How to relaunch a self-published book that flopped

Most authors I meet have already launched a book. And most of those launches were quiet. Family bought a few copies. Amazon rank crept past 800,000. Nothing compounded.

Here is the good news almost nobody tells self-published authors: Amazon does not remember your failed launch. The algorithm does not penalise you. As far as Amazon is concerned, every day your book exists is a fresh day. If 90 people buy your book on the same Tuesday eighteen months from now, Amazon treats you like a breakout.

That is what a relaunch is. You are not apologising for the first launch. You are using the fact that the first launch didn't work as a gift, because this time you actually know what you are doing.

Why relaunches usually out-perform original launches

Three reasons:

1. You are older and more credible. Eighteen months on LinkedIn, one more podcast, another talk under your belt. Your network is bigger. People who didn't bother the first time will bother the second.
2. The book is already finished. No panic about formatting, no late-night cover redesigns. You can spend all your energy on the launch itself.
3. You learned what didn't work the first time. That is data most debut authors don't have.

Authors we have relaunched typically do 5-20x the first-launch sales volume in the first week. Sometimes more.

Before the relaunch: a real audit

Do not relaunch the book you launched. Audit it first. The seven things to check:

1. The cover. Open Amazon, look at the top 20 in your category, compare. If the cover doesn't belong, rehire a designer. £300-£1,200.
2. The subtitle. Is it clear what the book does for the reader? Rewrite if not.
3. The Amazon description. Rewrite in the sales-page formula: hook, pain, promise, bullets, credibility, call to action.
4. Your categories. You probably only used two. Request eight more. Aim for at least four narrow sub-categories where a modest launch can hit #1.
5. The price. If you priced under £5, move it up. Serious non-fiction usually converts better at £7.99-£9.99.
6. The A+ content. If you never added A+ content, add it.
7. Your author page. Rewrite your Author Central bio so it matches the authority you have built since launch.

This audit should take 2-3 weeks. Do not skip it. The relaunch only works if the listing itself is clean.

The 90-day relaunch sequence

Days 1-30: build the launch team

Your launch team is 30-100 people who agree in advance to buy and review the book on the same day. That is how you beat Amazon's algorithm.

Where to find them:

• Your email list (start here)
• Past readers who left a review the first time
• LinkedIn connections who have engaged with your content
• Friends who missed the first launch
• ARC team signups from a form on your site (launch the form on LinkedIn)

How to ask: personal, direct, not broadcast. A one-to-one email or DM that says, "I'm relaunching the book on [date]. Can I count on you to buy a copy and leave an honest review in the first week?" About 60% of people you ask personally will say yes. Almost nobody you ask via a broadcast email will.

Days 30-60: prime the audience

Talk about the book's themes in public without pitching it. On LinkedIn, publish three posts a week that share an idea or a story from the book, without the phrase "my book" anywhere. This is not bait. This is you building authority around the topic so that when the launch happens, the book feels like the inevitable artefact of the ideas people have been reading about.

Do not tell people the book is relaunching. That conversation is one-to-one with the launch team, not a broadcast.

Days 60-75: the pre-launch window

Two weeks before relaunch day:

• Email your list: "I'm relaunching on [date]. Here's why." Include a short, honest paragraph about why the first launch didn't work and what you've changed.
• Message each launch team member with the exact relaunch date and Amazon link.
• Guest on 2-3 podcasts in the two weeks before. Do not mention the book until the host asks. When they ask, you have an offer ready.
• Reach out to anyone who has a relevant newsletter or audience and offer to write a guest essay on the book's theme.

Days 75-77: relaunch week

Day 0:

• 7am: email the full list. "Today is the day."
• 9am: LinkedIn post with a cover mockup and the link.
• Throughout the day: reply to every comment and share personally.
• Evening: DM the launch team with a quick reminder.

Day 1-3:

• One email per day, each with a different angle (the book's origin, a chapter excerpt, a reader story).
• Post on LinkedIn once a day with a new hook.
• Reply to every new review personally.

Day 4-7:

• Slow down the volume but stay active. Post every other day.
• Schedule the final "thank you" email for day 7.

Days 77-90: the long tail

A relaunch doesn't end on day 7. Weeks 2-4 are where the Amazon algorithm decides whether to keep showing your book organically. Keep:

• Running modest Amazon Ads (£10-20/day, targeting competitor books)
• Asking every reader, at the end of the book, for a review
• Guesting on one more podcast per week
• Posting on LinkedIn 3x a week with book-related ideas

By day 90 the relaunch has either worked (book is holding an Amazon rank under 50,000 consistently) or it needs a tactical adjustment (usually more reviews or a different category).

The cost of not relaunching

The book you wrote was 18 months of your life. The first launch was maybe 2 weeks of effort. Leaving the book at 2 million Amazon rank because the first launch didn't work is the single most expensive thing a self-published author can do. A relaunch is 2 months of focused effort that can flip the economics of the book entirely.

We have done this with authors whose first launch sold 40 copies. After a relaunch, they have 1,500 copies, 80 reviews, and speaking invites coming in.

If running this yourself sounds like too much, this is exactly what the Guaranteed Amazon #1 Bestseller campaign does. We take a published book, audit the listing, run the launch team, manage the launch week, and guarantee #1 in a relevant category. 100% success rate across 8 campaigns.