Timeframe Layout:

Phase/Month/Week

Phase 1 - Intake

Month 1

Week 1 - Signing of Contract and meeting with Author, Editor, and Marketing Manager to discuss target market and gather visual inspiration.

Phase 2 - Editorial & Artwork

     Month 1

Week 2-4 - Development editing; communication with author; vetting of illustrators for cover art and interior design

     Month 2

Week 1-4 - Author completes revisions

     Month 3

Week 1 –  Second editing, communication and rework by Author

Week 2 - Copy Editing; communication with Author

Week 3-4 - Author completes revisions

Phase 3 – Technical Setup & Formatting

     Month 3

      Week 4 – Interior Formatting; Purchase & Registration of ISBN and EAN; Final review & Approval by Author of Cover Art, Interior Design and Formatting.

     Month 4

        Week 1 –  Upload final files to Amazon KDP and IngramSpark as “Pre-orders” with a 90-day release Date. Begin scheduling book signings with local retailers.

Phase 4 – Runway,  ARC Campaign & Early Sales

     Month 4

Week 2 – Cover reveal over social media. Send Advanced Review Copies (ARC) to platforms like NetGalley and Booksprout to start early buzz.

        Week 3 – Optimize book’s back-end metadata, selecting high-traffic search Keywords.

      Week 4 through Month 6 Week 3  – Begin attending book signings, craft fairs, etc.

Phase 5 – Launch Month

     Month 6

        Week 4 – Run digital ads (Amazon, Meta, etc.) to drive last minute pre-orders

     Month 7

        Week 1 – Release day: Book goes live globally in ebook, paperback and    Hardcover.  Coordinate with author to celebrate launch. Ensure early reviews land on Amazon and Goodreads to trigger algorithms.

 This is an approximation of the time it will take to publish a work start to finish.  This is, however, only an estimate.  Much of this is based on the time it will take to edit, rewrite, re-edit, rewrite, etc. Some manuscripts will go more quickly, while others will require more than 2 rounds of editing.  There is no single, correct way to calculate how long this will take.  Still, this gives a general idea of what will lie ahead for you.

As Low Buck says, “If you aren’t having fun, you aren’t doing it right!”.