Writers Like Order ~ Publishing Checklists

I could be completely off base, but I suspect that most writers crave order. After all, it's impossible to write a story if it doesn't flow sequentially. I've heard the theory, "just get it on paper", and some apparently do that, but at some point the story's going to need to be arranged. I prefer to do that the first time; maybe that's just me and my linear thinking. Lack of outlining kind of forces me to do that.

I thought about order as I was viewing assorted publishing checklists. Advice givers love checklists. And we orderly writers probably do, too. We may not have a writing roadmap, but when it comes to the hard task of (eeek!) marketing, where none of us know what we're doing, having a checklist is comforting. A newly minted publisher might think that by following a list, completing each step in sequence, they'll have a bestseller on their hands.

Oh, if only.

Some of these lists are extremely specific: three months before publishing, one month before publishing, day after publishing, etc. Lemme tell ya, two months before publishing, I don't even know if I'll be finishing the story! It could all go to hell, and I'd end up trashing it. The time I begin thinking about marketing is when I hit the editing stage. And even then, I only think about it in vague terms. 

Most of the steps on these lists are ones I would never take. They rely heavily on social media and street teams and beta readers and on and on. The "big reveal" on publishing day sounds really exciting, except that no one but the author actually cares. Based on my (sad) experience, I'd go with a list that was tailored to me and to the way I work.

In my mind, there's little to nothing an author can do before the story is ready. This is the time when we need to concentrate all our efforts on getting the story right. Sure, one could post on social media about their "upcoming release", but that only works if an author has actual fans. 99% of us don't. While I obviously don't have any fans, I mistakenly touted my forthcoming novel on my website, but unlike social media, I have the ability to revise its release date from "in a month or so" to "this spring" to finally, "this year". And I seriously doubt it'll even happen in 2026. 

I don't solicit beta readers, nor do I solicit ARC readers anymore. What I do solicit are editorial reviews. Again, that's difficult to accomplish if the book isn't yet published, unless the reviewer accepts epubs or PDF's. The ones I researched want the actual book (ebook is fine). I start my search for editorial reviewers before publishing. It's not easy to be chosen! Plus, I'm cheap. I'll make a small donation if asked, but that's where I draw the line. For Running From Herself, I obtained two editorial reviews, and that was enough. One would've probably been enough, frankly. While I couldn't count on getting any reader reviews, at least I could post my editorial review on my Amazon book page, so the page didn't look so desolate. Does it help? No idea. But it does provide "social proof"---at least somebody liked it. The majority of these reviewers publish on their own sites, not on Amazon or Goodreads, although this isn't universal. To me it doesn't matter. I copy and paste the review on my Amazon Central page. (Click on your book, then click "edit book details", then "add review".)

I also get my A+ content ready. Does A+ content help you sell books? Beats me. But it does help fill out my Amazon book page and I like visuals. I use whisk.ai because it's free. I created a ton of images, initially for my website, and used three of them for my A+ content.

Once I have my book cover, I'll use Canva to create a 3-D mockup, which comes in handy in various ways. Miblart supplied me with a mockup, but I didn't like it, because I just wanted the book itself, not the book sitting on a table or nestled inside a blanket or any number of other settings. 

I start brainstorming my blurb. Blurbs are tough---really tough. Don't kid yourself. I went through maybe ten different iterations of my blurb, and I used Jessie Cuniffe's tips, which were invaluable. In the end, a stranger on X rewrote my blurb for me (unsolicited), and that's the one I'm currently using. (He and I did not actually start out as friends; quite the contrary. Not that we're friends now. We had one interaction; period.)

Then keywords. I had to be talked into using long-tail keywords, because I didn't fully understand their worth. I'm mostly happy with what Google's AI came up with for me, as I wrote about here. That's not to say I didn't tinker with my keywords a lot before I landed on a good combination. 

Then I begin deciding on book promo sites. I have the advantage of having tried most of them in the past, so there aren't any I'm unfamiliar with. The vast majority of them are useless, just so you know, but depending on your genre, some that didn't work for me might work for you. If you haven't used any before, it's time to start researching. David Gaughran has a list, and there are plenty of other lists online. Take them with a grain of salt. My genre is a hard sell, so I'm not the best arbiter of good promo sites.

I abandoned my author newsletter, although I did send a couple more once my novel was released, just to cover my bases. However, if you have newsletter subscribers, that could be a place to tout your soon-to-be-published book. 

There are sites for reviews that don't require a published book, but rather a PDF or epub, which you upload. I've tried Booksprout, which I found disappointing. The price is right, though---as little as $9.00 per month for up to 25 reviews, and you can drop your membership at any time. The one time I used it, I believe I got four reviews, which were only published on Booksprout, so that defeated the purpose. BookSirens is reasonable as well; $10 per ARC and $2 per reader. It appears that reviews are published on Amazon. I tried to list three different books with BookSirens, but was rejected every time. I'm apparently the only author who's been turned down (at least it feels that way).

I'll stop here for now. I'm sure there are tasks I haven't thought of, but I can always add more later.

Bottom line, when it comes to checklists, pick the things you're willing to do, and don't feel obligated to do the things you detest. And remember, value is key. I'm prone to do things just to do them, but I've slowly learned what's worthwhile and what isn't.