A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: What about Holiday Books?



It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.

Today's topic is holiday books. After all, we are straddling two holidays right now -- Chanukah and Christmas. So, if you want to write a holiday-related book, say a Christmas book, when should you start? What kind of timeline will dictate having the book out at the right time?

Let's assume that you have a publisher lined up because otherwise all timing issues are moot. Here are the timelines that would work for us, as a publisher:

  • The latest, as a publisher, I would want to get a Christmas book, is January, but preferably the previous November or December. I need at least a couple of weeks to decide whether or not the book will be a good fit, prepare a contract, get the contract signed, analyze the final manuscript, and do any other related legal and formal paperwork.
  • Then, it will take 3-6 months (sometimes less) to produce the book: good copyediting, proofreading, typesetting, more proofreading, cover design -- and along the way acquiring an ISBN and an LCCN, as well as any required permissions. (And I am probably forgetting one or more things.) So, given a January start, it is now June.
  • Once produced, reviewers want at least 4 months with Advance Review Copy in hand in order to review and publish reviews prior to the book's release. During that time, of course, the book can be advertised and be on pre-order. It is now October.
  • So, when do you start advertising the book? Six months in advance. That would be, uh, June! So, as the book makes the rounds for reviews, you should be advertising it, and it should be on pre-order.
  • When can you expect orders to stop coming in and fulfillment to end? There's a bit of a conundrum. Orders may come in up as late as the holiday itself; however, printers and stores cannot usually fulfill orders coming in much after late October or early November because the demand on the printer is considerably higher than normal and service becomes competitive - earlier is always better.
  • For Valentine's books, send them to the publisher in February (of the previous year), For Halloween books in September-October of the previous year. And so on.
  • If you do not have a strong platform (yet) and need to build it, then plan on pushing everything to 18 months out so give you time upfront and during pre-order days to get that platform higher and better.

The bottom line is that to get the most out of holiday sales you need to plan according to the season. A year may be enough if you have a well-oiled platform; 18-24 months may be better if your platform could use a little help and, yes, it likely grates on your nerves to hear this, 24-36 months out if you have no platform at all initially. 

Lesson for today's Tuesday talk: Planning and pre-planning is everything. If your Christmas book hits the market in March, you will either have missed the mark or have to wait some time for the next mark.




 Read more posts about publishing HERE.





The Tuesday talks reflect real discussions between the management of MSI Press LLC and our own authors or those would-be authors who come through our doors but don't make the cut--yet. If you have a topic that you would like addressed, leave the question in the comment section. Chances are, in our 18 years of publishing first-time and experiences authors, we have had a conversation with one of our authors that we can share with you.

                             

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