How a debut novelist found the readers her book was meant for
A behind-the-scenes case study of an authentic, connection-driven book launch
Today I want to take you behind-the-scenes of the book launch of a debut novel. I will cover exactly what the author did, the results, and how she prioritized balancing mental health along the way. The goal: to launch her book in a manner that felt authentic and was filled with meaningful connections with real readers.
Earlier this year, I worked with Anna Binder Reardon on the launch plans for her debut novel, Wethersfield Road. You can find it on Amazon or Bookshop.org.
Here is the book along with merch she created that is themed to it:
Today I want to share how her launch is going, what the process has been like for her, what she has done, and how she shares with authenticity, honoring her own mental health needs.
Anna didn’t initially intend to write a novel. She started writing therapeutically, then thought: “How much more honest would I be in exploring this character if it wasn’t me, if it was somebody who’s based on me? And when I started doing that, it just kind of started flowing.”
Her book was released on September 30th. Meet Anna:
Okay, let’s dig in…
Focus on What You Can Control
Anna and I discussed goals early in the process. Sometimes that is a number, but other times it is a feeling. She says: “I think a lot about what we talked about of making sure you’re doing the things where, when you get to the other side of launch, you think: I did everything I could. There’s nothing that I wish I had done. I feel really complete in that, and I that’s a gift going into to post launch is that I really feel I did my best. And everything after this is kind of icing on the cake.”
This kind of mindset helps infuse the process with joy and meaning — where you are able to focus on what you can control, instead of a constant feeling of overwhelm that you should do more, more, more. You can’t control what others will do — which media or podcasts will say yes, which reviewers or influencers will feature your book. So focusing on what you can do — choosing carefully the things that matter, and realizing that you can’t do everything — are helpful to ensure you have a successful launch.
Book launches are emotional. Anna describes the rollercoaster that is common to feel: “The week before publication was super overwhelming. I was just very anxious about putting together the launch event, making sure everything was set up for that, making sure all our ducks were in a row with the publisher and the marketing we were going to do leading up to it. That was very overwhelming. I had a few moments where I was like, ‘Why did I do this?’ That feeling passed quickly, and the night of my launch felt up there with my wedding, it was a magical wonderful night. I’m so very grateful for that.”
I asked what her goals were beyond everything above, and she said this:
“I wanted to sell out the book launch, and we did that, which was very exciting. It was between 40 to 60 copies.”
“I wanted to get 20 Amazon reviews by the end of the first week and we’re at about 30 right now. So I’m very excited about that.”
She explains: “I’m very new to this. So I’ve just tried to, if I keep my attitude as one of gratitude, then everything is just a gift when it does happen.”
Embrace Asking for Help and Finding Collaborators
In approaching every aspect of writing and releasing a book, Anna embraced the idea of collaborating with others. She puts it this way, “I’ve never written a book before. In my 20s, something that had been drilled into me was humility and recognizing when you don’t know how to do something. So it was lovely to go to somebody who had written a book and whose job was to help other people write books.”
She worked with Ron Seybold as her editor and publisher. He’s an author and also runs the Austin Writer’s Workshop, which is local to Anna. She signed up for a workshop series, but didn’t really show up for it. But, in receiving their newsletters, one day she noticed a note that Ron included near the end. It said something like, “Let me know if I can help you with your book.” Anna did just that.
In speaking with Ron, she found a collaborator who really understood her work, and who she trusted. This is such an important point to not overlook: when collaborating with someone, trust is one of the most important factors.
Then in the spring, Anna and I began talking about her book launch plans. We worked together for a few months — she really wanted to develop a comprehensive plan, which is exactly my ethos and process. This is how she explains part of the reason she wanted to work with me:
“I’m a very anxious person. I can get pretty obsessive about stuff. It was around that time I first started really making the videos for TikTok and Instagram, and some of them would do really well, and then some of them wouldn’t. I just had no idea what was hitting, what was not, and why. Ron immediately suggested you — I love your human-centered marketing approach, and being authentic is really important to me.”
She also collaborated other experts along the way, using Amie Norris for proofreading, Asya Blue for her cover design, Rebecca King for merch design, Steven Wimberley for her website and branding, Rebi Jordan for her audiobook narration, and AJ Ver for sound engineering.
Do you need a long list of collaborators or people you hire? Nope. But I think it is useful to see how one author did it, and realize that you don’t need to be an expert in everything.
In the spring, she began orienting her social media presence to focus more on her writing life. She also started writing things down and “thinking strategically,” as she said, with one of her first actions being: “I made a really bad Google doc.”
But this work was so important. She wrote down names of people she would ask to read early copies of her novel, listed out media outlets in the Austin area to contact. “I started doing that fairly early, just reaching out to people. It was a lot of sending emails, a lot of sending messages. It was also a lot of writing Substack articles that I felt spoke to who I was as a person and as a writer. I built my audience little by little. The book is a very millennial coming of age story, with a theme of mental illness. So I wrote a lot about being a millennial coming of age with mental illness. That’s what the book is. That’s who I am as a writer.”
What She Did and What Worked
As I write this, I have 4,500 words of notes and quotes, so I’m going to try to whittle it down a bit. Many of the items here show up in the methodology I use, The Creative Success Pyramid. Here is some of what Anna did to for her book launch:
Prioritizing. I hinted at this above. When I first begin working with a writer, we often do my Clarity Card exercise. You can download a full tutorial of it here for free. She says, “Getting my priorities straight and seeing them structured that was extremely helpful.” This list didn’t just focus on her writing life — but all of her priorities, and ensuring mental health, relationships, and other responsibilities were balanced with her book launch.
