Published & Black Podcast

Are you Black Friday, Book Ready? (Rejoice102.com)

• Tiffany A. Green-Hood • Season 2 • Episode 2

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Black Friday shouldn’t catch authors off guard—it’s the best moment all year to turn your voice into revenue, and we walk you through the plan step by step. We start by flipping the mindset from shopper to seller and get brutally clear about your offer: a sharp book launch, a value-packed bundle with a journal or workbook, or a smart relaunch that adds bonuses people actually want. From there, we map the pre-launch system—editing, interior layout, and a standout cover—then choose the right platform for your goals: Shopify for a full product ecosystem, Stan Store for speedy setup and email capture, or Amazon KDP for marketplace reach.

We dig into list building and relationship marketing because followers don’t pay the bills if you can’t reach them. You’ll hear how to set up a simple waitlist page, send a warmup sequence that teaches before it sells, and structure your launch emails so they feel like help, not hype. We also break down content workflows using Canva and Etsy templates: reels that show transformation, carousels that teach one idea at a time, and proof pieces that build trust. Expect practical guidance on timelines, from early access to final-hour reminders, with clear suggestions for SMS nudges and affiliate support.

Finally, we design your Black Friday week like a campaign, not a gamble. You’ll choose between percentage discounts, BOGO or bundles, and access bonuses like limited coaching, then schedule your send cadence from Black Friday through Cyber Monday. Along the way, we talk cash discipline—make money, then reinvest to grow—and the systems that keep you consistent after the rush. If you’re ready to sell a book, not just post about it, this guide will help you plan, execute, and scale with confidence. Subscribe, share this with a fellow author, and leave a review to tell us what you’re launching next.

SPEAKER_01:

Stay tuned for Published in Black, the go-to radio show for black authors, creatives, and entrepreneurs ready to turn their stories into success, hosted by publishing expert and brand strategist Tiffany A. Greenhood. Each show will deliver real talk, powerful strategies, and insider knowledge on self-publishing, brand building, wealth creation, and making an impact with your voice. Whether you're writing your first book, growing your business, or scaling your influence, published in Black will equip you with the tools, inspiration, and unapologetic confidence to thrive. Listen now and be informed.

SPEAKER_05:

You can turn it off. It's hard to understand sometimes. How do I make sense of everything?

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Maybe it's not our So we have to try to make the most day and that day.

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That's some how we will go.

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I had to change my point of start looking at my dog.

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Even when I'm feeling down.com and you can catch the replays for every episode that I have um had on Rejoice 102.

SPEAKER_00:

