What Happens Before, During & After Book Publication Day

A Literal Literary Loser Shoots For a Win

Today, Tuesday, November 15, 2022 is the official publication day for “My Mother’s Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region.”

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Hasn’t that book been out forever? It sure feels that way, because she certainly has been talking about it forever.”

Nope. It’s only officially out today. But, yup, I have been talking about it forever.

That’s the “Before Book Publication Day” part.

Before Book Publication Day, you have to talk about it incessantly. This is called “building interest.”

You have to blog about it incessantly. This is called “harassing innocent blog owners with pleas to let you talk about yourself and your book.” (See my success stories, here.)

You have to send Advance Readers Copies (ARC) to potential reviewers like The Jewish Book Council. This is called “throwing many things at the walls and seeing what sticks.”

You have to make videos like this one:

Or like the ones in my previous post.

You have to appear on podcasts, both as interviewee and interviewer.

You have to make short, introductory videos, which I am just including below because I am shocked by how good I look in it. My 15 year old daughter says it’s because I finally listened to her about how to sit properly and light myself.

You have to curate a mailing list, and schedule book store appearances. And book club appearances.

Then, finally, comes Pub(lication) Day itself!

On Pub Day, you need to send out a mailing to your list letting them know that the book is on special sale for a short time only!!!!! (The more exclamation points, the better!!!! Readers love exclamation points!!!!! Especially first thing in the morning!!!!)

You have to let them know that the Kindle edition is currently $2.99 at Amazon, and at B&N.

You have to plaster social media with your Pub Day graphics!

Here are my Pub Day graphics. (You can also see them on social media!!!!)

(And you’d better warn the many Soviet Jews on your list that at least half of the images will be traumatic and triggering. But, hey, all is fair in love and book sales!)

It isn’t required that you also spend all of Pub Day frantically and maniacally hitting the refresh button on your Amazon page to see if you’ve hit #1 yet on Hot New Releases in Historical Russian Fiction. That’s just something I choose to do for the funzies.

And then comes the day after Pub Day. When you politely badger readers to review your book. And keep hitting the refresh button on your Amazon page. Only not as frequently.

This will go on until you die. Because every day is the day after Pub Day… for the rest of your life. (Until, God willing, there is another Pub Day.)

Welcome to book publishing! (Get out while you still can….)