Howdy, Modern Authors!

When I told a friend about the team we were putting together to launch my next book, he asked, “Isn’t that overkill?”

But here’s the thing: we don’t write books anymore... we build them.

And great builds require great teams. Turns out there's a strategy... something I've learned from successful modern authors. Dan Pink told me he hired 28 people for about 4-months to launch his last (very successful) book. Now, not everyone has a huge advance to leverage for their marketing, but I do know you can't just post the book on Amazon and wish your way to success.

You need to be hyper strategic...

For me, most of you know I’m currently prepping two new launches:

• one for my upcoming nonfiction book Modern Author OS, and
• one for the next novel in the Pennymores series. Both are wildly different books.

But both follow the same foundational principle:

📘 If your book is worth building, it’s worth architecting your strategy with intention.

And that means assembling the right crew before you publish a single word. Some people imagine a big fancy publisher will do this for them. It turns out that, unless you're genuinely famous, you're not going to get that level of support anytime soon.

The reality is you need to build your strategy just as you'd design a product or launch a business (which is what Dan told me he does). It's not hard, it's less expensive than I imagined, but it certainly requires a bit of strategy (more on that in the coming weeks), and the right talent to execute it.

Trust me, if you're thinking about writing or launching a book (or another book) in the next 18-months, you'll want to read this:

What Most Authors Get Wrong (According to the Data)

Most authors approach their launch like this:

• Write the book
• Design a cover
• Post on social
• Pray someone notices

Sound familiar? Unfortunately, that is *not* a plan (by today's standards).

According to the Author ROI report by Thought Leadership Leverage:

🔥 Authors with a plan earn a median ROI of 449% ​
😬 Authors without a plan? Just 54%

That’s nearly a 10x difference, just from having a thoughtful strategy and ecosystem.

Which is why I’ve taken a different approach: I’m architecting the team and our strategy before the book is even finished.

And funny enough… it’s not more expensive. My total budget for this team? Less than $13K... and I've already secured commitments so that’ll be paid for by just 2–3 speaking gigs the book helps me land.

The 7 Roles I’m Hiring to Launch This Book

Here’s the team I’m assembling (or better yet, has been assembled for me by my publisher Manuscripts Press, save the book assistant who I found on my own)... and the sequence I use to do it.

1) The Book Assistant (aka, Engagement Engine)

When we launched The Pennymores, I personally engaged over 4,000 people, nearly 1,000 of whom joined our early reader community.

That wasn’t from going viral on social. It was email. DMs. Calls. One-on-one outreach.

This time, I’ve hired a part-time intern (a family friend) who helps me coordinate all this... plus she’s trained up on ChatGPT for support.

Her role is to:

• Manage outreach
• Coordinate early readers
• Research podcast/bookers
• Help with personalized pre-launch engagement

🎯 Our goal: 1,000 early readers for Modern Author OS and 1,500 for Pennymores

2) The Book Architect (aka, Big Picture + Blueprint)

Before writing a word, I worked with a content strategist to map the book’s core question:

“What will this book do for the reader... and for my life?”

This helped shape:

• The transformation arc
• My persona-aligned business model
• Where the book leads the reader next
• Designing & aligning the product suite that goes with the book (keynotes, coaching, workshops, etc.)

Think of this person as your co-founder or a strategic board member. They don’t just help you think... it’s their job to help you think clearly.

3) The Developmental Editor (aka, The Wrestler)

Once the draft is alive, this editor steps in.

Their job is to:

• Challenge my thinking
• Point out gaps
• Help sharpen muddy sections
• Ask the questions I’m afraid to answer

Additionally, I've learned that my DE keeps me accountable for finishing my manuscript. What we've discovered is that if you meet weekly with your developmental editor, 94-95% of authors will complete a publishable draft in under five months.

It’s a bit like therapy meets intellectual sparring. And yes, it hurts sometimes. That’s how you know it’s working.

4) The Pre-Launch Marketing Specialist (aka, Audience Builder)

If you've ever heard me talk about the most critical thing successful authors do (and those who are not successful with sales, earnings, reach, impact-wise don't do), it's this:

Design book announcement & presale campaign.