So you can always go to um publishandblackpodcast.com and catch the replays for absolutely everything. Also, I want to remind you to go and check out publishingblackchamber.org. That is a chamber of commerce for black authors that I founded, and um it's amazing. It's a space for black self-published authors who are looking to learn and be informed and truly, truly, truly grow their businesses. Okay, so um also y'all know I start with the um announcements. I want to remind you to go and check out publishingblackmagazine.com. If you are looking to get visibility, you've never been featured inside a magazine or on the cover, you might want to check us out. Um, I started publishing black magazine to basically um promote black authors, promote and showcase black authors. Um, we just have always kind of like been at the bottom and never um really celebrated. So my goal is always to celebrate black authors. If you would like to work with me, you are thinking about publishing a book, you are looking to release a book in 2026, or if you just need coaching along the way, I do offer those services. You can go to book bookwith TiffanyNow.com. That's absolutely under publishwithTiffany.com as well. So um do not wait till the last minute. December 31st, I don't know if you know, but December 31st will be here very soon. It's like around the corner, like tomorrow. Like December 31st is tomorrow. So I need you all to um stop talking about what you're gonna do and make plans to do it, start actively working on it, dedicate time to um work on your goals, to hit the deadlines no matter what's going on. We do other things, we work for other companies for years, and we show up on time, we follow all the rules, and we do everything, all the things that's required to get that check, right? To get that um retirement and pension and everything else, whatever the other benefits are. But when it comes to our own personal projects that can still produce wealth for us, may not be the every two weeks, may not be the once a month, but if you take the time to work on that, you can to build something that can pay you for the rest of your life. I'm just saying, I'm gonna say that again for the people in the bed that can pay you for the rest of your life, all right. So, what are we talking about today? Today, I want to talk about preparing for Black Friday. Preparing for Black Friday. So, we are in October already, October 2025. What are you releasing for Black Friday? Have you even thought about it? So, I want to talk about that. I want to talk about some things you need to be um preparing. It's not too late, it's really close, but it's not too late because let's be honest, serious business owners that's already like online, they done started, they plan already in July, June, and July. Some of them at the beginning of the year. So I need for you to know that when you take your business serious, you don't wait till the last minute to do things, but I'm gonna give y'all a last minute lesson and how to prepare for Black Friday. Okay, so why am I talking about Black Friday? It still relates to publishing because guess what you can release for Black Friday? You can release your um book, you can release your planner, your journal, whatever it is you got going on, okay? Your membership you've been thinking about. Um, it could be a product, your print, your t-shirt business. If you want to release a clothing brand, like whatever it is. I'm just naming some of the most common things, right? Your book, your journal, planner, workbook, um, a curriculum, all of the above, all of those things that I talk about when I come on here. So um, whatever it is that you want to release, there is a method to all the madness and how to release it. Okay. So I know a lot of y'all may think that you just can come online, you know, let's say Facebook, and you just post. No, that's not how it works, and then you be disappointed because you don't get no results because that's not how it's done. You know what I'm saying? There's preparation, it's a reason and a method to why we see um Macy's, JC Penny, and all these uh target, and uh I'm not necessarily Walmart, but I know Macy's, I stick with Macy's. Macy's the the for the stores that still run sales, right? There's a method and how they promote and how they market whatever it is they try to market, whether it's a big sale for Black Friday or whether it's in Mayu, they stuff was probably already done last year, right? Definitely early part of the year in the first quarter or before the first quarter, because companies like that prepare before the year come before the new year comes. So they're already, I'm gonna say the first quarter of 2025, they're already in the first quarter of 2026 mentally. Okay, they already have a meetings for that. So here we are, wait till the last minute. I know because I set up my first Shopify website the night before Black Friday, thinking I was about to um just like come in and just bomb on some stuff. No, no, I was up all night, I was frustrated. I was, you know what I'm saying? And of course, nothing happened because we have to prepare. So I want to talk about that today. Um, how to prepare. This episode will help authors preparing now to launch or relaunch your book by Black Friday. And again, we are not just talking about books, but that's always the basis of my topics and what I'm talking about. So the biggest online shopping weekend of the year is Black Friday. Your breakdown timelines, we're gonna break down timelines, um, marketing, packaging, and platforms, so you don't have to wait until November and be all over the place. Okay, so um, urgency and strategy. Black Friday isn't just for TVs and tablets. We are not preparing to shop on Black Friday, we are preparing. See, that's the thing, that's the difference in the mindset from somebody who owns a business to versus owning a business, the owner and the consumer. So we are not acting like the consumer, not saying you can't shop on Black Friday, but your goal is to make some freaking money, and then don't go and spend all the money that you make. Make sure that you are setting aside money to invest back into your business. Hello. Because to run a business, it takes money. So we have to be as business owners, if you want to be successful, if you want to be um, you want this thing to really move forward and benefit you and those around you, and and whatever your goals are, you have to be strategic. Okay. Um, you don't launch a book in November, you prepare for it now. So let's get started. What do you want to do? Do you want to release a book? Decide whether you want to release a book or um a bundle. You can release a book by yourself or bundle it with a journal, workbook, course, or even some merch. And that's why I love Shopify so much. Again, you're gonna always hear me talk about Shopify. I love Shopify. Shopify is the bomb when it comes to businesses and products, so and you have so many options with the drop shipping and all that good stuff. This is not a Shopify course, but stay tuned, make sure you're on my email list because I am releasing a webinar for business owners who are stuck. Okay, and I will be also releasing um a cohort for women who are ready to um not just release their book but be coached by me for 12 weeks to um show them how to um launch a new brand based on their book, but yeah, so stay tuned, get on the email list. But so yeah, so whether you want to do it as a bundle or the book by itself, so keep in mind you can always bundle your book with a journal, a workbook, a course, or merch. Okay, is this a relaunch? Do you want to do a pre-order or a flash sale? So you have to determine all these things. There's some things that you have to sit down and really think about and plan out. Let me say that again. Plan it out, map it out exactly how you want to present it. We don't just go and just post something on Facebook and we think it's gonna pop. You know what I'm saying? Don't stop all this little broke advice we done heard in our community. I'm just gonna keep it real. Delete all that because that's not how it works. That's why you should learn how to post content and post the right content. Posting the right content is going to attract the people that you are selling to, it's going to attract the people that you want to connect with, it's gonna attract the people that you want for your coaching program or whatever you have going on, and this takes time, it's not a rush thing. Okay, so we're gonna take a break and I'll be right back.