“Having the confidence to talk about who I am as a writer and what it is I write.” This is another of the first things I do with writers; I call it developing Key Messages. This is about knowing how to talk about what you write and why in a manner that is natural — that can fit into everyday conversations. It is so much more than just a clever tagline that is meant to get readers’ attention. It is about knowing the themes that drive you as a writer, and a myriad of ways to talk about what you write and why, without coming across as promotional. And the best part: it leads to meaningful conversations. She said prior to doing this work, she would stumble through trying to explain what she writes. But since then, she has been interviewed on podcasts and now knows how to talk about her work in a clear and engaging manner. She says, “This is one of the most important things, learning how to talk about being a writer and what I write and who I am, and being able to do that succinctly with grace and poise.”
Clearly identify ideal readers. This is another activity I do with all the writers I work with, craft a persona that outlines exactly who her ideal reader is. This is not based on vague demographics, but as a real person who lives a multifaceted life. Doing so helps us make so many decisions about where to find them and what engages them. She said this helped her meet other people, because she would consider, “It’s not that I have to tell everyone about the book, but instead, I have to tell her about the book.” The ‘her’ being her specific ideal reader. “When I started doing this more individual approach, I started meeting other people. It grew from there!”
One-on-one connections on social media (and offline.) “If I found somebody on Instagram, TikTok, or Substack, who I felt would resonate with the book, I would reach out to them personally. My intention was… I’m going to talk to a handful of people who I either think would really vibe with the book or get something out of the book or just, or just connect with well. And that has been the best results is making true relationships and connections. Definitely making those connections with people in the book community, particularly in the Austin area.”
“Pitching podcasts that resonated with me. I had so much fun doing that, it was such a good experience. I just feel having the confidence to talk (see above), that’s the big thing.”
Creating merch (merchandise) and a book launch package to send out. “I love little trinkets — stickers, crystals, little things that. I thought how fun would it be to, to come up with some stuff that is on theme with the book that I could. (See the photo at the top of this post) I mailed them as thank you packages. I sold them at my launch event. When the holidays are coming around, I’m gonna run promotions for by the book and the merch package.”
Giveaways. “I did a few giveaways with the merch, that was really fun. A giveaway is a great way to connect with new people. I just posted, ‘This is my book. If you share this post, follow me, comment on three videos related to the book, you’ll be entered into the giveaway and you’ll get the book and the full merch package.’ And then I got to make another video where I drew the name out of the hat and then package it up and sent it to people. It’s just people who wouldn’t have met otherwise.”
In-person book launch event. “Planning it was very stressful. Not because it needed to be stressful, but because I stress myself out. We have huge families, and a very big support system here. So I was freaking out about, ‘What if we’re too much for this bookstore, what if we what if we take up too much space?’ I was worried about the logistics of that. But it ended up of course being the perfect amount of people. It was crowded without being that you couldn’t move. It was so many people in the world that I love, and a few people I didn’t know, which was so cool. It’s a book about getting sober. So we had mocktails. And the mocktails were named after the horse and the dog in the book, which was fun.
There were several people at my launch party who I met on Instagram. That’s so cool, just to see where you’re planting seeds of these relationships and they’re actually coming to fruition. So all of that started in the spring, really.”
Encourage book reviews on Amazon. “To the people that I know have finished the book, I’ll just say, ‘Thank you so much for reading the book! As an independent author, it means so much to me if you take the time to share your honest opinion.’ And most people are more than happy to do that. I found this out in various forms of volunteer work: people really love a personal invitation to do something. It just makes somebody feel more a part of and it makes somebody feel they can be helpful. In general, humans want to be helpful if they can.”
Ad & promotion campaigns: moving forward, she is setting up campaigns with Goodreads, Kirkus, and BookBub. .
Balancing Mental Health While Launching a Book
One thing we talked a lot about was ensuring her launch felt joyful and didn’t burn her out. Anna said something that I think will resonate with so many, “My primary mode of outreach and marketing is something that sits next to my bed while I sleep.” So she would be mindful of when to put the phone on ‘do not disturb,’ or keep it in another room.
This is her advice on how she balanced mental health and made time for self-care throughout her book launch: “If you’re anything me, you’ll always think you could be doing more. And you can make it constant. Having time limits, getting lots of sleep, and making sure you’re touching grass and getting outside. I would go get a little ice coffee treat and change my surroundings.”
“I think the biggest thing here is having a support system as a creative person who shares their art. I have loving friends and family, work diligently on my sobriety, attend therapy, and regularly unplug from my phone. I also have to look at sharing my work as finding my people rather than trying to sell it to all people. Managing my own expectations, practicing gratitude, and looking for ways to be of service always keep me in my right mind. Connection is the opposite of addiction they say, and when I focus on making meaningful connections my mental health thrives.”
“I think another big piece of this is honoring who you are as a person and as an artist. One of my favorite things you talked about is that you never have to go viral. Instead, you can build this slowly. That takes so much pressure off; I realized, “I don’t have to get the entire world to read my book, I just have to find the readers my book was meant for.”
You can find Anna and her novel in the following places:
Her novel, Wethersfield Road on Amazon or Bookshop.org.
Website: anna-writes.com
Substack:
and
If you want to explore working with me, there are two ways I collaborate with writers and creators:
As always, thank you for being here with me.
-Dan
Kids of the Week: picking out books at the library:
Practicing writing in cursive (he LOVES cursive):
Oh Wow!! I love this! I have been following Anna on Instagram and really resonated with her posts. She felt like someone I could connect with and relate to, because she shows her vulnerability. One of my favorite reels was when her husband came on and talked about why we should read her book. Her cover reminded me of Jeanette Winterson's memoir "Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal," and that drew me in also. I'm so thrilled to hear that she worked with you!
Oooh this resonates so much. Thank you both!