Best Time to Promote a Book
Don't release a book between the week of the Fourth of July and September: summer is a slow selling season. Use it for the work that doesn't depend on launch momentum: events that bring people together, groundwork for autumn, and promotions that keep an existing book earning while you're away from your desk.
Why not launch in summer?
Because attention is elsewhere. The stretch from the week of the Fourth of July through September is a slow selling season, and a launch is the one thing that cannot be rescheduled after the fact: you get one release, and spending it on the emptiest weeks of the year wastes it.
That does not mean stopping. It means changing what you spend the time on. Your book has to stay relevant while you are off the radar, and some things are only possible in summer.
What works in summer instead?
- Run an event that isn’t about your book. A wine tasting, a painting workshop, a charity bake sale. Something that draws a wide range of people, somewhere that interests them. The book is what they discover once they are there.
- Put your name in somebody’s hand. Bottled water with your book or logo on it costs very little: order in bulk, or buy water locally and apply your own stickers. In the heat, you are the most welcome person at the event.
- Keep an existing title promoted. A deal running on the backlist earns while you are away from your desk.
- Do the groundwork. Covers, keywords, outreach to bloggers and shops. The quiet weeks are when the autumn push gets built.
Time is the thing in short supply, not ideas. Decide before the season starts which of these you are actually doing, and set the ones that can run without you to run without you.
Originally published on eBookStage in November 2020 as “Summer Book Marketing Tips”, by Rahiem Brooks. Edited for length and structure; the advice is his.
Common questions
- When is the worst time to release a book?
- The stretch from the week of the Fourth of July through September. Readers are away, attention is thin, and a launch that would have worked in October lands on nobody.
- So should I do nothing over the summer?
- The opposite, just not a launch. Your existing book has to stay relevant while you are off the radar, and summer suits events and in-person work that the rest of the year does not.
- What kind of event works?
- One that is not about your book. A wine tasting, a painting workshop, a charity bake sale: something that draws a wide range of people, in a place that interests them. The book is what they find when they get there.
- Does physical merchandise still work?
- In summer, yes. Branded bottled water at an outdoor event is cheap, genuinely wanted in the heat, and puts your name in somebody's hand at the moment they are glad to see it.
- What if I am away and cannot run anything?
- Set promotions to run without you. A deal on an existing title keeps the book earning while you are on a beach, which is the point of having a backlist.
- When should I plan the autumn push?
- During the slow weeks. The quiet season is when the groundwork gets done (covers, keywords, outreach) so the busy one starts with everything already in place.