Which books sell best at what time of year?

Promoting your book means taking advantage of any relevant opportunity. In general, book sales are very low in winter, following the Christmas rush, but summer and the holidays are good times to sell books. Being aware of events or holidays that will help your book sales can help a publisher and author know when to promote heavily and when promotion can waste time and energy that could be spent working on the next book or prepare for a better promotional opportunity. the road. Here are some guidelines for determining the best times to promote your book.

Christmas: The Christmas season is probably the time when the most books are sold. However, fall is also the time of year when the most books are published because everyone thinks their books will sell the best at Christmas. Not true. No one would want to receive a diet book as a Christmas present – that would be insulting – although the same person could buy the diet book for themselves at another time of the year. Likewise, a self-help book telling you how to take charge of your life could be offensive to someone, making them feel that the gift is a sign of disapproval of the way they live their life. Books work as gifts when the book matches the receiver, being something the person is interested in, so obviously someone who likes to cook might appreciate a cookbook, or a spiritual person might appreciate a collection of quotes and poems inspiring. Novels, children’s books, history books, and even biographies always tend to sell well as gifts during the holidays.

Summer: Summer is the next big season for book sales, and authors have more flexibility during this time than during the holiday season. There are many book festivals and arts and crafts shows where you can promote your title to the general public and usually find interested people. Any topic has potential in the summer, as long as it’s not winter-related, like a book about skiing or ice climbing. Of course, the biggest sellers are often novels for the beach and getaway reads on vacation. Travel books also sell well in the spring and summer for people planning their vacations. And don’t forget the fitness books – people want to shed those extra pounds to look their best at the beach.

Other holidays/seasons: Depending on the subject of your book, you can help promote it at various parties. Start planning two or more months before the holidays and start promoting at least one month before so people get interested and excited as the holidays approach. For example, any romance novel has potential for Valentine’s Day, any book about Ireland or featuring Irish characters could be a good fit for St. Patrick’s Day. Horror novels can be a hit around Halloween, and historical fiction or history or biographies about important Americans might do well on the 4th of July. War and military books can be promoted in conjunction with Memorial Day and Veterans Day, or on anniversaries like Pearl Harbor or the Normandy landings. And if your book is about hunting, there’s deer season, bird season, bear season. There is also a school “season”. Be creative in considering the possibilities.

Birthdays: Don’t forget important anniversaries of events – several books are being prepared for publication on the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, and I imagine the same will be true in 2014, when the First World War will reach its century. There are always various events organized on certain topics of interest that can help sell your book. For example, if you’re writing about automobiles, Henry Ford, or the automotive industry, the 100th anniversary of a specific model of car, such as the Model T celebrated in 2008, might help promote your book.

Annual or biannual events: Whenever the Olympics come around, books about athletes and especially Olympians can see an increase in sales. If you’re a local author writing about the history of your area and the city hosts an annual Founder’s Day, you can promote your book at the festivities. The 4th of July is a popular time for communities to celebrate their own history together, so keep that in mind. It could also be an annual car race, an annual fishing contest, or an annual exhibit at the public library about mental illness that might be relevant to your book.

festivals: No absence of festivals occurs, especially in the summer. If you’re writing history or something with an ethnic connection, research local Greek, Scandinavian, Italian, Irish, or any number of other ethnic festivals. The lilac festival could help you sell your gardening book; the boating festival could help your shipwreck book. And don’t forget the food! It could be the annual Cheese Festival or the annual Seafood Festival – wherever people go to eat draws a crowd – the spirits of festival goers may not be in the books, but you will catch the attention of some people. When people are having fun and satisfying their appetites, they are in a good mood and more willing to part with their money.

National ____ day/month: You name it, there’s a day or a month for everything. It could be Black History Month helping you out, or Breast Cancer Awareness Month, or even National Pickle Day. Find out when these events are happening, help spread the word about them, and promote your book at the same time.

Whether it’s an event in your hometown or an international conference, a national holiday or a historic anniversary, there are plenty of opportunities to tie your book to something people will be passionate about. Plan ahead so you’re ready to promote when the event happens. This could be an advertisement on your website for the month in advance stating that on “Mother’s Day only” you will have a special “half price” offer. It could be booking you in to see holiday shows every weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas. He might be looking for organizers for summer events in the winter so you can be prepared. With a little creativity, you can always link your book to something else that people are already interested in and excited about so you can capitalize on their enthusiasm to help your book sales.