How do you market a book before launch?
- Three pre-launch assets: ARC list, comp/keyword strategy, 90-day outreach calendar.
- Effective pre-launch begins 6 months before publication, not 3 weeks.
- ARC list: 50-200 readers depending on subgenre.
- Outreach is sequenced: BookTokers/bloggers first, ARC team second, ads third.
- Pre-launch campaigns determine roughly 70% of launch-week visibility.
You market a book before launch by building three pre-launch assets — an ARC list (50-200 readers), a comp set and keyword strategy, and a 90-day outreach calendar — and executing them in a specific T-180 to T-0 sequence. Most successful pre-launch campaigns start six months before publication, not three weeks, because reviewer relationships take months to develop.
Chapter i·Why it matters
Books that launch without 6-month pre-launch work fall off Amazon’s "new release" lists by week three. The actual sales window for an indie book is 8-12 weeks total — half of that is pre-launch. Authors who treat launch as a single day event capture far less of the visibility window than authors who treat launch as a three-month campaign.
Chapter ii·What to include
- A 50-200 person ARC list built T-180 through T-60.
- Comp set finalized at T-120 (used in pitches, metadata, ads).
- Reviewer outreach to BookTokers, bloggers, Goodreads reviewers at T-90.
- Pre-order page live at T-60.
- Newsletter sequence and social posts drafted by T-30.
- Ad campaigns tested at T-30, live at T-0.
Chapter iii·Example
A debut romance author starts marketing six months before launch. By T-120 her comp set is finalized; by T-90 she has reached out to 35 BookTokers; by T-60 her 120-person ARC team is reading. Launch week generates 1,400 sales and 80 reviews — versus the indie average of 200 sales and 12 reviews for books launched without pre-launch work.
WriteLoom’s Market studio holds the pre-launch assets, calendar, and outreach in one project — so the six-month campaign stays connected to the book.
See the Market studio