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Side Hustle School

#2413 - TBT: Book Launch Manager Gets Paid to Pitch Authors

Side Hustle School

Chris Guillebeau

Business, Side Hustle, Small Business, Careers, Entrepreneurship,, Entrepreneurship

4.73.3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 August 2023

⏱️ 7 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this week’s “Throwback Thursday / Where are they now?” segment, we hear from a book launch manager who gets paid to pitch authors. Specifically, she helps upcoming and newly released books to get more attention … by any means necessary!

Side Hustle School features a new episode EVERY DAY, featuring detailed case studies of people who earn extra money without quitting their job. This year, the show includes free guided lessons and listener Q&A several days each week.

Show notes: SideHustleSchool.com

Email: team@sidehustleschool.com

Be on the show: SideHustleSchool.com/questions

Connect on Twitter: @chrisguillebeau

Connect on Instagram: @193countries

Visit Chris's main site: ChrisGuillebeau.com

If you're enjoying the show, please pass it along! It's free and has been published every single day since January 1, 2017. We're also very grateful for your five-star ratings—it shows that people are listening and looking forward to new episodes. 😎 🙏🏼 

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Side Hustle School features a new episode EVERY DAY, featuring detailed case studies of people who earn extra money without quitting their job. This year, the show includes free guided lessons and listener Q&A several days each week.


Show notes: SideHustleSchool.com

Email: team@sidehustleschool.com

Be on the show: SideHustleSchool.com/questions

Connect on Instagram: @193countries

Visit Chris's main site: ChrisGuillebeau.com

Read A Year of Mental Health: yearofmentalhealth.com


If you're enjoying the show, please pass it along! It's free and has been published every single day since January 1, 2017. We're also very grateful for your five-star ratings—it shows that people are listening and looking forward to new episodes. 😎 🙏🏼 


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

All right, all right. Welcome to Sideosal School. So excited you're tuning in today. Thank you so much, friends, listeners, community. My name's Chris Gellabo. I'm so excited to make this podcast for 2,413 days in a row, all because of our amazing community.

0:24.0

You know, I set out to do it for 365 days. That's approximately a year. Well, it's an exactly a year. And then I just kind of kept going just because so many people were enjoying the stories.

0:34.0

And then we turned it into even more of a community approach, a couple years in taking your questions, hearing tips and stories of success and failure from our listeners and the community that has grown and evolved along the way. So just wanted to say thank you.

0:47.0

As we kick off today's episode, which is in the throwback Thursday segment, conveniently coming out every Thursday. It's a segment where we take a look at someone whose story has evolved since we first featured them.

0:57.0

Now, last week we heard from a fruit stand seller in Georgia, three years after setting up shop, that fruit stand now earns more than $50,000 a season, a season, not even a year, but just every, every fruit stand season, which I guess is, I guess, probably in the summer. I actually don't remember that, but we're just going to go with that $50,000 a season. That's all I got today, though, we are moving away from fruit.

1:19.0

And our latest feature will hear from a book launch manager who gets paid to pitch authors. She's trying to help upcoming and newly released books get more attention by any means necessary.

1:30.0

I'm actually in that phase of book launch myself, Gonzo Capitalism, my newest book, my first book in three years coming out in just 12 days.

1:38.0

So I enjoyed doing some research here and hearing the story from Riley. I'm going to pass it over to her so I can keep working on my own book launch plans.

1:45.0

So let's hear directly from Riley. I'll have a little quick wrap up at the end.

2:15.0

Well, hello again. It's Riley, the book launch manager. And I'm back with a few updates on my whirlwind adventure in the publishing world.

2:35.0

It's been a thrilling year since you last heard from me. My side hustle has blossomed into a profitable venture, consistently earning at least $2,500 a month.

2:45.0

One of my biggest highlights of the past year has been working on a launch for a nonfiction book about the impact of AI on global economics.

2:53.0

We hit the USA today bestseller list on launch week. That was exciting for the author, the publisher, and me.

3:00.0

Let's talk about the details. To start with each book launch project I take on ranges from 1000 to 3000 depending on the complexity and length of the campaign.

3:11.0

I typically handle two to three launches simultaneously, which nets me that study monthly income of 1500 or more.

3:19.0

It's worth noting, however, that this is not a get rich quick business. It took me close to six months to build a reputation and establish a steady stream of clients.

3:29.0

Even now, each launch takes a lot of work to pull off well. As for client acquisition, I initially relied on word of mouth referrals and networking within the publishing industry.

3:41.0

However, after a few successful launches, I've had authors directly approach me for their projects. I've also seen some success by offering free webinars on book marketing, which has indirectly broadened clients, but I don't do them very often.

3:55.0

The most challenging part of this business is managing the expectations of my clients. Some authors dream of hitting the New York Times bestseller list with their first book, but aren't able to sell anywhere near the number of copies required.

4:09.0

It's essential to be transparent with your clients about what's realistic for their book, given the budget, genre, and competition.

4:16.0

If you're thinking about dipping your toes into the world of book launch management, here's what I've learned.

4:22.0

Firstly, remember that you're not just launching a book, you're launching an author's streams. It's vital to understand their vision and communicate frequently to ensure you're both on the same page.

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