Does anyone have any tips and advice on how they started building out their business plan for their book? I have my book proposal, and I am working on my marketing strategy to do keynote speeches. Beyond that I’m grappling. I have this audacious business idea that seems very futuristic- but it doesn’t quite match my first book. 😄🫣 Thank you in advance for your support.

Reflecting on childhood memories over the holidays is a given. Watching holiday classics evokes nostalgia, reminding me of the lessons that quality time together fills the heart. Quality time with the family watching a movie is that similar fulfilling experience to quality time with myself writing- contributing to this community. The writing journey of my first book began for me over 2 years ago just before the holidays. My writer’s journey began a quarter century before that. I attended a writers workshop in Chautauqua, NY, this story will be featured this coming week on my Substack. Follow here: https://brittanysunshinerae.substack.com So, Why is now the best time for my book to publish? ☀️ Beta readers have said, “Your stories are classic, relevant, and relatable.” ☀️ Young adults struggle now, more than ever with finding purpose. ☀️ Interactive books are what readers need in 2026 from @Julie Broad Interested to learn more about your publishing journey- How did you know that you were ready to publish your first book? #sunshineforthesoul #Self-Publish & Succeed #inspirevibrantenergy

In past years when I filmed a video looking into the year ahead I said things like 'reviews are still important, audiobooks continue to grow, and build your own audience' and all of that remains true however this is the first time I've looked ahead and gone 'woah - this year is going to be really different than past years!'. Things changed A LOT this year and it's setting 2026 up for some big shifts. Are you ready? If you aren't feeling ready ... let's chat about it in the comments here or on the video!! We want to set you up for success.

**This was our newsletter this week but we struggled to get it fully delivered thanks to some tech issues ... so here it is in case you missed it** 2025 was enormous for us at Book Launchers. We reorganized the company. We retired our Platinum membership, the very first service level we ever offered. Not an easy goodbye. We replaced it with a package - Author Essentials. We launched Author Launch Kit. We launched the Author Lab Community (hi! you're in it!). These were not cosmetic changes. They were foundational. They happened because publishing itself crossed a line this year. The old playbook did not just get outdated. It got run over. Books stopped being static. Audiobooks stopped being “just audio.” Platforms stopped being enough. So we changed too. If you have watched my end of year, looking ahead video, you already know this one feels different (I have it below if you have not seen it yet). I am not telling you to chase more reviews, produce an audiobook, or build an author newsletter (past years repeated recommendations). Those things still matter. But the bar moved. They aren't enough anymore. This year also gave us a front-row seat to something rare. We watched one of our authors, Jonathan Stanley, go absolutely hyper-viral. Over 100 million views. Coverage from every major news outlet you can name. The kind of lightning strike people talk about but almost never see up close. That did not happen by accident. It happened at the intersection of message, timing, and a publishing world that now rewards momentum in entirely new ways. Alongside that were bestsellers, speaking stages, media wins, and plenty of quiet breakthroughs that never make headlines but change lives all the same. And through all of it, you were here. Having an audience is a privilege. Whether that audience is ten people or ten thousand. Thank you for trusting us, for sticking with us through change, and for being part of this journey. Before we officially turn the page, a few important invitations and one very fun announcement are below for you

While I’m off at the world’s largest Turkey Trot this morning – for real, it’s a record breaking 23,000+ runners this year – I’ve been reflecting a lot the past many weeks on how fortunate we are to live in a world where we can make our own way. This past year has been full of book writing, learning, prelaunching, publishing, and all things book related for me. It’s been a literal new chapter in my life. Looking back, I had the naive idea that I’d write up my book, print to PDF, upload to Amazon, and in a very Silicon Valley way, ship a book in one Sprint. Hah! Fortunately, in that short 3 week sprint, I discovered some excellent books on non-fiction writing, which lead me to communities of warm and welcoming non-fiction authors, which led to wonderful new friends, and in turn more books and courses on publishing. Each time I thought I was a step closer to publishing… I discovered a new chasm of knowledge I didn’t know that I didn’t know about. And each time I dove in, I came out better for it. I’m immensely grateful for not just having the opportunity to write and publish a book, but for having an incredible team of experts (editor, keyword researcher, cover designer, photographer, coach, etc), advisors, authors, advanced readers (my ARC team!), launch partners, early reviewers, community leaders, and more at my side each step of the way. I so enjoyed writing up the acknowledgements section of the book knowing that the names of those who helped me get to where I am would be forever in print in the Library of Congress, the US Copyright Office, bookstores, libraries, classrooms, and the bookshelves of business owners around the globe. How lucky we are that we can each stretch our fingers out to the keyboard, write our thoughts, and share what we’ve learned with the world. Thank you for being part of that journey with me. I absolutely could not have gotten to where I am without your love, support, encouragement, early feedback, reviews, book purchases, referrals, media invitations, ratings, subscriptions, and more.