Dear author,
You have faced many ‘to-do or not-to-do’ questions during the publishing process thus far, and here’s yet another one!
You have finally approved your review copy and are excited to share your work with the world – much time has passed since you started this project! You then get an email from your publisher or your team with the following magic words “The book is now available for pre-order”.
Yay? Or not yet? Do you now get the word out about pre-orders, or wait a bit longer with a bit of a grudge (because why is this taking so long?)?
Having spoken all things marketing with multiple non-fiction authors a week for the past two years, we know a thing or two about the questions asked and the answers sought.
This article aims to lay out the advantages and disadvantages of going ahead and asking your potential readers to pre-order their copy.
What are pre-orders?
All major bookstores, such as Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes&Noble and Book Depository allow readers to order and pay for a copy of a book before its agreed launch date.
On the day of the launch, the book is then automatically dispatched to the reader, even available instantly if they have purchased the ebook on Amazon.
Don’t waste your time
There are advantages to going with ‘all-steam ahead’ immediately. Though, before you read about these, there is a big caveat that needs to be addressed.
How popular and visible are you?
As much as I hate myself for asking this question, your answer changes everything, especially in relation to a few of the advantages below.
As a rule of thumb, known individuals with influence in their space, a strong community, big numbers of followers, a base of existing readers, and thousands of email subscribers sell more and have more of a playing field to reach their book goals (a bestseller title, anyone?).
Those who are just beginning and have smaller communities need to be pickier with their launch strategy, as at the end of the day, you only have so many people to sell to whilst reaching your goals (especially an Amazon bestseller title).
Advantages
The magic ‘Buzz’
Pre-ordering can be a great way to generate excitement and buzz around your book, as what you’re essentially doing is making the grand entrance earlier, giving yourself the ability to build the momentum further until launch day, or at least maintain it. For an example, look no further than Prince Harry and his new book, “SPARE”.
Doing this can then:
- Gauge interest from leads, which…
- Can lead to more sales, and…
- Positive word-of-mouth, ultimately…
- Giving you more exposure opportunities.
The last point is where the gold dust is, though you don’t necessarily need pre-orders to maximise your chances.
Bookstore visibility
Securing many pre-orders can help increase the books’ visibility on online retailers’ websites.
When it comes to Amazon, they even rank their new books (under 30 days long) according to their popularity – it’s the ‘Hot New Releases’ section… available as an overall book category and per book genre/category. It’s accessible to anyone at various points of the browsing experience.
Since ‘Hot New Releases’ are only available for newly published books, you have a 30-day long leverage over already-published and popular books in terms of placement and can appear somewhat alongside them, which is great for your brand.
Big bestseller lists
Many bestseller lists, such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, take pre-orders into account when determining rankings, so pre-orders can help secure a spot on bestseller lists and thus increase visibility on online retailers’ websites and even their homepages.
Test supply and demand/book awareness
Some authors leave promotion to the last minute, and I can’t blame them because writing a book takes a lot of time and effort. I don’t know whether this is you or not, but pre-orders can be helpful in finding out whether your leads know about, care, and are waiting for the book with anticipation.
Testing is a crucial step in preparing for a big launch. Books are no different.
By sending a notification about pre-orders to a smaller group, you can test your audience and identify any issues or areas for improvement before rolling out the book to a larger audience.
This can save you time, money, and resources in the long run, especially if you are doing the marketing yourself.
Additionally, testing on a smaller group allows you to gather valuable feedback from your target audience, which can be used to make informed decisions about the book, such as: tweaking the description, changing the tagline, providing clearer instructions, and providing your audience with more unique selling points.
Remember, taking the time to test on a small group of subscribers before the big launch will ultimately lead to a more successful outcome.
Raise capital to publish
Pre-orders can serve as a way to gain capital upfront before publishing, which can be helpful if you are an indie author or are self-publishing.
Disadvantages
On the other hand, there are potential drawbacks to pre-ordering, and they aren’t to do with the function and the concept of pre-ordering itself – rather than what comes with the execution.
I’ll skip the obvious disadvantages such as:
- Delays in release
- Potential refunds
- Limited control over pricing and release date once it’s set
Instead and first and foremost, let me state that pre-orders are not a guarantee of success.
As I have stated at the beginning of this article, pre-orders are a tool for maximising your exposure and marketing efforts. If you are a non-fiction author, and I think you are, exposure is likely to be one of the main reasons for writing your book as it generates more leads and sales for your business… Book sales are tiny in comparison.
Let’s jump into the main disadvantages.
It could hinder your chances of reaching bestseller status
Pre-orders can greatly impact your chances of achieving bestseller status, especially if you are planning on securing this title on the day of the release.
This is especially the case if you have a small list of leads and clients to reach out to about the book generally. While pre-orders count towards your bestseller status, every pre-order sale will mean that you have smaller sales on the day of the launch, which are more important for achieving that title.
There’s more to this, but it really does call for a separate article, which I will write next. If you’d like to see it, follow my profile, connect with me or DM your email address and I’ll add you to our author newsletter.
You could burn the hype quickly or flop
The importance of hype for a book release cannot be overstated.
Hype can create a sense of excitement and anticipation for a product, which in turn can lead to higher sales and more success.
Do you remember my question about popularity? Yes, this is where it matters.
If you don’t have good engagement with your community already, don’t expect fireworks when you post about your book pre-orders on social media. If after posting about pre-orders, no one engages and responds, the interest in the book will die almost instantly and you will flop with the hype before the book even launches.
Similarly, if you don’t have social media reach as high as you want or need it to be, you will be at risk of burning up the hype before the book launch date, as there simply won’t be enough new people coming across the post to like, comment and share it.
Final words
You weigh the pros and cons and decide whether pre-ordering might be a good move for your book.
Just remember to consider your overall book goals, and how they interconnect, your capabilities, and current potential.
Of course, there is also a lot you can do to mitigate risks and leverage the benefits, even if you don’t meet the criteria.
At the end of the day, both strategies are correct.
Do you need support with your book? If so, feel free to message me or email kinga@brandspire.co.uk for a non-obligatory call. We provide holistic marketing services that will make you feel like you’re on an all-inclusive holiday, well, almost.
