The biggest mistake I see authors make is treating publication day as the starting line. By the time the book is out, the marketing has already missed its best window.
The pre-publication phase is the most underrated marketing period of a book’s life. Here are five ways to use it:
1. Build a launch list with the table of contents. Three months before launch, share your TOC on LinkedIn or in a newsletter and offer to send chapter previews to anyone interested. You’re building an audience that’s already invested before the book exists.
2. Pre-sell to your top 50 clients/prospects. A personal note, an advance PDF, and a request for feedback. The recipients feel involved. They’re more likely to buy hardcovers later, refer the book, and quote from it.
3. Test chapter content as standalone articles. Publish one chapter at a time as LinkedIn posts or blog articles in the months leading up to launch. You’ll find out which chapters resonate, refine the wording, and build SEO real estate that your book launch can later amplify.
4. Recruit endorsements. Don’t wait until launch week to ask for blurbs. Ninety days out, send a polished manuscript to ten people whose endorsement would matter. Most will say yes if you make it easy.
5. Book the speaking tour in advance. Conferences and corporate events plan months ahead. Pitch yourself as a speaker with a forthcoming book — organizers love the freshness, and you’ll have speaking dates that coincide with launch.
The book itself takes care of itself when you launch. The infrastructure around the book — the audience, the endorsements, the speaking calendar, the SEO — is built before publication day or it doesn’t get built.
Start the marketing the day you start the manuscript.
