Launch-week checklist for self-published authors

Launches fail for boring reasons: the listing was not finished, the reviews were not lined up, the ads went on before the page could convert, or the author spent launch day replying to comments instead of working the plan. None of this is hard. It just has to happen in order.

Print this, or paste it into your notes, and tick it off. Dates assume an ebook launch; add two weeks for paperback proofs.

Three weeks out

1. Final manuscript locked. No more edits after this point; every change risks a typo that ends up in a review.
2. Cover final at full size and as a thumbnail. Check that the title reads at 100 pixels wide, which is how most shoppers first see it.
3. Blurb written as a sales page, not a synopsis: hook, stakes, promise. Under 200 words, first line does the work.
4. Categories and seven keyword slots researched, not guessed. Look at what the top ten books in your subgenre use.
5. Advance copy exported as PDF and EPUB, opened on a phone, and checked that chapter links work.
6. Advance readers recruited: your newsletter list, plus a review campaign on an ARC service so copies reach readers now and reviews are ready for launch day.

Two weeks out

1. Pre-order live if you are using one, with the final cover and blurb. Pre-order pages that change late lose the early ranking they collected.
2. Advance copies sent, with a clear deadline and the honest-review wording from the templates guide.
3. Author page and series page on Amazon updated. Shoppers who like the sample click through.
4. Newsletter launch sequence drafted: one teaser now, one on launch day, one follow-up a week later.
5. Decide the launch price. A lower price for the first week is normal; a free run on a debut is not, since free downloads rarely review.

Launch day

1. Check the live listing on a phone: cover, Look Inside, categories, price, series link. Fix anything wrong before you tell anyone.
2. Send the launch email with a buy link and a separate direct link to the review page for readers who had the advance copy.
3. Post once in the places you already participate. Do not carpet-bomb groups you joined yesterday.
4. Do not touch ads yet unless the listing already shows five or more reviews.
5. Do not reply to reviews, good or bad. Not today, not ever.

Days 1 to 7

1. Watch reviews arrive. If advance readers are quiet, send the one reminder two days before their deadline.
2. Log daily sales rank and review count in a spreadsheet. You will want this baseline for the next launch.
3. At ten verified reviews, start Amazon Ads: one automatic and one manual campaign, $5 to $10 a day each.
4. Reply to every reader email personally. Those are future advance readers.

Days 8 to 14

1. Send the follow-up newsletter: thank readers, ask the ones who have finished for an honest review, mention what is next.
2. Review ad data by ACOS, not by day-to-day sales. Cut keywords with clicks and no sales; raise bids on ones that convert.
3. If reviews are under ten, run a second small review campaign rather than raising ad spend. Reviews fix conversion; ads only buy clicks.
4. Write down what you would change. The second launch is where the money is.

The four mistakes that undo everything

• Asking for ratings. Any phrasing with a number of stars risks the reviews that arrive.
• Review swaps with other authors. The removals come later and take the honest reviews with them.
• Ads before reviews. You pay to show shoppers an unproven page.
• Changing the cover or blurb in week one because of nerves. Give the listing two weeks of data before judging it.

Where ReadRipple fits

Item six of week three is the one most debut authors cannot do alone. A fifteen-review campaign on ReadRipple costs $60 to $120 at the $4 to $8 bids most authors set, readers claim the book by genre, each review is verified on your Amazon page before you pay, and anything not live within three days is refunded. Start it three weeks out and launch day arrives with a review row that works.