Making the Most of Your “Coming Soon” Titles

Think of every reader who found one of your titles six months before it was out. They read a short description, saw a hopeful publication date in the future and left. The book had their attention, but the page had no way of keeping it.

Why Early Readers Matter

A reader who finds a book before it is published is often one of its keenest fans. They might follow the author, have heard an interview or read an early review. They have gone looking for something that isn’t available yet, which says a good deal about how much they want it.

These are also the readers most likely to tell other people. A launch usually gets its first push from readers like this, and they arrive long before any marketing campaign does.

Turn “Coming Soon” into a Readership

A “coming soon” page is usually treated as a placeholder, holding the spot until the book arrives. It can do more than that if it offers the reader a reason to stay in touch: a waitlist.

A reader who joins a waitlist is telling you they really want this book. You end up with a group of people who have asked to hear more about it, which is worth more than ten times their number in anonymous visitors. Most importantly, it gives you a way to reach them directly, without relying on whichever way the algorithmic winds are blowing on social media that week.

Build Anticipation One Detail at a Time

Once you have a list of eager readers, the interesting part is what you do with it. A book has plenty to reveal, and a publisher doesn’t need to release it all at once. Spread across the months before launch, the details build anticipation:

• The cover reveal
• An extract from the opening pages
• A note from the author on why they wrote it
• The story of how the book came to be
• The publication date and where it will be available
• Invitations to events promoting the title and author
• A signed or special edition for the readers who want the best version

Each email gives the reader something new, so the book stays in their mind until it is out. By launch day they have followed it for weeks, and it feels like an event they are part of.

A special edition is a good detail to hold back for later in the run. It suits the readers who have stayed with the book the longest, and it rewards them for it. I wrote about what a publisher can offer that a retailer can’t if you would like to see how that works.

Launch Day: The List Hears First

When the book is published, the list hears first. They have been told about the book, they have seen the cover and read the extract, and they know when it is out. Many will buy that day, and some will tell a friend.

The page then needs to change from the page for a forthcoming title to the page for a published one. It should keep what it has built, including the description, the extract and the author’s note, and add the ways to buy. A reader who arrives a month later finds a page that is already complete.

Retailers Benefit Too

A waitlist takes nothing away from bookshops and online retailers, and it can send readers their way. When the book is out, the list can point each reader to the retailer they prefer, so the early interest you have built turns into sales wherever readers like to buy. Most will keep buying where they always have, and the list means you have reached them first and given them a reason to look for the book.

Which of Your Titles Is Next?

Think about an upcoming title on your release schedule, and what a reader who found it today would be offered. If the honest answer is a date and a description, there is room to do more with the months before launch.

If you would like help selling your titles online, including the page and the buying experience around a launch, we would be glad to hear about it.