As I write this, it’s the middle of November. Halloween decorations have come down. Snow and fog hang in the air. Children start to form wish lists for Santa, and adults coordinate holiday plans.
Sometimes around this time of year, we hear from authors asking if they could release a book by Christmas. They’re excited to have their books under the tree. Unfortunately, two months is not enough time to publish a high-quality book.
A Timeline of the Publishing Process
In theory, a writer can publish a book in less than a week. They can upload a book to a print-on-demand provider, wait for it to finish processing, and order a copy. Anybody capable of adding an attachment to an email can print a book on demand.
If you’re reading this article, I have a feeling you want more than that. You want your book to have a beautiful cover, lovely formatting, and great editing. In that case, you will need more time. The exact amount of time depends on the amount of work required to achieve the quality targets you need. The trick is to work backwards from your release date!
Quality vs Time
We have published a few books with tight deadlines. Most of those books do not appear in our catalogue and their covers do not bear our logo. The authors asked for something made quickly, and those speeds meant we cut corners on quality.
For those books, we focused on the layout and covers. We kept the editing minimal. The books looked good, but they were not up to our standards. The authors wanted to produce small batches of books for friends and family. They accepted this bargain.
What should you do if you already have a book?
If you have another book in print, you may want to focus on your existing work. In December, many people are looking for gifts. Marketing pushes can bring your book to people who are interested in presents for their loved ones. Consider who might be buying gifts for your ideal reader. Create marketing assets to intrigue them.
What should you do if you don’t have a book?
If you don’t have a book, you still have an idea or message. Talking about that idea or message can make your ideal readers interested in what you have to say. You have an audience out there. The more people recognize and connect with your message, the more people can eventually buy your book.
When should you start publishing a book for Christmas?
There is plenty of time to publish a book by Christmas 2025. Let’s go over a theoretical production schedule for a picture book and a text-based book.
🎄🖼️ Production Schedule for a Picture Book
📅 November (12 months before launch): Understand your project goals and your assets.
📅 Nov - Feb (8-11 months before launch): Draft and edit your project.
📅 March (7 months before launch): Identify an artist. Identify a developmental editor.
📅 April (6 months before launch): Work with the editor and artist to develop a satisfying book.
Note: only start working with the artist after you’ve finished making changes with the editor. This case study has useful information about working with both.)
📅 May (5 months before launch): Refine the art and copyedit the text.
📅 June (4 months before launch): Get input from more professionals and beta reader insights from children. Get quotes from potential printers. If you haven't already, start telling people about your book by email, on social media, and any other way. The sooner the better -- build a buzz, grow an audience.
📅 July (3 months before launch): Send your text and artwork to the layout designer (or do the layout yourself). Keep talking about the book in public. Share the cover design (or share teasers).
📅 August (2 months before launch): Send your finished book to the printer. Get ARCs (Advance Reader Copies). Plan your promotion activities for launching and selling your book. Start promoting in social media and in real life. This Marketing Planner can help you.
📅 September (1 month before launch): Start sharing ARCs with influencers. Ask for reviews, endorsements, and referrals.* Provide resources for them to share in emails and on social media. Plan your launch party (or launch activities). Find a location (physical or virtual) for the party and start inviting people. (Note: you might need to look for a location sooner than 2 or 3 weeks out.)
📅 October (1 week before launch): Finalize launch party details and send last-minute invitations to the launch party.
📅 November & beyond: keep talking about your book and the message behind it. BUT ... don't do too much hard selling or people will get annoyed. We recommend that you add value to people's lives by entertaining and/or inspiring them, educating and/or informing them. This is how you stay top of mind with your audience. Then, every 3-5 posts or emails, remind them that they can buy your book and where to find it.
There are a lot of moving parts to making and launching a book. We love to help authors clarify their dreams and develop plans, so book a call with us! It’s a free, no-pressure process, so what have you got to lose?
🎄📖 Production Schedule for a Text-Based Book by Christmas
📅 November (12 months before launch): Understand your project goals and your capacity.
📅 Nov - Feb (8-11 months before launch): Draft a manuscript.
📅 March (7 months before launch): Find a developmental editor and a cover designer who know your genre and fits your needs, and schedule working with them.
📅 April (6 months before launch): Begin developmental edits. Work with your cover designer while you wait for your developmental editor. Start looking for a copy editor and interior layout designer.
Note: even thought the book isn't finished, you can develop the front cover and, once you're sure of your final release date, you can use the cover to start building excitement (aka buzz) about your book!
📅 May (5 months before launch): Finish developmental editing, start copy editing. Share the manuscript with beta readers. Ask for reviews and endorsements.
📅 June (4 months before launch): Send your clean, copyedited manuscript to the layout designer (or do the layout yourself). Get quotes from potential printers. If you haven't already, start telling people about your book by email, on social media, and any other way. The sooner the better -- build a buzz, grow an audience.
Note: If your manuscript is not clean, you could end up paying a lot to your designer for last-minute changes, so make it as tidy as possible before you go to layout.
Note: The closer you get to Christmas, the busier it gets for printers, so give yourself lots of time, whether you're doing a larger print run or getting a few copies by print-on-demand.
📅 July (3 months before launch): Proofread the digital layout. Order a printed copy of the book (or print the pages at Staples or at home) and read it. Get someone else to proofread. Submit final edits to your layout designer. Keep talking about the book in public. Share the cover design (or share teasers).
Note: Don't skip the printed proof. Everything looks different on the page vs on screen, and you are guaranteed to find mistakes on paper that you didn't see on your computer.
📅 August (2 months before launch): Send your finished book to the printer. Plan your promotion activities for launching and selling your book. Start promoting in social media and in real life. This Marketing Planner can help you.
📅 September (1 month before launch): (1 month before launch): Start sharing ARCs with influencers. Ask for reviews, endorsements, and referrals.* Provide resources for them to share in emails and on social media. Plan your launch party (or launch activities). Find a location (physical or virtual) for the party and start inviting people. (Note: you might need to look for a location sooner than 2 or 3 weeks out.)
📅 October (1 week before launch): Finalize launch party details and send last-minute invitations to the launch party. Share about your book on social media.
📅 November & beyond: keep talking about your book and the message behind it.
BUT ... don't do too much hard selling or people will get annoyed. We recommend that you add value to people's lives by entertaining and/or inspiring them, educating and/or informing them. This is how you stay top of mind with your audience. Then, every 3-5 posts or emails, remind them that they can buy your book and where to find it.
You may want to have a book by some other deadline, like a relationship book by Valentine’s Day 💘 or a Canadian history book by Canada Day 🍁. No matter your goal, you can use this method to plan backwards, i.e. reverse engineer the timeline you need to publish your book.
Still nervous about getting your book out by a deadline? Our discovery calls can help you clarify your goals, evaluate possibilities, and plan next steps. Book a call with us! It’s a free, no-pressure process, so what have you got to lose?
*Influencer = anybody who has influence with your target audience. This doesn't have to be a big celebrity. It could be a teacher who has influence with their students and their parents, a librarian who has influence with patrons, etc. Think about where your readers hang out and see if you can make connections there.
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