Publishing and marketing diary of a debut author
What’s involved for a debut author in the months before the book is released? I have kept a diary of the stages in my journey from signing a contract to publication. At the end I have summarised the key lessons for my next book, and estimated the overall time commitment to help other authors plan.
December 2025 (eight months to go)
Signed the publishing contract (after getting detailed feedback from Society of Authors – worth the membership fee). Publication date given as 28 August 2026.
Told I had till 5 Jan 26 to send a final MS. Panicked and extended to 12 Jan 26. Spent all the Xmas and New year period editing, after a final set of comments from a professional editor and one of my writing friends.
Time commitment: 10 days
Jan 2026 (seven months to go)
Submitted the final MS.
Started populating the blog for my author website (which went live October 2025).
Wrote the cover brief (after extensive review of the hist fic section in Waterstones). Decided I wanted an illustrator – Book Guild sourced one and sent her the brief.
Time commitment: 5 days
Feb 2026 (six months to go)
Had to approve the blurb for the advance info sheet – from New Zealand where I was researching book 2.
Received the draft cover designs – canvassed views from writing friends and sent back rather detailed comments. My former career as a magazine publisher came in handy. Read more about the cover process.
Time commitment: 2 days
March 2026 (five months to go)
Compiled my writing contacts into a list on Mailchimp and created an email newsletter which I intend to send out monthly up to publication (and probably afterwards).
Final sign off on the front cover. I now have an ISBN number!
Attended the London Book Fair and spent most of my time in the Author theatre taking notes on marketing.
Time commitment: 4 days
April 2026 (four months to go)
Joined ALLi and read all their free eBooks on marketing. Even with a publisher, authors have to build their online brand, run a website and social accounts, and organise book talks…
Kept on adding reviews and blog posts to my website, and planned out newsletter content for the next six months
Made some changes to the author website: adding a popup for the newsletter signup and creating a welcome email and a copy of the second chapter for new sign-ups.
Started rewriting my first draft of novel 2 – just to get it going. Joined Imogen Hermes Gowar’s Writing the Past course for some creative input.
Time commitment: 5 days (just on first novel, excluding writing novel 2)
May 2026 (three months to go)
Received the typeset copy of the novel. My job was to proof each page and make edits using official proofreading marks. This took the best part of a week. When the corrected copy came back I spotted new edits and sent back another round of corrections. Then I signed off the “final final” version for press. Nothing more can be done now!
Continued adding blog posts, social posts, newsletter.
Time commitment: 10 days
June 2026 (two months to go)
Received the design for the spine and back cover and gave feedback before signing it off.
Publisher has PDF and ePub editions available – sent one to the Historical Novel Society for review. (an ePub means they can read it on their kindle like a regular book).
Publicist sent me her draft list of media – including Swansea media, Sailing media and History media to match the themes of the book. I worked up some ideas for features tailored to each type of publication. Had a meeting with publicist on 25 June to confirm the media list and understand timelines. Signed off on press release which she will send to national media in July and local media in August. Said I am willing to do radio/podcast interviews.
Asked writing friends to read the book – and write a review ready to post once it is published.
Publisher sent out Advance Information sheet to the book trade – and it is live for pre-order on Waterstones, Amazon and TJ Jones. Tried to set up Amazon author central but it’s a bit complicated.
Kept on creating blog posts, social media and newsletter.
Time commitment: 5 days
July 2026 (one month to go)
Set up author page on Amazon and Goodreads and checked my book is attached to my author profile.
Gathered 15 names of writer friends who are willing to read an ARC and publicist has sent them an ePub. I explained where they can post their reviews.
Approved design for bookmark based on cover.
Created lists of bookshops and libraries to approach for talks once I have my print copies.
Author copies arrived and they look stunning. Started visiting local bookshops & libraries to discuss talks and launches. Contacted museums and bookshops in Swansea where novel is set. Booked to attend book fairs in Swansea and organised a talk with the Swansea Historical Association for 2027. Learning that talks need to be planned months ahead, but authors need a print copy to be credible, so most talks will be in the months following publication.
First reader reviews in – set up reviews section on my author website. Added to publisher book page and also asked people to post on Goodreads.
Blog tour organiser contacted me – copies going out to reviewers. (Blog tour dates 27 Jul-2 Aug) Flurry of reviews from book bloggers on Instagram – added to author website and also publisher website. Everyone loves the cover.
People who buy on publisher site are receiving their print copies – before publication date.
Bookmarks delivered. Ordered A4 cards and pull-up banner for book launch and talks/fairs.
Confirmed book launch date at local bookshop (Wed 2 Sep) and created invite list. Sent out invites to friends and writing network by email. Posted on Linked In and personal Facebook – lots of nice messages. One friend has proposed my book for her book club.
Time commitment: 12 days
August 2026 (weeks to go)
Visited Swansea bookshops and libraries to arrange talks – certainly helps going in person with a copy of the book. Two booked in Swansea so far, plus one in London. Upcoming events list here.
I researched options for taking debit card payments for direct sales at book fairs, and settled on Sumup - tested this out at the HNS conference in Ireland. At that conference I was interviewed by the Rock Paper Swords podcast and made lots of writer friends.
I was also interviewed by Roy Noble at BBC Radio Wales - clips from media here.
Lots of organising for the launch event at the Owl bookshop - ordered a popup banner and bookmarks, sent out reminders and bought the wine.
I put in more effort on my social media posts for the final week - creating highlights of reviews and some short reels - which built engagement.
Time commitment: 8 days
Lessons learned – pre-publication marketing
• Consider a professional edit before final submission when this isn’t part of the publisher’s process – to get the MS in shape before copy edit and proofreading
• Cover is crucial in attracting attention from the target reader – worth investing the time to make it distinctive but also clearly in genre.
• Glad I set up my website and email newsletter six months before publication as it gets very busy in the last three months
• Allow time for proof-reading – I did two rounds each of which took 2-3 full days – but a clear layout does make the book more readable.
• Ask writing friends to write early reviews – share on author site, social media, Goodreads. Having a handful of reviews a month before publication builds your confidence.
• Ask for author copies as early as possible – means you have more credibility approaching bookshops, libraries etc for talks.
• Holding a launch event in a bookshop means they handle sales on the day. It’s up to you to invite friends, family, writing network to come and buy on the day. If they can’t make it, ask them to pre-order from the publisher to give your first week sales a boost.
• Bookshop talks in London are planned months in advance and favour well-known authors. I had more luck in Swansea and with libraries and historical societies.
• Setting up as an author on Goodreads and Amazon is a faff but once you are there, it’s easier for readers to find you and your books.
What is the time commitment?
I estimated all this took 63 days of my time over 8 months, averaging 6 days a month, or 1-2 days a week. Some of course was weekends, but sending emails, meeting the publicist, visiting bookshops has to take place during office hours. Maybe if you are published by a large publisher your time commitment as an author might be less, but if you are published by a small press I suspect this is typical and if you are self-published it could be more.
On top of this I have tried to set aside a day a week for writing book 2. I’m self-employed so can flex my calendar, but it would be hard to manage this alongside a full-time job. More possible if you are working 3-4 days a week.
Next steps
If you are also a first-time author I’d love to hear your experiences of the pre-publication period, how you spent your time and what you have learned. Get in touch using the contact page on this site.
I’ll keep another diary of the months following publication, so sign up for my book club newsletter to be the first to read this.