Relaunching Older Books

New authors often have huge expectations around hitting bestseller lists and selling millions of copies on launch.

The reality is often quite different.

But the good news is that your book is a long-term investment, and it should be bringing you income for years to come.

This is an excerpt from How to Market a Book Third Edition, available now in ebook, print and audiobook formats.

It's never too late to market your book, and it will be new for the reader who discovers it today, even if it came out years ago.

Would you rather make $1000 in one week and then never make another cent?

Or would you rather make $100 a month for the next five years, giving you a total of $6000?

You'll rank better in launch week if you choose the former, but you'll have more of a chance to make a living as a writer if you aim for the latter. Of course, both would be nice!

Here are some ideas if you want to relaunch or rejuvenate your backlist titles in order to kickstart your sales again.

Change your cover

This is a tactic that traditional publishers use all the time. The older classics have been through multiple cover redesigns over the years as an excuse to market the books again.

I've changed covers and even titles as a way to reposition my books. Indie authors can easily upload new covers or interior files for the book.

Revisit the bestselling books in your target categories and commission new designs based on what is working right now.

Redo your metadata

Before you drive traffic to your book sales page, it's best to optimize your metadata first.

Revisit your categories and keywords, because more granular categories are added all the time. For example, literary fiction used to be one category and now has multiple levels below that, and you will rank better and be more discoverable in a more granular category.

Check your author page – is it up to date? You could even redo your sales description to take advantage of copywriting best practices.

Schedule a price promotion

The promotional sites like BookBub often need a significant number of reviews, so they are best to apply for months or even years after initial launch.

You can schedule multiple promotions as I did with the ARKANE boxset five years after launch.

Pick a newsworthy story or event

You can relaunch or re-market on a specific day or when a relevant newsworthy topic hits the headlines.

For example, if you have a historical book around a place or person, look for anniversaries or events you can hook into. Many romance authors relaunch Christmas-themed books every year, joining with other authors to do giveaways or boxsets.

Essentially, you can do any marketing activities for an older backlist title, and in fact, it is likely to be more effective than an initial launch because your book will have more reviews and you will have more of a clue what you're doing.

My book marketing knowledge improves every year, and I am always adding new things into the mix. The more books I have, the easier they are to market, and I often focus on pushing older books because they have more social proof.

So, the launch mentality can be useful for the short term, but overall, focus on a long-term, brand-building approach that pays off in sales and relationships over time. After all, we're in this for the long haul!