While it’s true that a series (or an author) with an active following has a bit more wiggle room for when they choose to publish, it’s an indisputable fact that the timing of when you publish will affect sales. Yes, most readers have one or two (or three) genres that they like to stay within, but why not have your book published at the right time? Like in the early summer months when they’re dreaming of their summer vacations? Or if your audience is YA, giving them self-help non-fiction for when they realize they get back into the mind-set of school? Or a self-help book when the new year is starting and they have resolutions to keep? Or even a cook book they decide they need because they’re trying to be healthy again?
Please notice that there’s some wiggle room of when to publish. Also, please note that if you’re doing a series, when to publish the sequel and so on should rely more heavily on when the first is published than the month. Also, please recognize that in addition to some genres appearing in more than one month, some of these items/genres might overlap in reference to your book (e.g. Romantic Fantasy), so when in doubt, choose the stronger theme of your book – or which one best fits with your timeline. Below I have the list, including some successful books published during the window:
January (“New Year, “New Me”)
February (Least published month adds to marketing visibility opportunities)
March
April
- Mystery (Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn published on April 22nd)
- Women’s Fiction (The Hideaway by Lauren K. Denton published on April 11th)
- Design
May
- Adventure
- Fantasy
- Travel
- Women’s fiction
- Biographies (Robin by Dave Itzkoff published May 15th)
- Mother-targeted
June
July (similar to June but quieter month so similar visibility opportunity as February)
- Adventure
- Fantasy (Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling)
- Travel
- Women’s fiction
- Biographies
August
September
- Paranormal
- Academic
- Political (Change We Can Believe In by President Barack Obama published on September 5th)
- Fantasy Sequel (Legendary by Stephanie Garber published September 29th)
- Cooking
- Debut novel
October
- Horror (Gilchrist by Christian Galacar)
- Political
- Cooking (holiday recipes)
- Non-fiction (established writer)
- Photography
- Art
November
December
- Children (A is for Adorable by Elizabeth Sarpong published December 4th)
- Illustrated
- Quiz
- Novelty
- Dictionaries
Fun little-known fact is that the holiday season is actually not the best time to publish. Some recent numbers show that there was about $3.5B book sales made in summer when there was only about $2.5B for holiday gift giving. With that said, don’t let trying to make all of this fit into your novel stop you from publishing at all. The best way to publish is to publish at all.