Marketing feels overwhelming when it is a single, shapeless task. Broken into a timeline, it becomes a series of small, manageable steps. Adapt the schedule to your book, but keep the order.
Six months or more before launch: get ready
- Know your reader. Write one paragraph describing the person most likely to love your book and the three recent books they already love. Those books are your comparable titles.
- Build your home base. A simple author website with a book page and a newsletter sign-up. The newsletter is the one channel you own outright.
- Choose one or two social platforms where your readers already spend time — not all of them.
- Plan the package: cover, title, subtitle, description and metadata are marketing assets, not afterthoughts.
- Research opportunities: relevant awards and their deadlines, podcasts, bloggers and reviewers in your niche, local bookshops and libraries.
Three to four months before: get set
- Advance reader copies. Send ARCs to reviewers, bloggers, early readers and, if relevant, trade reviewers whose lead times are long.
- Endorsements. Ask a few authors in your genre for a short blurb, with a clear deadline.
- Preorders. Open preorders where available so early interest is captured.
- Content pipeline. Draft newsletter issues, short articles or posts related to your book's themes.
- Events. Pitch a launch event to a bookshop, library or community venue.
The final month
- Confirm the launch event, and prepare a short reading and talk.
- Line up guest posts, podcast interviews and newsletter swaps for launch week.
- Prepare a media kit: author photo, short and long bios, cover image, description, sample chapter, contact details.
- Remind early readers when and where to post reviews once the book is live.
Launch week: succeed
- Announce to your newsletter first, then on your chosen platforms.
- Thank everyone who helped — publicly and privately.
- Show up where you promised: the event, the interviews, the guest posts.
- Watch for errors on retailer pages (wrong format linked, missing description) and fix them fast.
The months after
Most books sell over years, not weeks. Keep going:
- Pitch talks to clubs, schools, libraries and conferences related to your subject.
- Offer a book-club guide and visit reading groups (in person or online).
- Enter eligible awards; submit related short pieces to literary magazines.
- Experiment with price promotions and advertising on a small budget, measuring results.
- Write the next book. Nothing sells a backlist like a new release.
A note for traditionally published authors
Your publisher handles distribution and some publicity, but most authors still carry a large share of the marketing. Ask your publicist early what they are planning, and fill the gaps with this timeline rather than duplicating their work.