I made $0 on launch day (twice)
Last December, after spending 5-figures on a mentor to help me with my first ever product launch, it completely failed.
By failed, I mean zero sales.
Hours of work, obsessing over the details, obsessing over the stupid Canva presentation.
Hour 1: Zero sales.
Hour 5: Still zero.
End of day: Yep, a whopping zero.
I even had to host a Christmas party that night, but I just curled up into a ball in my bed and felt the weight of my incompetence swirl through me and the sheets.
My husband got home that night, and I couldn’t even explain to him the feeling of a failed launch.
He works in corporate.
How do you explain putting dozens of hours into something whilst making no money?
Especially to the person who’s bankrolling this whole thing in the first place?
It was probably one of the loneliest moments I had ever felt.
During the Christmas party, I zoned out while everyone around was having a holly, jolly good time.
Failure was not new to me, but this one stung.
What went right?
What didn’t go right?
I thought I did everything Jessica told me to do?
The next day I sat down at my computer, feeling the pain.
As I stared at all my sales emails, each with a perfectly coiffed sales presentation like my sales coaches had told me how to do, I slowly felt the confusion turn into a blazing fire again. 🔥
I started DM’ing the people who attended the launch, asking them what they liked.
What they didn’t like.
Out of the ash, small buds started appearing.
I tried launching again in January.
$0.
I tried launching again in March.
$1500.
I tried launching again in September.
$18,000.
Each time learning, tweaking, improving.
It reminded me of the 4 failed book launches I had had in the past.
The first — $100.
The second — $100.
The third —$250.
The fourth — $0.
The fifth — $121,000 and counting.
The difference isn’t better writing or fancier marketing — it’s simply staying in the arena when everyone else goes home.
Success rarely comes from one perfect swing — it comes from being willing to strike out in front of God and everybody and still step up to the plate with your pants around your ankles.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly…” — Theodore Roosevelt
Here’s why I’m sharing this:
If you launched a business book and it failed, don’t give up.
With each swing, you valiantly take a shot from your Future Self.
Inside the free “How to Sell 10,000 Copies” email training, I show you how to find success with your business book using what I learned (your shortcut).
It’s a proven system that will help you sell thousands of copies of your book, opening doors to elevated business opportunities like brand deals and paid speaking opportunities.
And see how your next book launch could be the one that changes everything.
Best,
Renee
