One of the things I have been asked about is for some kind of marketing timeline.
Every campaign is slightly different - some start much earlier than others (for example, most of the books I saw at the London Book Fair earlier this month were for books publishing in 2025), and some start much later (I am usually approached by authors AFTER their book has released, when their book hasn’t done as well as hoped, so there’s always time to work on it!).
Your timings might also be affected by whether you are traditionally, hybrid or self-published, and how much control you have over what you do and when.
Because of that, I’ve been reluctant to say ‘this is what you should be doing when’.
BUT, one thing I say again and again to authors is to start far earlier than you think you need to. Relationships take time to build, newsletters and social media accounts take time to grow, honing your messaging can take time, too.
So, with that in mind, and with the caveat that this is a non-exhaustive, extremely flexible list of ideas, not a prescriptive set of ‘do this at this point, or you’re doooooomed’ list, here is a suggested marketing timeline: