Is there any rhyme or reason for book release dates?
Two books by authors I like are being released, one in October and the other in January.
I figured since you have actually published a book you may know.
Mine are self-published, so I’m probably not the best person to ask.
I think there’s probably some thought, like album releases, not conflicting with other major releases, hit the best news cycle, etc. But I don’t know much more. Mostly, I think they just try to maximize attention for the books.
What bothers me (and maybe it shouldn’t) is that the book is announced for pre sale 4-5 months early. If it is ready just release it!!
All I know is they time some releases to dates like Christmas or the start of the school year or season.
People tend to read more in summer and winter.
That’s what I’ll do. But big publishing houses, just like big music distributors, have schedules. Make sure this one doesn’t conflict with that one, put together an author tour, maximize publicity, etc.
It would be my preference to keep things simple too, but then my sales reflect that.
I will say, I get more frustrated with this with music. They’ll announce an album months ahead, but I can’t put it on a wishlist or do squat about it until the album is actually out. By then, I might have forgotten and might miss the next update.
@crparrothead My husband co authored three different text books for major publishing companies that are targeted for college professors. The release dates were based on when professors were most likely to be trying to decide what books for their students to use for their courses
There is something interesting that I didn’t know until my husband wrote text books. Whenever he signed a contract with a publisher he had to assign his intellectual property rights as the author for that book .to them. Then they agree to pay all the costs of publishing and marketing the book and pay percentage of the sales price to the author. When my husband died his royalty accounts were transferred to me as his heir. Now I get royalties from the publishers for the books they have sold since he died.
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