Work With Me

I run book launches for a small number of nonfiction authors each year.

I've been in book marketing and launching for 18 years and worked with more than 100 authors, including bestsellers Daniel Pink, Chip and Dan Heath, Charles Duhigg, Hugh Howey, Sally Hogshead, and Steve Kamb. At one point I had five clients on the New York Times bestseller list at the same time.

I've written six books of my own, including Your First 1000 Copies, which has become a standard reference for authors building an audience.

How I think about launches

• When done right, a book launch both sets up the book for long-term sales success and integrates into your business to help grow it.
• The goal is not a particular bestseller list, as this has zero correlation to the long term success of a book. The goal is to get as many people to buy and read the book as possible so that it turns into long-term sales and begins to spread on its own.
• It’s an enormous mistake to wing the launch or wait until the last minute or trust the publisher to take care of it. You’ve put so much effort into creating the book, so it makes sense to put the same effort and strategy into its launch.
• Unless you hire someone to focus on the launch, it will constantly get pushed down the todo list until it’s too late to have a real impact. Your team is already busy, you are focused on running the business, and launching a book is unlike any other project you have run.

Ways to work together

Option #1: Launch Blueprint

The full campaign, designed by me and executed by your team.

• Plan the positioning and core messaging so the marketing of your book results in sales.
• Week-by-week timeline from pre-launch through launch week and the year that follows so you always know what to work on and, more importantly, what not to work on.
• A publisher plan: what to ask for, who to ask, and every internal deadline you need to hit so you know how to get the most out of the relationship.
• Organization of your media, podcasts, peer and influencer outreach, bulk and corporate opportunities so you are able to best leverage these relationships for book sales.
• Design of content and asset map covering what needs to exist, who makes it, and when it needs to be done so everything does not wait until the last minute.
• Create a plan to turn your fans—subscribers and followers—into book buyers.
• How the book connects to the rest of your business, from speaking to consulting to whatever you sell so the book becomes the tip of the spear for your business.
• Two to three check-in calls while your team executes the blueprint.

Best if you have a capable team or a publisher behind you and what you're missing is the plan itself.

Option #2: In-Person Intensive

One or two days, in the room, with you and everyone who will touch the launch.

• Everything in the Launch Blueprint
• On-site with your team so we can organize and assign responsibilities.
• Live, uninterrupted work on positioning, hooks, and messaging so the whole team is on the same page.
• The business case mapped out: what this book is supposed to do for you beyond copies sold
• Written plan delivered within a week

This is the fastest way to get a team aligned and moving in unison.

Option #3: Run the Launch

I own the campaign from strategy through launch week and the months after.

• Full campaign ownership and accountability so you can stay focused on the business you’re already running.
• Weekly working sessions with you and/or your team so we stay on track and on time.
• I work directly with your publisher, your in-house publicist, and your marketing contact to ensure you get everything you need without risking your direct relationship with them.
• Every major call—positioning, timing, channel mix, media priorities, publisher asks, etc—has my input all along the way.
• A plan for the long tail, not just the launch window
• Roughly four to six months of work
• Your team handles day-to-day execution, I direct it to ensure everything is moving in unison to get the most out of the launch.

I only take on two or three of these a year.

Before you reach out

Timing matters. If your book is coming out in the next two months, there’s not much I or anyone else can do. The ideal timeline is six to nine months before the book is released.

A first book is fine. What matters isn't whether you've done this before. It's whether there's something to build on: an audience, a business, a speaking career, a client base, a following of any real size. If you have any of that, you have more to work with than most second and third-time authors do.

This probably isn't a fit if:

• You don't have an audience or a business yet, and the book is meant to create one from nothing
• You write fiction (I love fiction, I just don't market it, and I'd be doing you a disservice)
• You're inside 60 days of publication

Get in touch

If it sounds like a fit, fill out the form below and tell me about your book. I’ll follow up within 2 business days.

Tim Grahl is the author of six books and the CEO of Story Grid. He has spent 18 years helping authors build audiences and launch books, including dozens that have reached the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller lists.