Publishing Timeline: Book Launch Events

Make Sure You Are Doing Event Outreach and Securing Venues/Dates at Least Four Months Before Your Book Publishes.

Events are always part of the equation of a book campaign, as they should be. Authors most definitely want to do events, and often times, the publishing team has to reign in a vision that may involve a grand tour in multiple cities across the country. Yes, that’s about budget, but it’s also bringing a reality check into just how hard it is to have successful events, especially in cities where the author doesn’t have a local tie or a strong network. It’s an important conversation to have and usually leads to a downscaled events plan.

But for sure, a celebratory launch event is a must.

My general guidance here would be to make sure that in the fourth month before your book publishes, you have a crystal clear, prioritized list of potential venues/bookstores/cities where you’d like to have events, and make sure you or your publisher team are submitting event proposals. But some places, especially higher-profile venues with big name programming, set their schedules even earlier than that, or might already be booked up on your ideal date. So it’s important to be gathering information, having conversations, and possibly doing outreach much earlier.

Here are a few key insights and to-dos I want to share with regard to putting together a successful launch event plan.