A checklist for the week before your book is released

The books are printed, or about to be. This is the week when small things go wrong because everyone is tired and excited. A short list helps.

Seven days before

• Count the copies you received. Open a few boxes and look inside. Check at random that pages are in order and the cover is not warped.
• Confirm that the book page on your website or marketplace is ready. Title, cover image, description, price and ISBN should all match what is on the actual book.
• Test the whole order path yourself. Place an order, pay, and see what email arrives.

Five days before

• Prepare the packing materials, enough for the first fifty orders. Running out on day one is annoying.
• Write the message you will send to friends and family. Keep it short, with the link, and make it easy to forward.
• Decide who answers questions that come in, and how fast.

Three days before

• Send copies to anyone who has agreed to review it, if you have not already.
• Schedule your announcement posts, or at least write them.
• Check your contact details on the site and the book. A wrong phone number or email is hard to fix after printing.

The day before

• Read the book page one more time, slowly, as if you were a stranger.
• Check that the payment method works.
• Charge your phone, clear your afternoon, and plan to eat something at a normal time.

Release day

• Post your announcement, and send the personal message to the first few people.
• Answer comments and questions kindly and quickly.
• Pack and send orders in a steady rhythm rather than waiting for a pile.
• Keep a small notebook of anything that confused a reader. You will fix it next week.

The week after

• Thank everyone who helped, in a personal message.
• Look at what people asked. Those questions are your next blog posts.
• Resist the urge to check sales every ten minutes.

A note on expectations

Most first books have a quiet release. Some friends buy, a few strangers do, then it settles. That is normal and is not a verdict on the book. Books sell over months and years, through small recommendations. The point of release week is to start that slowly, and to be calm enough to enjoy it.