The Book Launch Checklist We Run for Every Client

Most book launches do not fail at marketing. They fail at sequencing: the cover is not final when the ads start, the reviews arrive after the promo window closes, the price changes a day late. A launch is a chain of deadlines where each step feeds the next, and the chain breaks at its weakest link, which is almost always file readiness. This is the checklist timeline we run for client launches, with the real lead times, not the optimistic ones.

8 weeks out: lock the product

• Final manuscript locked. Not "almost final." Every change after this point costs reflow, new proofs or both.
• Cover final at the exact final page count. A cover designed before the interior is paginated is a draft, whatever the designer called it.
• ISBNs assigned per edition, barcode generated with the launch price.
• Interior files complete for paperback, hardcover if planned, and EPUB validated.
• Physical proof ordered. You cannot approve a book you have not held.

6 weeks out: build the sales page assets

• Book description written like sales copy, with the first two lines doing the heavy lifting for search and skimmers.
• Categories and keywords researched properly: categories decide which bestseller lists are reachable, keywords decide who finds the book at all.
• Author page and series pages claimed and tidied (Amazon Author Central, Goodreads).
• A+ content or equivalent rich content prepared where the platform allows it.
• Review strategy set: who gets advance copies, through which channel, with follow ups scheduled. Reviews are a launch asset with a six week fuse, not a launch week surprise.

4 weeks out: distribution live and pricing set

• Paperback uploaded and approved, proof checked in hand. Four weeks feels early until a printing problem eats ten days.
• Ebook uploaded, rendering checked on a real device, not only the previewer.
• IngramSpark edition live if bookstores and libraries are part of the plan, with discount and returns settings decided deliberately.
• Launch pricing decided in writing: introductory price, how long it holds, and the exact date it rises. Price changes mid launch confuse every promo you stacked.
• Preorder decision made consciously. A preorder builds rank slowly and trains the algorithm; a live launch with stacked promotion concentrates sales. Both work. Drifting into one by accident does not.

2 weeks out: stack the promotion

• Promo sites booked against the launch price window (they reject books whose price does not match the submission, and their calendars fill).
• Email list warmed with the story behind the book, not a sales blast out of nowhere. Authors without a list: this is the week to borrow audiences, podcasts, groups, partner newsletters.
• Social content scheduled around the book's best material: the cover reveal, the strongest excerpt, the problem the book solves.
• Launch team briefed: the specific ask (buy in the window, review honestly, share on day two) beats a vague "support my launch."

Launch week: execute, do not redesign

• Price verified live on every edition and marketplace on day one, in person, not assumed.
• Promotions fire in the booked order; sales rank watched but not obsessed over.
• Reviews chased politely from the advance readers list, with direct links that make it effortless.
• Every question and comment answered fast; launch week attention is the one week the algorithm and the readers are both watching.
• Nothing about the book itself changes this week. No new cover, no new description, no new files unless something is genuinely broken.

The week after: convert the launch into a backlist asset

• Price moves to its long term position on the planned date.
• Best reviews surfaced into the description and A+ content.
• Also boughts and category positions noted for the record; they decay, and the screenshot is your only proof later.
• Post launch debrief written while it is fresh: what sold the book, what did nothing, what to repeat for book two. We run book launch services for clients precisely because this discipline, repeated across launches, is what turns one book into a catalog.

The mistakes this checklist exists to prevent

Uploading the week of launch, so a file rejection becomes a missed date. Designing the cover before the final page count, so the spine is wrong on the printed proof. Booking promotion before the price is set, so the promo advertises a price the store does not show. Waiting for reviews to happen organically in launch week, when the readers who would have reviewed needed the book six weeks earlier. And the quiet classic: the ebook and paperback launching as strangers, with different descriptions, different categories and no series link between them.

Our free pre-launch checklist tool turns the production half of this into a tickable list for your own book. Use it alongside this timeline: the tool tracks the files, this article tracks the calendar.

FAQ

How far ahead should I start a book launch? Eight weeks from a finished manuscript is comfortable. Six is workable. Under four, expect to cut the review strategy and parts of the promo stack.

Should I use a preorder? If you have an audience that will actually order, yes, it smooths the rank build. If promotion is doing the heavy lifting, a concentrated live launch usually outperforms a long quiet preorder.

What is the single most important launch task? Final files, early. Every other task on this list assumes them, and it is the one authors most often leave to the final week.

Do I need a launch team or street team? Helpful, not essential. Ten committed readers with clear instructions outperform a thousand vague followers during launch week.