The calendar dictates when many
books get published or even if they are greenlighted at all. Below are some key times in the seasonality
of book publishing. This will give you an
idea of how the book marketplace works.
Things to consider:
Which holidays, annual events,
honorary weeks/months or seasonal patterns are worth basing one’s publication
date upon? Should books about love or
sex be released just in time for Valentine’s Day? Should books about the football season come
out in August or March? Should Chinese
food cookbooks come out in February for the Chinese New Year or in November for
holiday gift-giving season?
January
People need books to help them
live out their New Year’s Resolutions of losing weight, making money, and
living a balanced life. Diet and health
books, self-help titles, and personal finance/investing/business books flood
the stores as soon as a new year descends.
February:
Valentine’s Day, Spring Training,
Black History Month, and President’s Day leave us with books on love, dating,
romance, sex, relationships, marriage, baseball, presidents, and tax
preparation.
March
Spring cleaning, gardening,
travel books, Easter/Passover, and books on humor (for April Fools’ Day), are
popular at this time. This is also Women's Awareness Month.
April
Think ahead for Mother’s Day and
graduations with gift books such as photography, cookbooks, career guides, and
books about mothers and daughters. This is also Financial Literacy Month and National Autism Awareness Month.
May
With Father’s Day coming up,
books for guys are hot. It’s BBQ season
and the weather’s warmed up for cruises, outdoor sports, bird-watching,
vacations, and all things war (Memorial Day).
June/July
Beach reads
and escapist novels are populating shelves.
Books about patriotism, freedoms and rights, historical figures, and
political policy are perfect with Independence Day approaching. Travel guides and adventure-seeking books are
in demand.
August
Books related
to Labor Day, back-to-school, football season and 9/11 flourish.
September/October
Some of the
year’s biggest books come out during this time, including books by
celebrities. No major holidays,
vacations, or distractions interfere with the book-buying frenzy this time of
the year.
November/December
Books about
the holidays, inspirational titles, and coffee table books are in demand. Gift books like cookbooks, photography,
almanacs or yearly round-up books are popular.
Publishers
don’t need excuses or reasons to publish and release a book, but because of the
patterns dictated by calendar dates, (which impact consumers, the news media, and
how businesses operate) book publishing schedules become somewhat
predictable. If you want to break the
cycle, create your own trend, holiday, or special event—and publish a book
based on it.
Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas
expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Media Connect,
the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert
and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the
third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2013
DON’T MISS THIS!!!
Here is my 2014 Book Marketing &
Publicity Toolkit: Based on 20+ years in publishing --
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