Week 1 Down: Slow Launch Energy, 600 sales, Upcoming Events | #278
Good Work has been out in the world for a week so far and I’ve started to receive some nice messages, comments, and reviews.
Here are a few:
It feels nice, keep them coming!
1 Week Sales = 1 Month of Last Book
I sold about 600+ copies of the book in the first week, which is amazing. This is about what I sold of The Pathless Path in the first month. So we are off to a strong start!
I also saw a small but not big bump for The Pathless Path, which is cool too.
Some Book-Related Events
I am planning several events over the next two months (and if you have ideas or want to fly me to your city in a private jet, just let me know!)
Today - Q&A About The Book: In my community, I’m doing a book Q&A today and then we have our monthly hangout and “meet the others” - the people in the group are awesome. And it is still a one-time pay-what-feels-right fee to join.
October 1st - Digital Launch Party with Khe Hy: My friend Khe offered to do something with me and I thought it might be fun to do a “digital launch party” with him. If you’d like to join, click here. More details to come.
Oct 9th - 4-Week Book Discussion Series: I’ll be hosting a 4-week “mini cohort” around Good Work. It will be included for all members of my community or can be purchased as a standalone thing here. Calls will be on Oct 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th at 5 pm EST. You can get access here.
Mid-October - Austin Launch Party: Will be hosting a small event in Austin in October to launch the book. If we are IRL mutuals, send me a note and I’ll let you know where it is!
I may also hold a more public event too. Stay tuned!
SF + NYC Events?: TBD but may potentially do something in SF in late Oct/Early Nov and in NYC near Christmas. Please message if interested.
Long, Slow, Fun Launch
I’ve never had what I call “launch energy.” I’m more of a commit and do things at a steady pace person. I wrote a bit about the principles I embraced last week.
I felt weird not doing “more” with my first book but over time I’ve learned to embrace that this is just how I’m wired. And if I fight it, I undermine my motivation. This past week I still felt the tension that I’m not doing my “best” and that I’m leaving money on the table (see Chapter 12) but I also know that this is a long journey.
In Chapter 9, writing about my first book, I wrote:
Selling tons of copies was never the goal. This may shock people, but it’s true. The only intention was to write something I wanted to write and to deepen my commitment to writing. Writing is my good work, not book launches.
I think the thing I realized through The Pathless Path is that I get a ton of energy from actual readers. And so the way for me to promote my work is to simply pay attention to what the energy or reaction from readers is telling me to do. Talking with them, hearing from them seeing people share the book, and gifting the book to people and places where it might be needed.
And so as this book gets out there too I’ll ramp up my energy too.
I’m excited to see where it goes.
Another thing: yesterday I made a quick video. I wrote, recorded, edited, and published during my daughter’s nap.
Founder mode? How about dad mode?
It’s a short story. I think you’ll like it.