Ah summer—that magical time of year filled with vacations, pool-side reading, and long, lazy days. Most of us have a different mentality in the summer. We’re more relaxed. We’re a little less driven. We’ve worked hard all year, and have earned a break.
As an author and self-publisher, though, don’t forget that summer is a very important time of year. It’s the “building” season just before the biggest bookselling season of the year—September through December. Two-thirds of all book sales happen at this time of year. September might seem far away as you sit sippin’ a margherita on the beach, but it’s actually right around the corner. Don’t get caught unprepared.
We hear your collective groan! “Those Bublish people are such downers!” Don’t get us wrong, summer should be fun. You just need to strike a healthy work/life balance, and that’s a little more difficult when you’re working on your tan. If you’re self-published, you’re a business owner. As such, there’s always work to be done, and summer is no exception. What should you be doing now to set yourself up for success in the biggest bookselling season of the year? Here’s a few ideas to get started:
- If you’re launching a book in September or October, you should be letting the world know now that your book is coming out soon. Consider a pre-order campaign and augment that campaign with ads and book bubbles.
- No matter where you are in your publishing journey, summer is a good time to build recognition of your author brand. If you haven’t taken the time to understand your author brand, do that work now. You’ll reap the rewards of your hard work in a few months.
- Summer is a great time to grow your relationship with your readers. Like you, life is probably a little bit quieter for them. They have more time to read. Delight them with some fun, light, summer content. Talk to them about your summer on social media. Strengthen your relationship with them now. When you move into more serious book selling in the fall and holiday season, you won’t feel like a salesperson because you’ll be talking to readers who know and support you.
- Schedule a summer sale or giveaway. It will boost your book’s visibility and ranking, building a great foundation for more sales in the fall.
- Now is the time to put a marketing plan into place. Take a few hours to plan campaigns, budgets, and content. This way, when September rolls around, you’re ready to take advantage of every opportunity.
For a deeper dive into how to prepare for a successful fall, join Bublish founder Kathy Meis Wednesday, August 2, for a free planning webinar, “Prepare NOW for Success in the Fall Bookselling Season.” In this free, one-hour webinar Kathy will:
- explain what you should be doing right now to set yourself up for bookselling success in the most important season of the year
- review important dates and opportunities around seasonal sales opportunities
- show you how to set up a simple marketing plan to drive more book sales
As always, if you can’t make the live event, register anyway. We’ll email all registrants a recording of the webinar the next day. Here’s to a fun AND productive summer! Hope to see you on the webinar. Cheers!
Related Posts