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Oh my dear.

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Hey, I am God, I am God, I am God. I am God. If you really believe that, then you're gonna stop sitting on your goal to release your book, release your workbook, or I wanna do a planner, or I do not like the people that come up to my table when I'm at vendor events and say, I always wanted to write a book. Those are the ones I don't want to work with. You know why? Because those are the procrastinators, those are the ones that are just talking, and those are the ones that are not serious. People assume that because you are because I'm a publisher and I can publish books and I can print books and I'll do all this stuff with books that I want to work with everybody and I don't. I want to work with the serious folks. Okay, so if that's you, take some notes. If you can't catch this, um, and take some notes while while I'm on air, make sure you go and click um publish with Tiffany.com and join the email list and then scroll down to the um podcast and go and listen to the replay. I'll be posting it as soon as I get off air. Okay, so we're gonna hop back in. Step one, we're talking about releasing your book, your journal, your workbook, course, merge, whatever your thing is for Black Friday. Step one, decide what you are selling, okay? Get it crystal clear. What do you want people to buy and why now? Create an offer, not just a product, okay? All right, so then we want to go to step two, build the pre-launch system now, finalize the edits, um, interior design. So if you are working inside of Canva, I'm just gonna throw that out there. Canva.com is the bomb. I use it all the time. I am a Photoshop girl, but I love me some Canva. I design all my digital products in there. Um, and I mentioned about content. You can go to when you go to publishwithany.com, scroll down. I have a download on there that gives you um content that you can post right now. Okay, scroll down, go through my um digital products that are on there. I believe it has a blue cover on it with a little cute girl on the front, and um, I think it's like 17 bucks or whatever, but I do have that digital products on there that can help you with some of this right now. Okay, so step two build the pre-launch system now. Um, finalize the edits, interior design, and get your cover together now. Make sure your cover is hidden. You can look at my digital products until I don't play when it comes to covers, whether it's a book cover or a planner cover. I know exactly how to design for who it is that I'm I'm creating this for. Okay, you gotta know that. Set up your Shopify stand store or Amazon KDP page early. So I recommend if you're doing a full website, absolutely Shopify. If you don't know how to set it up, I do design Shopify websites, and you'll see that link when you go to publishwith Tiffany.com. Okay, don't forget, stand store. I also have a stand store. You can scroll down when you go to publishwithany.com and create your own stand store. This is what I was talking about last week about having a place you can go to, and all of your links are in one place. Okay, it's also other things you can do on there. You can have it where you can have people book calls with you. You also can create digital video courses on there. So much that Stan Store offers, it's like a one-stop shop, okay? And it's for the people I always say who are not ready for a full website, but you want a place where people can come, join your email list, and also um offer whatever else you want to offer, okay? So it's several benefits to Stan Store. I recommend it to most of my clients, and it works well for them. So um, we're still in step two. Build the pre-launch system now. So we got finalized edits and interior design, set up your Shopify Stand Store, um, and then build a wait list or interest form. This is you can when you have something that's getting ready to launch, you can do just a landing page with whatever your email provider is, or um, it's create a post and post it up. Hey, if you want to join the email list, click here. Such and such coming soon. You know what I'm saying? People will sign up for your waiting list to be included in what it is you're offering. So whether it's um a special offer, uh like I said, a flash sale or a membership that you're starting, right? Or a book launch. Okay, so start your email um sequence, teasers, countdowns, early access, and sneak peeks. Now, I talk about having your email list, building your email list all the time. Why? Because it's crucial. You want to start building an email list of the people who are interested in what you're talking about, and what that turns into is that they may be interested in your book, but once people sign up for your email list, they actually are signing up not for your list, but they signing up