Book launch week checklist, day by day

The week before

• Upload the final Kindle file. If the ebook is on preorder, KDP requires the final file at least 72 hours before release, or the preorder is cancelled (KDP preorders). Do it early in the week and check the previewer.
• Check the print release. If you scheduled the paperback or hardcover release on KDP, files lock five days before release (KDP release dates). Anything you need to change must be done before then.
• Check every page. Search for the book on Amazon and two other retailers. Cover, description, price, author name, author page, all formats. Category changes can take up to 72 hours to appear (KDP categories), so make them now.
• Brief your advance readers. The launch date, and a reminder that reviews can go up once the book is live and in their hands. Ask for honesty, not stars, and ask them to mention their advance copy.
• Finalize your personal ask list of 25 to 50 people, with a line for each.
• Schedule what you can: the launch-day email, the first post, the event reminder.

Launch week, day by day

1. Monday: the day beforeConfirm the event (room, microphone, books, payment, helper). Send a short reminder to people who RSVPed. Prepare links for each format in one note so you can paste them all day tomorrow. Go to bed early.
2. Tuesday: launch dayMorning: check that every format is live and linked together on Amazon. Send the launch-day email. Post. Then spend two or three hours on personal notes, one person at a time. Thank your advance readers individually with the link to the book page. In the evening, if it is your event night, enjoy it.
3. WednesdayReply to every message and comment. Share anything readers post (with permission). If an interview airs, send it out. Note who has bought, so you can thank them.
4. ThursdayThe event, if it is not on launch day. Otherwise: send the book to five clients or people in your field with a personal note, if the book is for your business.
5. FridayThe launch week reminder email: short, with something real from the week, and the link. Post a photo from the event.
6. WeekendRest. Write down what happened this week while you remember it: who helped, what got a response, what did not.
7. The following MondayThank-you email to the list. Personal thanks to everyone who came to the event, reviewed, shared or interviewed you. One polite note to advance readers who have not reviewed yet; after that, let it be.

About watching the rank

It is tempting to refresh your Amazon page all day. KDP's sales rank page says rankings are updated at least once per day and changes can take up to two days to appear, and that rank reflects your book's customer activity relative to other books. So the number you see is late, and it moves with everyone else's sales too. Check once a day at most, and spend the time on personal notes instead.

If sales rank is one of your goals, the part you control is concentrating your own audience's purchases in launch week: preorders, the launch-day email, personal notes and the event all point at the same few days. A category bestseller badge can follow; Nashater Deu's The Leadership PIN Code was a #1 Bestseller, Amazon, on launch day. That is one author's result, not a promise. Never buy rankings or reviews.

If something goes wrong

• A format is not live or not linked. Check the status in KDP or IngramSpark first. KDP links formats automatically when the title and author name match exactly, and you can also link them from your KDP Bookshelf or ask KDP support. Send people to the format that is live in the meantime.
• The preorder was cancelled. If you missed the 72-hour file deadline, KDP cancels the preorder. Publish the ebook as soon as the file is ready and tell your list plainly. Remember that a second missed deadline removes preorder privileges for six months.
• Few reviews in launch week. That is normal. Readers need time to finish the book, and Amazon only allows reviews once they have it. Look again at your four-week check-in.
• Sales are slower than you hoped. Launch week is one week. Interviews, clients and readers telling readers do most of their work over the following months.

If a publisher is launching your book

Your publisher controls files, pages and preorders, so the week before is about confirming rather than doing: ask them to confirm every format is live on launch day, ask what their publicity team has scheduled, and send them your event details and interview dates so they can share them. Everything personal (your list, your notes, your event, your thanks) is still yours.

A printable checklist

Copy this into your notes or print the page.

• [ ] Final Kindle file uploaded and previewed (72-hour deadline)
• [ ] Print files final before the 5-day lock
• [ ] Every retailer page checked: cover, description, price, formats linked
• [ ] Advance readers briefed
• [ ] Personal ask list of 25 to 50 people written
• [ ] Launch-day email scheduled
• [ ] Event confirmed: room, microphone, books, payment, helper
• [ ] Launch day: pages live, email sent, personal notes sent, posts up, advance readers thanked
• [ ] Every message answered
• [ ] Launch week reminder email sent
• [ ] Thank-you email and personal thanks sent
• [ ] Notes written on what worked

After launch week the real work starts: interviews keep airing, reviews come in, and the book starts doing what you wrote it for. See the first 90 days after launch.

Scribe Media makes this site and sells book publishing and marketing services. If you want a person to look at your launch plan, book a free consult.