MIPA Meeting, October 13, 2010Timing of a Book Release
When a book is released is just as important as other aspects of the book. Here are some thoughts from others in the book trade.
Julie Arthur-Sherman (regional buyer for Barnes & Noble): When a pub date slips, buyers cancel their orders and you lose sales.
Dorothy Molstad: Aside from a pub date, you should have a warehouse date. That's the date when books have to be in warehouses, to be shipped to stores. It takes a long itme to go from warehouse to store to shelves--about six weeks from warehouse to shelf, allowing time for buyers.
Pat Bell: Beware of holiday scheduling. Don't launch a book in December. Fiction has one year (at most) in the market. A book published in December will be seen by stores in January as an "old book." If a book is pubbed in November, it only has about three months to sell.
Set up book events for the holidays in June/July. Slots fill up fast.
Leonard Flachman: You should be working from March-June for books to be sold in Nov-Dec, and August-September for books to be sold in the spring. You need to allow time to get into [your distributor's/wholesaler's] catalogs to be presented to store buyers.
Trade reviews require books 3-4 months in advance of the pub date. Julie Arthur-Sherman wants info at the same time as Publishers Weekly, New York Times, etc.
Seal Dwyer: If you're not thinking about the marketing while you're writing the book, you're too late.
Leonard Flachman: Regarding endorsements and testimonials: get them before printing. Even better, get them before ARCs (Advance Reading Copy). Make a list of the opinion leaders of your audience. Contact them directly. Send a copy of the manuscript (PDF, hard copy), even before editing, as a first proof. Call it an "unedited, unformatted manuscript."
Endorsements for pictures books: send 2-3 pages in color and the rest in b/w so the reader can get an idea of the illustration quality.
Linda Strommer: You should have at least 3-5 endorsements on the back cover. Get as many as you can. Ask the thought leaders [those who influence the thinking of your audience]. They're helping to create awareness for your book.
Dorothy Molstad: Midwest Booksellers Association puts out a holiday catalog every year and send it out to all bookstores in their 11-state region. Take advantage of their "Midwest Favorites" if you're eligible.
Pre-selling your books generates buzz and helps sales.
Seal Dwyer: Create the ebook as soon as the book is done. You can have the ebook available before the print book. It helps the visibility of the print book, and doesn't hurt the sales of print books.
Check out the websites of Brian Jud and John Kremer for timelines of what needs to be done when, in terms of book production.
If your book is going to have a foreword (non-fiction), allow 6-12 months before the pub date. You may have to pay the author of the foreword for their writing.
Cover artists can take six months to do a cover. Some may take a year.
Sybil Smith: There's so much money at stake to not do it right.
Pat Bell: Tap into organizations like MIPA, IBPA, Pub-U (IBPA's intensive publishing univerisity, just before BEA), other educational opportunities.
Some things can kill timing. Make sure books are physically available, not just "available" through POD.
You need to be able to pay up front and you need to have the cash flow available. You may not get sales until 3-6 months after sales.
Keep your deadlines with your printer, get proofs back on time, or you could lose your printing slot with the printer and delay the schedule.
Keep communication in mind. For instance, if the author is going to be interviewed on the radio, make sure books are in stores for listeners to immediately go buy it.
As to whether stocking extra books in stores in anticipation of interviews and signings is putting the cart before the horse, Leonard Flachman says "There is no cart and there is no horse."
Pat Bell: Being a publisher is being in a state of constant education.
When a book is released is just as important as other aspects of the book. Here are some thoughts from others in the book trade.
Julie Arthur-Sherman (regional buyer for Barnes & Noble): When a pub date slips, buyers cancel their orders and you lose sales.
Dorothy Molstad: Aside from a pub date, you should have a warehouse date. That's the date when books have to be in warehouses, to be shipped to stores. It takes a long itme to go from warehouse to store to shelves--about six weeks from warehouse to shelf, allowing time for buyers.
Pat Bell: Beware of holiday scheduling. Don't launch a book in December. Fiction has one year (at most) in the market. A book published in December will be seen by stores in January as an "old book." If a book is pubbed in November, it only has about three months to sell.
Set up book events for the holidays in June/July. Slots fill up fast.
Leonard Flachman: You should be working from March-June for books to be sold in Nov-Dec, and August-September for books to be sold in the spring. You need to allow time to get into [your distributor's/wholesaler's] catalogs to be presented to store buyers.
Trade reviews require books 3-4 months in advance of the pub date. Julie Arthur-Sherman wants info at the same time as Publishers Weekly, New York Times, etc.
Seal Dwyer: If you're not thinking about the marketing while you're writing the book, you're too late.
Leonard Flachman: Regarding endorsements and testimonials: get them before printing. Even better, get them before ARCs (Advance Reading Copy). Make a list of the opinion leaders of your audience. Contact them directly. Send a copy of the manuscript (PDF, hard copy), even before editing, as a first proof. Call it an "unedited, unformatted manuscript."
Endorsements for pictures books: send 2-3 pages in color and the rest in b/w so the reader can get an idea of the illustration quality.
Linda Strommer: You should have at least 3-5 endorsements on the back cover. Get as many as you can. Ask the thought leaders [those who influence the thinking of your audience]. They're helping to create awareness for your book.
Dorothy Molstad: Midwest Booksellers Association puts out a holiday catalog every year and send it out to all bookstores in their 11-state region. Take advantage of their "Midwest Favorites" if you're eligible.
Pre-selling your books generates buzz and helps sales.
Seal Dwyer: Create the ebook as soon as the book is done. You can have the ebook available before the print book. It helps the visibility of the print book, and doesn't hurt the sales of print books.
Check out the websites of Brian Jud and John Kremer for timelines of what needs to be done when, in terms of book production.
If your book is going to have a foreword (non-fiction), allow 6-12 months before the pub date. You may have to pay the author of the foreword for their writing.
Cover artists can take six months to do a cover. Some may take a year.
Sybil Smith: There's so much money at stake to not do it right.
Pat Bell: Tap into organizations like MIPA, IBPA, Pub-U (IBPA's intensive publishing univerisity, just before BEA), other educational opportunities.
Some things can kill timing. Make sure books are physically available, not just "available" through POD.
You need to be able to pay up front and you need to have the cash flow available. You may not get sales until 3-6 months after sales.
Keep your deadlines with your printer, get proofs back on time, or you could lose your printing slot with the printer and delay the schedule.
Keep communication in mind. For instance, if the author is going to be interviewed on the radio, make sure books are in stores for listeners to immediately go buy it.
As to whether stocking extra books in stores in anticipation of interviews and signings is putting the cart before the horse, Leonard Flachman says "There is no cart and there is no horse."
Pat Bell: Being a publisher is being in a state of constant education.
