Note: This is not me "tooting my own horn"--I'm just sharing what I've learned! When I launched my first book--In the Days: A Tale of the Forgotten Continent--I had one goal in mind: get that first book out there, no matter what! When I received the final formatted copy of the book from my editor, I believe I waited all of 30 minutes before uploading the file to Amazon for publishing. A few days later, I had my first book launch. Hooray! Excitement all around! How did the book launch go? Not as good as I had hoped. I rushed that book launch, with hardly any time to prepare for the release. With Blade of the Destroyer, I learned that I need to think ahead and be prepared. Back in November 2014, when I finished the book and had it professionally edited, I could have launched right away. But because of what I learned from the earlier book launch, I set a much later goal: March 2015. In that 4 month interim, I:

• Reached out to people for reviews
• Contacted sites for guest posts
• Tried to expand my network and make new friends

By January 2015, I had roughly 200 people willing to help me launch my book in some way. Fast forward to July 2015. The book got picked up by a publisher, thus delaying the launch. But when I got that final proof/ARC to send out, I was ready to roll! I had that long list of people willing to help, a tentative plan for the book launch, and pretty much everything I needed to do a "big" launch. How is my launch looking?

• I have about 60 author interviews/guest posts/book reviews being posted as part of a blog tout running between August 18^th and September 25^th. I've currently written about 35 of them.
• I have roughly 100 to 150 people reading the book and preparing to post (hopefully awesome) reviews before, on, or around the launch date of August 21^st.
• I have a countdown going on social media letting people know how many days are left until the book is released (we're currently at 18).
• I have a list of fellow authors (20 to 30) who will either offer a book as a giveaway, or who will participate in my book launch.

Will this make my launch a success? I guess we're going to find out in a few weeks. But I believe that because I didn't rush into things but I took the time to think ahead and prepare, I'll have a much higher chance for success than I had during my first book launch. I may not become a best-seller overnight, but I will definitely reach a wider audience, establish myself more firmly as an author, and continue to build that platform that will one day help me achieve the level of "success" I'm shooting for. Let this be a lesson to everyone: Don't do things IMMEDIATELY, but take time to think ahead and plan. It may not guarantee success, but it will help you be ready just in case success finds you!