You absolutely need an early community invested in the book... and if you try to wait until after the book is published (or just about to be published) it's sadly too late. Getting people bought in early is key... they act differently and lead to exponential benefits (3-5x lift in sales).

And a pre-launch marketing person can help you design it right. Sadly, this role (and the campaign) is often skipped... but it might be the most critical one of all.

The goal here isn’t to “market” the book. It’s to prime the pump.

Together, we’re:

• Building a waitlist
• Creating teaser content
• Strategizing our audience “build-in-public” plan
• Developing assets like landing pages and preview PDFs

Visibility doesn’t start when you launch. It starts months before.

5) The Revisions Editor (aka, Voice Harmonizer)

This isn’t copyediting... it’s flow.

My revisions editor helps me:

• Shape rhythm
• Refine cadence
• Match tone and tighten structure
• Coordinate beta reader feedback (yes, we’ll have 1,000 of them…)

This is where we make the book feel effortless to read—even if the ideas are big.

6) The Artist + Designer (aka, Visual Strategist)

Covers don’t sell books… but they do stop the scroll.

I work closely with this partner to:

• Design the cover (aligned to positioning)
• Map visual themes
• Craft interior layout
• Create early visuals for marketing, Substack, and social

This is branding and packaging in one.

7) The Launch & Tour Coordinator (aka, The Momentum Builder)

Once the book is finished, this person helps us build the moment. It's one part design and strategy, and one part execution. For me, a lot of the executional side comes from the Book Assistant (Role #1). The strategy comes from my marketing coordinator.

They collectively manage:

• Interviews & podcast outreach
• Launch activations
• Book tour opportunities
• Community campaigns

Their job? To make the book feel like a movement.... not just a product.

So, Is All This Worth It?

Here’s what most people miss:

📉 Most first-time authors spend ~$30K, often with no ROI
📈 I’m spending less than half that... with a strategic and clear path to profit

And it’s already paying off:

• One of the speaking gigs that’ll fund the book is already secured
• My team is helping me attract the right readers and collaborators
• I feel focused, clear, and energized—not lost in logistics

That friend who asked, “Isn’t that overkill?” was surprised to learn that six of the seven roles I mentioned were all ones that my publisher Manuscripts has assigned to me.

There's a real investment required in launching a successful and profitable book today regardless of the route you go: traditional, self or author-owned publishing, like I'm doing. I'm obviously biased, but I'll tell you I am grateful not to have to go out and find seven people... but more than that, having a systematic approach is important if you aren't quitting your day job to launch your book.

Build the Book You Want to Be Known For

You don’t need a huge budget or some fancy, big branded publisher.

You need a strategy.
And the right team to help you bring it to life.

Don't worry if you're not quite ready for the full team (yet) -- seeing a group of 7 people to launch a book can feel a bit daunting.

If you're just starting out, reach out and I'd be happy to talk you through how I'd start out my book journey (before I really even knew if I was ready to launch my next book). Or if I was only able to piece together a subset of this team, I'd encourage anyone to start investing in roles #1, #2 and #4. Those roles alone will help ensure you're on the right track, and for many modern authors get them leveraging the book beyond book sales.

If you’re thinking about your own 2025 or 2026 book—fiction or nonfiction...I’d love to chat. We’ve built out the Modern Author Accelerator to help you architect your plan, recruit your crew, and build something that’s not just well written… but well built.

Let’s make it your most impactful project yet.

—Eric

⸻

📬 P.S. This is part of our Profitable Author Series, a roadmap for turning your book into a business model.

Coming up in the next few weeks:

• Your Author Persona – The #1 thing that determines your monetization strategy
• The Builder, The Coach, The Speaker… – How the top authors pick their model
• The Guide vs. The Catalyst – Two wildly different paths to impact

If you’re thinking about your next book, you won’t want to miss this series. Forward this to a friend to subscribe here 👉 www.modernauthorguide.com