With book publicity campaigns, timing is everything. Your promotion efforts will help you accomplish your goal of selling more books if you keep in mind target dates and activities. Here’s how to determine the best deployment schedule for your PR efforts.
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Getting Your Campaign on Schedule:
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Begin with Distribution. Your major publicity should happen when you have the maximum number of books available. When will your book be available at the online bookstores and your Web site? In other words, what is your book’s publication date? That’s the target date for your biggest PR hit(s).
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| Publishing Industry Publications. If you want to pitch your book to the reviewers at the publishing trade magazines (Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal, and so forth), you’ll usually need to get a copy (or, in some cases, two copies) of galleys into their hands at least two or three months before the publication date. |
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| Magazines. Book reviewers at monthly and weekly magazines usually require galleys between four and six months before the book’s publication date. |
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| Galleys Versus Books. Galleys can be more expensive to print than books. You can substitute finished books for galleys. Just attach a label that reads “in lieu of galleys” to the book’s front cover before you send it. |
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| National Television. Most national TV shows act quickly (even immediately) to schedule interviews. Therefore, wait until your book is available before you pitch national TV show producers. Appearing on a national TV show too soon will only frustrate potential book buyers, distributors, and booksellers — and you. |
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| Radio Shows. Producers might need a few hours’ notice to commit to, and air, a segment — or they might need a few months. Err on the side of waiting until your book is available before pitching radio producers. |
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| Daily and Weekly Newspapers. Pitch reviewers at major daily newspapers the same way you would reviewers at monthly magazines. However, to pitch a story to beat editors, wait until your book is available. Feature editors, business editors, and other beat editors can turn around a story in just a couple of days. |
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| Tour Cities. If you’re planning to arrange out-of-town, in-studio interviews (either to coincide with your travel plans or as part of a multi-city book tour), allow two months’ lead time. |
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| Bylined Articles. Send articles you’ve penned to national magazines between four and six months ahead of the publication date. Newspapers require a few days’ lead time. |
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Online Communities. Join listserves, contribute to chatboards, and so forth six months before your publication date. Establish online friendships, and build credibility, well before you
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