be a bestseller too!