Timeline Your Book Publicity Campaign

By Rick Frishman - Dec 19 , 2008

Book publicity campaigns are a lot like puzzles—in fact, they are puzzles; giant puzzles. To successfully complete them, numerous different pieces must be fitted together in a precise, sequential order. If all of the pieces don’t fit just right, it simply won’t work and you’re still stuck with the bill.

Since book campaigns run for extended periods of time, they can’t just be slapped together. Each piece must be carefully selected, shaped, and then coordinated to work with all of the others, which requires great timing and skill. For a campaign to have impact, all of its elements must flow harmoniously, one right after another. Each element must be structured to stand on its own, to be successful by itself, and to enhance all the other elements.

To make your campaign work, create a timeline. Your campaign may include all of the right ingredients; it can be well planned, researched, and targeted, but without a timeline, it probably won’t work or return your investment.

A timeline is a list of each strategy you intend to employ in your publicity campaign and the date when you must initiate each tactic. A timeline forces you to think about:

• Every tactic in your campaign
• How long it will take
• When it must start
• Who will perform it
• The resources needed

“Your timeline must be more than just a general or tentative plan,” David Thalberg, former senior vice president of New York City’s Planned Television Arts, explains. “It must be a detailed outline of the precise strategy you intend to take. When your campaign is rolling, your timeline can always be tweaked. For example, if a certain tactic is working well, you can decide to do more of it, or if another part bombs, you could decide to scrap it completely.”

For first-time authors, timelines can be especially critical because publishers typically don’t give first books much of a publicity push. Writing a timeline can awaken novice writers to all the strategies that they can take to inform the world that their book has been published. Timelines can help them firm up their publicity budgets and give them a logical, well-thought-out schedule that they can easily follow. They can show authors what they can do themselves and where they need help.

As we discuss timelines, we will touch upon lots of publicity tactics, more than you will include in your campaign. Some of these tactics we have previously addressed, so please excuse any repetition. However, we think it’s essential for you to see the big picture, an overview of just how many strategies you can employ in a publicity campaign and how critical the timing can be.

Select those tactics that you think will work well for you and then investigate them. Learn what implementing and coordinating them will take and what’s involved in a book publicity campaign.

Start early. As soon as you know your book will be published, begin planning your publicity campaign. If you wrote a promotion plan as a part of your book proposal, reread it and think about how to implement it. If you didn’t create a promotion plan, write one now. For detailed information on writing a book promotion plan, see our book Author 101: Bestselling Book Proposals.

Give yourself plenty of time to prepare your campaign timeline. Start as soon as you know that your book will be published, even if you don’t know precisely when. Don’t wait, because planning and coordinating all your publicity strategies is an involved and time-consuming process. Begin by:

• Deciding which specific strategies you might employ. For example, book signings, approaching book reviewers, going on a speaking tour, and so on.
• Investigating each strategy by finding out:
• How it works
• If it could be good for your book
• How long it would take
• Its cost
• The help you would need
• When you should start
• Determining which strategies you could do on your own and which will require help.
• Deciding how to best coordinate all facets of your campaign.
• Identifying when each segment will start.

First decide what you want to do; identify the specific strategies that you think will work for your book. Then, create a preliminary timeline.

Create a Timeline

When you write your timeline, concentrate on how long each strategy will take to prepare, execute, and complete. Also clarify the people and resources you will need. Determine when you will need them, and check whether they will be available on those dates.

Set dates to start working on each item listed on your timeline and when each will launch. For example, on March 15, begin to draft the press release you plan to mail on April 15. Build in enough time to write the release and have it edited, critiqued, and sent. If you’re booked to speak at the Adventurer’s Club on April 18, list the dates when you must order copies of your book, have handouts printed, and arrange to be videotaped.

Although the dates on your timeline can be tweaked, try to stick to your schedule. Only make changes for emergencies or those rare opportunities that come only once. When you start making changes, it can weaken your timeline because you no longer consider deadlines critical. Constant or last-minute changes can also alienate the media, organizers, and hosts, which will kill future opportunities. In contrast, religiously meeting your target dates will give your campaign direction and discipline.