because they like you. And when people like you, see this is why it's so crucial to build relationships, build relationships. We are not just supposed to be if you're trying to build a business now. We are not just supposed to be on social media just to be, just to have what's what we call followers, just to have them big numbers, and ain't nobody connected to you. I don't care if you got a million followers. If ain't nobody clicked and joined your email list, you ain't got nobody, period. Because if that platform shut down, what you gonna do? You ain't on nowhere to contact them. And guess what? Email all the way back to AOL.com. Email is still an amazing way to stay connected to people, okay? So don't forget that. So um, launch day is not a day, it's a season. Okay, so we did step one, we did step two. Um, step three is design your Black Friday marketing content. Am I just talking about that? The content, y'all. The content. You can also do this in Canva. They have templates in there. If you don't know how they have templates, I also always refer people to Etsy. That is my boo. Etsy is my boo. I can go on Etsy and I can look for any kind of template for whatever it is that I'm looking for, whether it's a book, um, whether it's a workbook, a planner, a journal, um, content itself, right? And then Canva, Canva.com, that's that word again. Canva.com has templates inside of the program that you can also use and tweak and put your brand colors in. It's the bomb, y'all. Don't not sleep on Canva.com and do not sleep on Etsy. Okay, and don't sleep on Shopify or Stand Store. Okay, it's time to get with it. We are almost in November. December 31st is gonna be here, okay? Quit plan. All right, so um, step three is start creating reels behind the scenes quotes, value-based reels. Okay, so y'all see the videos. Videos are more popular on social media than regular posts, but regular posts still have their purpose, okay? Um, graphics for discounts, testimonials, and urgency. Email content, three-day, five-day, or seven-day promos. Okay, so that means that you are going to create email content where you'll be sending to your emails when you build an email list. You also have to communicate communicate with them. You cannot build an email list, y'all, and have thousands of people on there. You never talk to them. That's not a cool relationship. If you're dating, you don't want to just hear from them once a year, you want to hear from them all the time. So you should always be communicating with your email list and teaching them, inspiring them, not just always selling them something. Okay, this may sound far-fetched to you, but trust me, if you start taking your business seriously, eventually you're gonna find out that's what she was talking about. Building an email list is crucial. So let's go to step four. Set your Black Friday week game plan, offer a percentage off, a BOGO, buy one, get one free, or buy one, get one for 50% off. You um want to offer a bundle deal or exclusive coaching with your purchase, so you have so many different options. Sit down and plan if you're really serious about launching something for Black Friday and you need assistance. Of course, you can always reach out to me, book a call, okay, at publishwithanynow.com. But you can also get through this yourself as well. And I told y'all, stop being afraid to use Chat GPT. You can actually go and ChatGPT, pay the$20 a month, and talk to ChatGPT and tell ChatGPT that you need help with planning your Black Friday. Tell them what you do, tell them how you do it, what you want to launch, all of that, and it will give you an entire plan. Okay, quick plan. All right, your sales window uh November 22nd to December, December 1st is prime time. So if you look at Amazon, right? I have family that work for Amazon and they in prime right now. They in prime, and then I forgot what they call it right before Christmas, but yeah, they keep up with all of that. Those are heavy, heavy sales seasons that's coming up, and you don't want to miss out on that. So even if you're building something brand new, this is the time to um prepare for it. Get in there and start learning. Go and study, go to Pinterest, go click on YouTube, find videos that'll teach you how to do some of these things that I dropped today. Be prepared to go hard on email, social media, text marketing, and affiliate promos. Okay. Decide your offer, build your system, start content, and plan the promo. Black Friday is not the time to wing it, it's the time to win big. But only if you prepare now. Okay? I will see you guys later.

SPEAKER_01:

You have been listening to Published in Black with publishing expert and brand strategist Tiffany A. Greenhood. Listen next week for real talk, powerful strategies, and much more. Again, we thank you for listening.

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