I’ve been on several book launch teams.
The first big book launch team I was on was organised by a major publisher and was at least ten years ago. The publisher asked readers to complete ten weekly tasks, with the promise of an Amazon voucher for everyone who provided links to show they had completed all ten tasks.
Unfortunately, the final task was to review the book on Amazon, which broke Amazon’s rules about reviewers not getting paid for reviews. (Equally unfortunately, I hadn’t enjoyed the book!) Anyway, I didn’t review the book, didn’t get the Amazon voucher, and steered clear of similar launch teams for a while.
Since then, I’ve volunteered for many launch teams, some with smaller publishers but most for authors who are self-publishing their books.
Some have been very formal, with Facebook groups and regular tasks.
These are typically organised by publishers or by authors who have hired someone to organise their book launch. These might send a weekly email with promotional images to share on social media or similar tasks. I try to complete the tasks requested, but they are sometimes time-consuming and can feel a little overwhelming.
Others have been a lot more informal, where the author simply shares the book and perhaps a few images, and asks readers to review the book and share the promotional images if they can. I definitely prefer these less formal launch teams.
