How I Made $266.96 on My First Poetry Book Launch (Month 1)

Publishing your first book doesn’t have to be rocket science

Image of KDP book royalties provided by the author

I’ve been poeting (performing my Spoken Word Poetry) around as a passion project/side hustle for the last ten years and took me that long to finally publish my first poetry book.

I usually perform my poetry, so the idea of writing for others to read didn’t seem necessary to me when I first started. Fast forward to 2020, when performing became difficult to do unless virtual, as I realized I needed another way to get my poetry out into the world.

I’d heard of self-publishing through Amazon’s KDP and followed many Insta-poets who made their living off of selling their creative work. As usual, I didn’t think it would be that easy for me.

Putting my book together

When I’m learning a new skill like self-publishing or completing my first book, I tend to go over and beyond with the preparation and ended up buying a $275 course called Zero-to-Book that detailed how to research, write, and publish a book on Amazon.

The course was heavy on non-fiction business books, but the writing process prescribed as well as the Amazon technical tutorials proved useful.

I put my book together, hired a creative writing-oriented editor, got the copyright and ISBN process out of the way, and got ready to launch and publish my book.

Preparing for Launch

Before I hit publish on my book, I came across a poet on socials who talked at length about marketing specifically for Instagram and TikTok. I was excited to finally see another poet who shared their poetry and their process for book sales and immediately booked a 1-on-1 session with her. After we met, I felt confident in the marketing content edits I made (book cover, description, and website copy).

Launch Strategy & Results

To be honest, I could have launched my book more strategically, but after a good three months of getting everything ready, I was a bit exhausted. I created about 3-4 Instagram posts as instructed by the other successful poet, created an email landing page, and put my book link everywhere my online presence existed.

On launch day, I sent my link to all of my family, friends, and some co-worker's group chats, and to my surprise, my book not only made over $200 with free marketing tactics but also gained the #1 category in the top topic areas because of the traffic I was sending to my book via very grassroots marketing strategies.

Conclusion

Publishing your first book doesn’t have to be rocket science. Find a course that’s not too long or expensive and covers the research, writing process, and business side of publishing your book. If you need 1-on-1 help, don’t start with the big authors — find a social media-based author who has documented success and shares their process.

Don’t underestimate the power of your network. My book was #1 in two categories for a week because I shared it with my circle and put a few reels talking about my book and the process leading up to the event.

If I can make money from sharing my poetry with family, friends, and under 2,000 Instagram followers, so can you!