A book launch plan: before and after release

Decide what a good launch means for you

Before you plan anything, decide what you want. A first book often has modest, realistic goals: get it into the hands of readers who'll enjoy it, collect some honest reviews, and grow your email list. That's a good launch.

If this is book three in a series, the goal might be different: sell through to the earlier books. If it's nonfiction, it might be speaking invitations or clients. Your goal decides where your effort goes.

The plan below assumes you're self-publishing an ebook and paperback. If you're traditionally published, your publisher will handle some of this. Ask them early what they're doing, and fill the gaps with your own list and readers.

Three months before release

• Finish the book. Edited, proofread and formatted. Launch plans fall apart when the manuscript isn't done.
• Get the cover. It should look like it belongs in your genre at thumbnail size. This is one of the few places where spending money usually pays off.
• Write the description. Draft it now, test it on readers, and improve it over the coming weeks. See how to write a book description.
• Choose categories and keywords. See choosing categories and keywords.
• Decide on a release date and stick to it. Give yourself more time than you think you need.
• Decide wide or exclusive. You can sell everywhere, or enroll the ebook in an exclusive program such as KDP Select. Each has trade-offs, and the terms change. Read the current rules before deciding.
• Consider a preorder. Many platforms let you list an ebook for preorder. It gives you a link to share before release. Check the platform's rules on deadlines for final files, because missing them can have consequences.

Six to eight weeks before

• Recruit early readers. Invite your email list and anyone who's shown interest to join an advance reader team. See getting early reviews honestly for how to do this within the rules.
• Send advance copies. Give readers several weeks to finish. Include the release date and a gentle note about when reviews can be posted.
• Update your back matter. Every book should end with a link to your email list and, if you have them, your other books.
• Set up your author pages on the stores and sites that offer them.
• Tell your list the date and show them the cover. Covers are exciting. Let readers see it first.

Two weeks before

• Upload final files and check them on a real device and a printed proof, if you have a paperback.
• Remind your advance readers of the date. Thank them.
• Prepare your launch messages in advance: the email to your list, a few posts, a short note for friends and family. Writing them now means you won't write them badly at midnight.
• Line up any promotions you plan to run, such as newsletter features or a small ad budget. Start small and only spend what you can afford to lose.

Launch week

Launch week isn't about doing everything. It's about saying one thing clearly to the people most likely to care: the book is out, here's the link.

• Email your list on release day. Short, warm, one link.
• Email your advance readers with direct links to where they can leave a review. Most stores only accept reviews once a book is on sale.
• Post in the place where you show up, and ask people to share if they enjoyed it. Don't spam every group you're in.
• Check your book page. Price, description, categories, the "look inside" sample. Mistakes happen. Fix them quickly.
• Say thank you. To readers who tell you they bought it. To people who share it. Gratitude is good manners and it's remembered.

Two to eight weeks after

Many authors stop here, exhausted. The books that keep selling are often the ones whose authors kept going quietly.

• Send a second email to your list a week or two later, with something new: a review that made you smile, a behind-the-scenes story, a reminder for anyone who missed it.
• Watch what's working. Look at sales by day. Which email, post or promotion lined up with a bump? Do more of that.
• Revise if needed. If people visit your book page but don't buy, the cover, description or sample may need work. You can change most of these after release.
• Test ads carefully, if you want to try them. Start with a small budget, change one thing at a time, and stop anything that isn't working.
• Run a price promotion later, if your platform and terms allow it, to reach new readers.

Then write the next book

This is the part no launch plan likes to say out loud. For most authors, especially in fiction, the next book is the best marketing for the last one. Readers who enjoy one book look for another. A series gives them somewhere to go.

So don't let the launch take over your life for months. Run the plan, then go back to the page.

What you can skip

• A launch party, unless you'd enjoy one.
• Being on every platform. One channel done well beats five done badly.
• Expensive launch packages that promise rankings or reviews. Some break store rules, and the ones that don't rarely deliver what they imply.
• Checking your rank every hour. It changes constantly and tells you very little day to day.

Doing this in Authr

Before your files are final, run a team on each chapter: the Continuity agent checks each scene against your codex and timeline, and the Line editor tightens the prose. Every change arrives as a suggestion you accept or reject. Word and Markdown export are on every plan, and Pro adds EPUB and print-ready PDF for advance copies and proofs.