Finding the perfect time for a book promotion is the first step in actually planning said promotion.

Tons of variables can come into play here…

Is your book a new release or has it been out for a while?

Is your publisher running any promotions?

Are you partnering with a blog or other bookish site, whose calendar you need to accommodate?

Say that none of those things is an issue for you and you’re free to promote whenever and however you’d like. How do you choose the ideal moment to promote your book?

I always recommend working smarter not harder, so the perfect time is when you can take advantage of trending topics, hashtags, and discussions on social media that you DID NOT have to organize yourself.

Use sites like this one to identify an awareness event that fits well with the themes of your book. From homelessness and ADHD to mental health and being a military brat, there is an awareness day or holiday for just about everything.

Does your main character struggle with mental health and self-harm? Look into “Self Harm Awareness Month.”

Is your book about two best friends who can’t be separated even though the world conspires against them? Check out “Friendship Day.”

Once you’ve identified the one you’d like to piggyback on, do a little research. Look for organizations that run special campaigns to generate awareness around that issue. What are they doing on social? Do they have a calendar of upcoming events? Do they accept guest bloggers?

Operation Plan Book Promotion

I put this method into practice for Bad Romance, by Heather Demetrios, a story of a girl’s first love, an emotionally abusive relationship, and her struggle to make it through (plus a dash of theater drama for fun).

Using the site linked above, we identified February as Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month.

A quick search brought up powerful sites like loveisrespect.org. It has an active blog and social media accounts, toolkits, statistics, and graphics.

See, our work is already half done for us!

In addition to Love Is Respect, Heather recommends Day One, Break the Cycle, No More, and Girls Health as other possible organizations to partner with and/or interact with on social.

At the time I’m writing this blog in late December 2017, we’re still putting together our campaign. Below are some of the ideas we’ve discussed:

• Contact these organizations with an open offer to help, asking how we can support their initiatives.
• Do they accept guest blog posts?
• Engage in Twitter chats and other social initiatives like posting a picture on Wear Orange Day in mid-February.
• Partner with any of these organizations and/or other authors to raise awareness and money with a fund-raising campaign.
• Host an event with other authors who write about similar topics.
• Reach out to podcasts that focus on parents of teens.
• Contact Books on the Subway to see if they might want to giveaway Bad Romance during the month of February.

The Results

Coming Soon!

You’ll have to stay tuned for the results of our February promotions. Subscribe below to follow my book marketing adventures.