Comments on: When is the Best Time to Release a New Book?

By: Book Publishing Schedule: The Best Time to Publish Your Book : Publishing Xpress

Book Publishing Schedule: The Best Time to Publish Your Book : Publishing Xpress — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 10:23:31 +0000

[…] who publish through traditional channels usually do not have the same decision-making power. The best time to publish a book depends on many different factors, and the first one is how you choose to have your book […]

By: Mae Clair

Mae Clair — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 19:33:55 +0000

Great info, Sue. I always try to release my “ghostly” reads mid-September/October, hoping to pick up the Halloween vibe. I never would have thought December is a bad month for a Christmas release, but looking back on it I buy most of them in November or early in December.
And I was clueless that it’s better to release early in a month rather than later (though I always do try to stick to Tuesdays). I will have to remember that advice for the future!

By: ANGELA ACKERMAN

ANGELA ACKERMAN — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 16:33:05 +0000

In reply to Sue Coletta. Exactly. We have found both fall and spring to be good targets for our book releases. This is so much food for thought!

By: Sue Coletta

Sue Coletta — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 12:26:11 +0000

In reply to ANGELA ACKERMAN. I learned that lesson the hard way, too, Angela. In fact, that's what sent me down this rabbit hole. At least we know now, right? Better late than never! LOL

By: ANGELA ACKERMAN

ANGELA ACKERMAN — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 23:59:10 +0000

Such great information–I had never thought about keeping distance from Christmas for kidlit, and that makes so much good sense. Parents will be looking ahead for books to buy for summer reading in Q2, too.

We have released books in early summer (because we had to with our schedule, not because we wanted to) and we’ve learned it’s not a good time to release. Too many people are offline and enjoying their yards, holidays, relaxing, and not looking to think too hard about anything. So we’ve definitely learned through trial and error. 🙂

By: Sue Coletta

Sue Coletta — Wed, 12 Jul 2023 11:58:39 +0000

In reply to V.M. Sang. I was also surprised when I first discovered this, VM. Hence my motivation to share it. ;-) As with most things, timing is just one aspect of a successful launch, but it's an important one.

By: V.M. Sang

V.M. Sang — Wed, 12 Jul 2023 11:09:04 +0000

That’s fascinating. Who would have thought book sales are so dependant on the day and month? And it seems counterintuitive not to release Christmas books in December.

By: Sue Coletta

Sue Coletta — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 18:12:52 +0000

In reply to BECCA PUGLISI. So true, Becca! And yes, it really is trial and error. I learned the hard way, too. *sigh* Which led me down this rabbit hole. From now on, I'll be paying more attention to the date, day, and month. Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the post. :D

By: BECCA PUGLISI

BECCA PUGLISI — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 16:13:28 +0000

This is a wealth of information. So much of it is trial and error, isn’t it? Ange and I released one book during the summer, and the response was lackluster, to say the least. Everyone’s on vacation and not sitting so much at their keyboards. Summer releases definitely don’t work for us, so we won’t be doing that again :).

By: Sue Coletta

Sue Coletta — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 12:55:02 +0000

In reply to Carolyn. Excellent point, Carolyn! That was a hard lesson to learn, I bet. You're not alone by any means. I released my latest series novel on June 26, which wouldn't've been too bad if it weren't for the heatwave that hit out of nowhere. It felt more like an August release. I've been playing catch-up ever since. *sigh*

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 09:20:27 +0000

I’d add to try and be aware of big free promotions, particularly in your genre. I say this with the benefit of hindsight. I unwittingly scheduled release of my latest romance a week after the huge “Stuff Your ereader” free romance promotion. Not much interest in buying new romance books at normal price when people have stocked up huge numbers for free. I won’t fall into that trap again if I can avoid it!