Paging All Shoppers!: Timing Your Holiday Release

Nothing says “Happy Holidays” like suddenly earning buckets of money. Though there has been some debate about the effectiveness of putting a new book out during a crowded holiday season, we say, if you do it right and give it both lead time and attention on the backend, the holiday season is a fabulous time to put out a book. Go ahead and read the pros and cons out there, but if, in the end, you decide to position your new manuscript, a Scottish Christmas dinosaur romance, as a holiday release, do it like this…*

If you’re ready with your manuscript, target before the holiday period for your release because you’ll get the benefit of both the after and before periods.

Before the Holiday

Many readers like to read holiday-themed books for the specific purpose of getting in the mood for the holidays. This means you start promoting in September and release no later than the end of October.

After the Holiday

If you’re not ready to go in September, you’ll still have the chance to hit the sweet spot, the holiday aftermath. It’s generally accepted that a virtual gift like an ebook is not as gifty as, well, a gift card or an e-reader. But all those gifted e-readers have lonely little empty slots, and there is an immediate compulsion to fill them up courtesy of the gift cards. Once those e-readers are full, purchasing behavior gets a lot choosier. The goal, here, is to make your book the download of choice for virgin e-reader owners BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE. (I think I just scared myself.)

How Traditional Print Publishers Handle Holiday-Themed Books

Print publishers think about holiday sales earlier than digital-only imprints, but the window for print publishing can give you insight into the complete strategy.

For print, the goal is generally to get the books into stores and on sale by October 31. However, promotion for holiday titles starts as early as August for release dates in October and November.

So, What’s My Holiday Release Publishing Schedule?

You’re basically looking at an initial promotion window that could start as early as August with pre-orders, morph into a release date set in late September or October, and tackle a second promotional window (hello, new e-reader owners!) all the way through January 15.

 

*Apparently, I like long walks on the beach, putting out holiday books and using commas.