by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I’ve never had a release day that wasn’t a very busy day. The main reason is that I’m responding to readers. I’ll get comments on social media and responses to emailed newsletters. I’ll also respond to readers who ask when a book in a different series is coming out.
To minimize my own stress, I have a handy checklist that I’ve shared here before. It helps me both keep track of things I need to do, plus get stuff done before launch day in order to keep the day a lot calmer.
Here’s what I don’t do. I don’t watch my ranking or sales on Amazon, at least for a few days. I don’t look for reviews in the first few days. I don’t mention my book again on Facebook or Instagram, aside from the initial post on release day (I don’t use Twitter for promo, so I don’t announce releases there). These approaches keep me from being hyper-focused on the release and keep me from being annoying by over-promoting it.
The day of the release I try to treat like any other writing day. I work on my outline for the next book in that series. I work on Amazon ads for the first book in the series. And I do other writing-related tasks.
I don’t keep social media running in the background. Instead, I check it at planned intervals to respond.
One of the things that I’ve been slow to do is to personally celebrate the launch: the time it took for me to write and edit it and the work it took my design and editorial team to get it ready for publication.
Also important in the days leading up to the launch and the week after: take time for self-care. Eat right, exercise, hydrate. Taking care of yourself can really help take the edge off.
What are your release days like? Do you have any tips to add here?
Tips for Handling Releases: Share on X
I won't over-promote either. One blast and that's it. And I'm sure to celebrate that evening.
Celebrating is the best!
You're right, Elizabeth, about how busy launch day can be, and especially if you have a face-to-face launch event. Your tips are really helpful, so thanks. One thing I also do is that I plan with the family, so I don't have to also do dinner, dishes, laundry, and so on. I also make sure the bills are up to date, so no home accounting chores to do.
That makes so much sense, Margot. That way, we don’t have any other stresses that day.
Thanks for the tips, Elizabeth. I think it's a great idea to not check your book's rankings and sales at first. And I agree that celebrating your book's release is important.
Checking ratings is definitely stressful! Hope you have a great week, Natalie!
I also do things on DLP's website, making sure the media release is set, marking the book as available now, and adding reviews.
Good point! Keeping websites updated is really key.