Author Archives: Shirley

About Shirley

Shirley Corder is an author who writes to inspire and encourage. She has a passion for helping other writers and cancer survivors.
Posted in Blog • The Real Amanda

What is a Soft Launch?

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A few weeks ago, I was reading up on the topic of book launches, when I came across a term I hadn’t seen before: a soft launch, as against a hard launch. I immediately needed to know more, especially with Who is the Real Amanda? about to launch.

So What Is a Soft Launch?

I learned that a soft launch is like a whispered secret—so for me, this will mean a gentle introduction to my book. Here are some of the details:

  1. Limited Release:

    During the soft launch, Who is the Real Amanda? will be shared selectively. It won’t be a grand fanfare. I will reveal it to a smaller audience or a chosen segment of my existing readers.

  2. Testing Waters:

    For me, that is like dipping my toes into the literary pool. I’m giving the recipients a chance to read the finished book in advance, and give me feedback, hopefully in the form of reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, or elsewhere.

  3. Advanced Reviews from a Soft Launch:

    Every review, no matter how short, is like gold to the author. It means, when others go to look at the book, wondering if it will be of any interest to them, they have some other opinions sitting there to give them some insight. Invaluable!

4. Early Birds:

Do you fancy being an early bird and getting to read the book ahead of others? I’d love you to leave a comment below saying yes please! Don’t forget to give me your email address.

5. Blog Posts:

Over the past few weeks, you’ve been getting blog posts giving you some insight into the book. These will continue as part of the soft launch. Next week you will receive the other side of the coin: the hard launch. And the following couple of weeks, I will be interviewing the main characters.

6. Help Me Build Anticipation

through conversations with our close circles, revealing the book in stages.

Remember, a soft launch isn’t incomplete—it’s deliberate. It’s about nurturing your book before it spreads its wings. I plan to embrace the whispers and let curiosity ripple through my readers. Share on X

P.S. If you’re curious about the other end of the spectrum, stay tuned for the hard launch next week! 😉

But don’t forget, if you’d like to be part of the soft launch for Who is the Real Amanda? leave me a comment and I will invite you on board.

P.P.S. If you’d like to see the cover, stay tuned for the big reveal!

Friday 19th and Saturday 20th, our Africa Book Safari group on Facebook is holding a party co-hosted by six authors of Africa. At the party, all six of us will be revealing our new book covers. It’s the first time we’ve done anything like this and it should be great fun as well as exciting.

So make sure you sign up as a member of this group so you can attend the party. You don’t have to be there all the time. Just pop in when you have time and watch as the covers are revealed. Look out for Who is the Real Amanda?  (And tell me if you love the cover as much as I do!

PLEASE NOTE:

The book is currently on pre-order at the lowest possible price. This will go up once the pre-order ends so don’t waste time ordering! You snooze, you lose!