(Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes)

A while back I picked up a copy of Dave Navarro and Naomi Dunford’s “How to Launch the **** Out of Your Ebook.”

“How hard could it be?” I thought to myself, as I clicked the PDF file open, took my usual quick scan… and immediately wanted to jump off a bridge (we have a really great bridge close by).

Golden Gate Bridge

I also knew right away that this was a product I would whole-heartedly endorse to anyone wanting to launch any information product (not just an ebook).

Especially when I read Dave explaining that the ebook distilled out just the few relevant bits from Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula. If this is the reader’s digest version, I’m glad I passed (for now) on Walker’s full Product Launch Formula! I’m really happy Dave ponied up the cash for it.

Now, I’m a big believer in tasks, todo lists, goals and deadlines.

But I also like to sort of trundle along and just get stuff done without worrying about all that pressure.

So after reading through “Launch the ****” I sucked it up and declared a deadline. “I can do this!” I thought.

Why not, right?

Give myself a little pressure, a little motivation to just Get ‘er Done. Dave and Naomi gave me all the lists and worksheets, just fill in the blanks. Plug and chug.

Well, it didn’t turn out so well.

It turns out that there really are a lot of moving parts to this “Launch the ****” business, and you hafta make sure you’re getting them all moving in the same direction – at the same time.

Like herding cats.

Easier said than done.

About a week before my (ha ha) “hard deadline,” it all went pear shaped. I figured out there was no way I was going to get the testimonials, the reviews, the sales letters, the affiliation codes, the graphics and everything else all wrapped up at the same time.

Even worse, trying to do all these tasks simultaneously rendered me practically catatonic, paralysis by analysis gripped my very soul. Spreadsheets and tasks lists, messing up my chakras.

That’s just no darn good at all.

So I unlaunched it.

“What’s an unlaunch you say?”

Excellent question.

An unlaunch is when you hear your hard deadline approach at the speed of sound… and you let it whoosh on by.

So instead of “Launch the ****” out of my ebook, I wrote a spiffy little blog post, and still made some sales. Life turned out well anyway.

Lessons learned: many.

Now, it turns out I’m pretty good at multitasking and plate spinning. Frankly, I regard both abilities as integral to the success I’m enjoying right now. Modest success, to be sure, but success none-the-less.

Faced with new challenges working in areas where I do NOT feel comfortable, I dropped a lot of plates.

Example: I hate asking people to do stuff for me. (I have lots of ideas for you though, which I’m delighted to share. But I digress…). I don’t like guest posting; I have an Oprah-like attachment to my own content (Oprah hates syndication). The list goes on.

Given all this emotional turmoil, I’ve reset everything. Instead of multitasking, I’m plowing through everything linearly, not trying to handle guest posting, testimonials, reviews, graphics etc. etc. all at the same time.

Right now, it’s testimonials. I’m getting them knocked them out one by one.

After testimonials, I’ll start into the reviews. It turns out that some of the people giving me testimonials have provided really excellent reviews as well. That’s like two birds with one stone. Nice to do something right for a change… even if by accident.

Then I’ll figure out the affiliate system. I’m a pretty smart guy, but occasionally I have severe cognitive difficulty with technical documentation. That is, I don’t understand it. So I’ll have to budget the time and money to test it thoroughly. P.I.T.A. but there’s no help for it.

So that’s my “Launch the ****” experience. Hopefully, you’re smarter than I was and you picked up your copy of Dave and Naomi’s “How to Launch the **** Out of Your Ebook” long before you plan to launch.

I wish I had bought it months before.

It’s worth every penny. Get your copy, read it, write yourself out a plan and a schedule. But whatever you do, don’t wait!