It's Time to Build the ARC
And no, I'm not talking about a boat, a space station, or a hole in the ground
I have launched six books in brief self-publishing career.
Some of these launches have done well. Others have been terrible. I mean, circkets terrible.
I have played around with all of the book launch tactics available and I have found one that really kills it in the launch and for the long term.
So, today, as I am now recruiting for this year’s ARC team, I figured I would share all about it.
How to Build a Team that Helps You Win
When I say ARC team, I am talking about a team of people who receive your advance reader copies of your book. These can come in the form of actual paper copies or simply PDF copies.
These are folks that you are going to ask to read your book ahead of time and then ask them to leave a review for your book on Amazon or wherever you are selling your books.
Having an ARC team has made book launches successful and helped with ongoing sales over time for all book that I have effectively put together a team.
№1 — Recruit Your Team
For my first book, I used the friends and family method. I basically reached out to all the friends and family I knew who would want to support me and asked them to join my team.
For my future books, I got a little bit more selective since I wanted to get reviews from people who would read the books in specific categories because the Amazon algorithm picks up on that sort of thing.
Now, I do a little of both. I reach out to friends and family, but I also reach out to specific groups of people too. Here’s how:
I start with social media. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, wherever I have any amount of followers I put a call out to join the team.
Then, I go for people I know specifically on those platforms who I might not have heard from on the first sweep. These are direct messages and I ask them to join my team.
Next, I share on platforms like Medium, Substack, my blog, and any other writing platforms that I use. This way I am capturing people who might not already be in my socials.
I reach out to contacts that are a little further out there or might not be online all that much. I ask them to join as well. This gives me a broad base of people in order to grow the team.
There are services where you can find ARC readers, but I don’t use them at this point. I know that there are legit ones out there, but I don’t want to mess with Amazon’s terms and I know some of them can be bad news.
So, this is how I recruit the team, but what is our messaging? And how do we organize things? Let’s talk about that next.
№2 — What are the Commitments for Your Team
When it comes to your team, you need to be clear of what they can expect from you and what you expect from them. In this section, we will talk a little bit about what commitments need to be made.
Your Commitments: Update your team of book progress, send PDF copy of your book, and notification of flash sale. This is also where you can share content for them to put up on their social media too.
Team Commitments: Read advance copy and leave a review on Amazon. Share book on social media pages and blog content. Provide testimonials on how the book has been encouraging or helpful.
These are basic commitments but they are a great place to start when it comes to getting people involved. So, you need to share this upfront with people and specifically how you plan on communicating with them.
№3 — Team Organization and Communication
Now, I have tried a lot of different ways to organize my team and stay in touch with them.
With one book, I did a Facebook group and it was about 30% effective. Another book, I tried using Slack and it was 0% effective. Another book, I used text groups and that was about 10% effective.
The most effective way that I have found is through email. And this is how I will be doing it from now on:
Start a Spreadsheet and have name, email, phone, info about your contact, when you last were in contact, if you have sent a copy of your book, and if they have left a review.
Second, figure out what is the best way to communicate with them: email or text message. Then commit to all of your communication being through that venue.
Third, communicate weekly leading up to book launch. This will keep them up to date and will help you find out where they are at in your ARC book.
Fourth, communicate with them daily for the first seven days your book is launched. This will help keep them updated on how things are going, they can share your book, and celebrate when you ultimately become a bestseller.
Lastly, thank them big time. I like to share a post thanking my ARC team members, sometimes I send copies of other books, and almost all the time, I add them to the special thanks of all my future books.
This is how I will be going about organizing and communicating with my teams from now on. Text message isn’t bad alone, but with the power of email too, you’ve got a winning formula.
№4 — Sending Your ARC Copy
This is an important part of your ARC strategy, which I tanked once and it shows in my book sales of the book I messed this thing up. So, you want to pay special attention to this.
You need to send that ARC copy in advance. Like two to three weeks before launch day. I send it via PDF. Most of the time it can fit in an email, but if it doesn't, you can set up Google Drive or DropBox where people can download it.
Make sure you follow up within 12 hours of sending out your ARC copy in case there are issues or if people didn’t get it to work. And then thank them again for reading it and you look forward to getting their feedback.
№5 — ARC Team Launch Strategy
Here’s the thing, for many of us, we don’t have giant followings. I’m talking 10,000 subscriber email lists, or 50,000 followers or more on social media. Because of this, we need a strategy for our ARC team and our book launch.
Here’s exactly what I do:
Freebie 48: I put my book up for free for 48 hours. I run one promotion, and I ask all my ARC team members to pick up the book at this time.
Book Launch Week: My book launch isn’t when my book actually launches, it is when I chose to do my Freebie 48. Then, the rest of the week I promote the book and ask for book reviews from the ARC team.
21-Day Book Promotion Sprint: After book launch week, I do a sprint of content to share my book anywhere and everywhere and invite my ARC team to help with the promotions along the way. This way Amazon sees consistent orders over time.
After that, I share my book weekly and on my content to remind people that it is out. I also raise the price up to normal prices, but that doesn’t impact the bottom line if the 30 days after launch went off well.
One Last Thing: Why is an ARC Team Important?
Amazon wants to see consistent sales for the first 30 days after your book is published. If you do this well, then you will get sales long term because Amazon will share your book more.
If you do this poorly, you will be working to get sales from now until your next book comes out and you do it right the next time. The first 30 days is so important with Amazon.
The other important reason you need an ARC team is this: you need to get reviews, typically 25 to 50 to help Amazon know to rank you book higher. The more reviews you have, the more likely you will make regular sales.
Your ARC team is the best chance to help you get reviews. So don’t mess up by leaving this part of your book publishing and promotion strategy to chance. I have and it keeps my books in the dumps with low reviews.
Your ARC team leads to reviews and early sales. And those two things lead to ongoing sales and the potential for people to check out your other books. So don’t miss out on this opportunity.
For more information on ARC Teams, check out this article:
How to Build an ARC Team to Launch Your Book
There's no better way to kickstart a book launch than to have a team of fans supporting you. In this article, I'll show…kindlepreneur.com
Final Thoughts on ARC Teams
I am build a team of people who would partner with me in launching my next book. What you can expect from me with this team:
Direct emails from me about every step of the process for the book!
A PDF copy of my book when it is ready to launch so you can read it ahead of time.
Notification for when the book goes free on my Flash Sale.
What I would ask you to do:
Read my advance copy and leave a review on Amazon.
Share my book on your social media pages and blog content.
Testimonials on how the book has been encouraging or helpful to you!
If you are interested, let me know in the comments below and I will reach out directly!
J.R. Heimbigner is a #1 Bestselling Christian Author on Amazon who writes about faith, family, and writing books. Join his Substack community and learn more about self-publishing and faith today!
I would be glad to help J.R. Whenever I get around to writing another book I'm sure this information will prove to be invaluable. :)